Other books that might interest you

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  Nicholas Nickleby Volume 2

  Charles Dickens

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  In "Nicholas Nickleby Volume 2," Charles Dickens continues the captivating journey of young Nicholas, a beacon of resilience in a callous Victorian society. As he battles oppressive adversaries and navigates complex familial bonds, Nicholas ultimately seeks justice and love. Overflowing with Dickensian wit and richly drawn characters, this tale weaves themes of perseverance and moral fortitude, resonating across generations with its timeless struggle for integrity and compassion.

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  The Lady with the Dark Hair - A...

  Erin Bartels

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  2025 Michigan Notable Book 
   
  "Bartels perfectly meshes the stories of two 
  women, both artists, living half a world and nearly a century-and-a-half apart. Bartels' settings and historical details are unusual and compelling; the dual time lines work perfectly, and this well-researched historical tale has the pacing of a thriller."--Booklist starred review 
   
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  Esther Markstrom and her artist mother have always been proud of their ancestor, painter Francisco Vella. They even run a small museum and gallery dedicated to raising awareness of his scandalously underappreciated work. But when Esther reconnects with her former art history professor, she finds her once-solid family history on shaky ground as questions arise about Vella's greatest work--a portrait entitled The Lady with the Dark Hair. 
   
  In 1879, Catalan orphan-turned-fugitive Viviana Torrens has found sanctuary serving in the home of an aging artist in Southern France. It is in his studio that she meets Francisco Vella, a Gibraltarian merchant who sells artists' pigments. When her past catches up to her, she is compellefd to pose as Vella's sister and join him on his travels or be deported back to Spain to stand trial. Along the way she will discover that the many parts she has been playing in order to hide her identity have far-reaching implications she never could have foreseen. 
   
  This dual-timeline story from award-winning author Erin Bartels takes readers from the sleepy Midwest to the sultry Mediterranean on a relentless search for truth, identity, and the freedom to follow one's dreams. 
   
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  "In the alluring novel The Lady with the Dark Hair, questions about a portrait's origins inspire a search for personal meaning."--Foreword Reviews 
   
  "A fascinating time-split written by an author who consistently writes unique stories with layers upon layers of starts and stops, her characters merging and diverging upon the page, much like the brushstrokes on the incredible portrait."--Interviews & Reviews 
   
  "I was thoroughly captivated by this story. . . .Bartels' writing is impeccable, her characters are full of life, and her mastery of both timelines is seamless."--Reading Is My Superpower 
   
  "Carefully crafted with lots of historical detail, elegant language, and interesting twists. . . . The book educates readers about the art world while absorbing them in a great story."--The Historical Novels Review 
   
  "Bartels' latest addition to her excellent novels for adults . . . adeptly gives voice to the longing women in different historical periods have felt to know themselves, to express themselves through creative pursuits, and to find fulfillment by choosing their own paths."--The Banner

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  The Exiles

  Vivian Stuart

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  VOYAGE TO THE LAST FRONTIER...
  The first book in the dramatic and intriguing story about the colonisation of Australia: a country built on blood, passion, and dreams.
  They were transported from 1780s' England, packed like cattle in cargo compartments: scammers and prostitutes, thieves and murderers — doomed to build His Majesty's new colony in Captain Cook's anchorage in Botany Bay.
  It was a cruel fate even for the toughest of individuals but especially for 15-year-old Jenny Taggart, who was sentenced to lifelong exile for a crime she did not commit. Will there be a future for her in this unknown country, or will she succumb to a rough and brutal life?
  Rebels and outcasts, they fled halfway across the earth to settle the harsh Australian wastelands. Decades later — ennobled by love and strengthened by tragedy — they had transformed a wilderness into a fertile land. And themselves into The Australians.

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  Edith

  Martina Devlin

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  Martina Devlin, an award-winning columnist for the Irish Independent and podcaster for Dublin City of Literature #CityofBooks, has delivered a new novel based on the life of Edith Somerville of 'Somerville and Ross' fame – authors of The Irish R.M.
  In this work, set during the turbulent period of Irish Independence 1921–22, Somerville finds herself at a crossroads. Her position as a member of the Ascendancy is perilous as she struggles to keep her family home, Drishane House in West Cork, while others are burned out. After years in a successful writing partnership with Violet Martin, Edith continues to write after her partner's death, comforted in the belief they continue to connect through automatic writing and séances.
  Against a backdrop of Civil War politics and lawlessness erupting across the country via IRA flying columns, people across Ireland are forced to consider where their loyalties lie.
  In Edith, Devlin limns a vivid historical context in this story of proto-feminist Edith Somerville courageously trying to keep home and heart in one piece.
  The story of Somerville and Ross is unique in the history of Irish women writers. Academic Shawn R. Mooney described these best-selling authors as 'undeniably New Women: single, educated and economically independent writers whose lives and literary collaboration were unique manifestations of late-nineteenth century feminist strivings toward political and sexual equality'. Devlin depicts Edith in the round, suffering from loss, striving for safety, and keeping hold of hope in this captivating narrative set in the early years of a nascent state — a triumph of ventriloquism rooted in a society on the cusp of change.

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  Top 10 Short Stories The - The...

  Edith Wharton, George Eliot,...

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  Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart.  A few pages can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere. 
   
  In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted ‘Top Tens’ across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions – Why that story? Why that author?  
   
  The theme itself will form the boundaries for our stories which range from well-known classics, newly told, to stories that modern times have overlooked but perfectly exemplify the theme.  Throughout the volume our authors whether of instant recognition or new to you are all leviathans of literature. 
   
  Some you may disagree with but they will get you thinking; about our choices and about those you would have made.  If this volume takes you on a path to discover more of these miniature masterpieces then we have all gained something. 
   
  For most of these women their fame more easily resides with their novels but each created short stories of such quality and verve that they simply had to be saved in inky type to paper.  And each of these miniature gems is as near-perfect as their longer siblings.  In their words literature is a many wondered treat. 
   
  01 - The Top 10 - The Classic Novelists - The Women- An Introduction 
  02 - Roman Fever by Edith Wharton 
  03 - The Lifted Veil - Part 1 by George Eliot 
  04 - The Lifted Veil - Part 2 by George Eliot 
  05 - An Unwritten Novel by Virginia Woolf 
  06 - The Mourner by Mary Shelley 
  07 - The Brothers by Louisa May Alcott 
  08 - The Old Nurse's Story by Elizabeth Gaskell 
  09 - Paul's Case by Willa Cather 
  10 - Ma'ame Pelagie by Kate Chopin 
  11 - Miss Ogilivy Finds Herself by Radclyffe Hall 
  12 -The Difference by Ellen Glasgow

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  The First Lieutenant

  Andrew Wareham

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  Nick Turnhouse continues his helter-skelter advance from Dorset farmhand to naval officer, relying on his sword arm and quick intelligence to achieve success. As he progresses, he is increasingly conscious of all he does not know, and how much he must rely on his subordinates to provide their knowledge of the sea. He also keenly appreciates how much he needs the aid and advice of Captain Woodmore, who has done so much to help him rise in the world. 
   
   
   
  His pursuit of promotion and prize-money is almost diverted when Arabella Whitefield, the squire's daughter and now the voluptuous wife of a major, appears in English Harbor and fondly recalls their early romance. Nick manages this affair of the heart adroitly, narrowly avoiding jeopardizing his next promotion. Rising to Master and Commander, he will henceforth earn two-eighths of every prize he takes in his own sloop. 
   
   
   
  Taking to the sea again, and hoping to bring his wardroom with him, he becomes aware of the increasing unrest of the lower deck hands, whose pay has not risen in more than one hundred and twenty years and who live in miserable poverty. A serious situation that must be addressed, somehow.

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