Publisher: Odyssey Books
That dandelion. A flash of stubborn yellow in a dark box of space. It had promised sunshine but had tasted sour. Artefacts. A dandelion. A mayfly. A family, bereft. Items and mementos of a life, lived hard and with love, or long, empty, bitter. In these sharply drawn and unflinching short stories, Rebecca Burns unpicks the connection between the lives we live and what we leave behind.
Sometimes love needs a little help from Mother Nature — and what better time than the holidays to let it snow...and snow...and snow.... Starry Night by Fern Michaels As the host of a radio program for the lovelorn in Chicago, Jessie Richmond is surprisingly lonely, especially with the holidays approaching. So she decides to make the trek to her uncle's bookstore in rural New York state and hold a speed dating event — only to find herself snowed in — with one very special single....Mistletoe and Mimosas by Tara SheetsAfter years of hard work, real estate agent Layla Gentry has her dream home on Pine Cove Island. She's perfectly content to be on her own. Until her childhood nemesis, Sebastian, comes to town. When a snowstorm and a stranded kitten bring them together on Christmas Eve, Layla discovers he's all grown up — and she may have one more dream left....Missing Christmas by Kate ClaybornIt's all work and no play for two longtime friends-turned-business-partners Kristen and Jasper — until an unexpected kiss turns things personal. Will it mean the end of something, or the beginning? With a major contract in the balance, Christmas around the corner, and a lot of unspoken feelings, it may take an unpredictable blizzard in New England to seal the deal....Show book
Full of young man's bravado, a gentleman accepts a Christmas wager to spend the night in a notorious haunted house, Number 90, located somewhere in the vicinity of Charleston's Battery in South Carolina. After an eventful night he resolves to endure a second... but could it also be his last?Number 90 is a standalone enhanced audio tale from the Victorian Anthologies series featuring short stories by classic writers of the spooky, the scary and the supernatural. Guaranteed to give you the shivers, each collection includes familiar and loved creepy tales as well as those less well-known.Show book
As a well-paid war correspondent, Crane was shipwrecked en route to Cuba in early 1897. He and a small party of passengers spent 30 hours adrift off the coast of Florida, an experience which Crane would later transform into his most famous short story, The Open Boat, in 1898. (P)2007 Listen and Live Audio, Inc.Show book
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts. His father, a sea captain died when Nathaniel was 4 and Nathaniel always a shy child spent his early years with his Mother and two sisters. Hit on the leg by a ball, doctors could finds nothing wrong but he went lame and was bedridden for a year. He entered Bowdoin College in 1821, and graduated in 1825. Hawthorne anonymously published his first work, the novel ‘Fanshawe’, in 1828. He continued to publish in various periodicals which he collected in 1837 as Twice-Told Tales. The next year, he became engaged to Sophia Peabody eventually marrying her in 1842. His defining work ‘The Scarlet Letter’ was published in 1850, followed by a succession of other novels. The majority of his works centre on New England and have a Puritan inspiration and outlook with their inherent evil and sin of humanity. A political appointment took Hawthorne and family to Europe before their return in 1860. Hawthorne died on May 19, 1864, leaving behind his wife and their three children. This volume centres on his short stories which are beautifully crafted pieces layered with characters ill at ease with their path through life.Show book
Often hailed as the finest short story ever written in the English language, James Joyce's "The Dead" tells the story of a young woman who hears a familiar song unexpectedly at a Christmas party. The melody brings memories of a long-dead lover flooding back to her. Joyce's description of the multi-layered situation, characters, and atmosphere are unsurpassed. The reader is drawn into the stifling world of Dublin society with its aspirations, pretensions, repressed morals, and furtively enjoyed freedoms. Beautiful and evocative.Show book
“A fascinating examination of the genesis of the Western novel and its influence on the modern American novel . . . full of rip-roaring yarns.” —James Reasoner, New York Times-bestselling author The Wild West came alive under the pen of Edward Zane Carroll Judson, who wrote many of Americas best-loved ”dime novels” under the pseudonym Ned Buntline. From Buffalo Bill (whom Judson knew first-hand) to Wild Bill Hickok, these vivid tales feature some of the most colorful characters on the American landscape. This anthology gathers a selection of his best-loved work, including four full-length unabridged novels, each with an introduction by author and critic Clay Reynolds. Stories include:Buffalo Bill, the King of Border Men; or, The Wildest and Truest Tale I’ve Ever ToldHazel-Eye, the Girl Trapper. A Tale of Strange Young LifeThe Miner Detective; or, The Ghost of the GulchWild Bill’s Last TrailAnd more “A valuable work for teachers and scholars of American popular culture. The Hero of a Hundred Fights provides a well-chosen and well-edited selection from the work of an important nineteenth-century popular writer.” —Richard Slotkin, National Book Award finalist for Gunfighter Nation “A welcome addition to both western literature and western history—this volume will be welcomed by any serious student of the American West.” —R. David Edmunds, author of The Shawnee Prophet “Ned Buntline was a legend in his own time. This collection of his iconic western fiction brings the legend to life in our time.” —J. Randolph Cox, editor, Dime Novel Round-UpShow book
