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  A Lost Masterpiece - From their...

  Mary Chavelita Dunne Bright...

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  The bookshelves of British literature are incredible collections that have gathered together centuries of very talented authors.  From these Isles their fame spread and whilst among their number many are now forgotten or neglected their talents endure.  Among them is Mary Chavelita Dunne Bright.

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  A Slav Soul - From their pens to...

  Alexander Kuprin

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  Alexander Kuprin was born in Narovchat, Penza in Russia on 7th September 1870. 
  At 3 his Father died and he and mother moved to Moscow. By 10 he was enrolled at the Second Moscow Military High School and there his interest in literature began. The Alexander Military Academy followed and two years later he was a sub-lieutenant and posted to an Infantry Regiment for a further four years. 
  Despite his duties he was a now a keen writer and published his first short story at this time. His military duties also garnered him experiences for his breakthrough work ‘The Duel’.  Leaving the military he left for Kiev to work for local newspapers.  He continued to publish both stories and novels and by 1901 he was in St Petersburg becoming part of a group that included Chekhov, Ivan Bunin, Maxim Gorky and Leonid Andreyev.  
  In the years that followed further controversial works and acclaim followed.  His comments on the regime meant he was also put under secret police surveillance.   
  As World War I erupted, Kuprin opened a military hospital but was then given command of an infantry company in Finland. He was soon discharged on grounds of ill health.  
  The October Revolution saw him praise Lenin, but he warned that the Bolsheviks threatened Russian culture and might cause further widespread suffering to the peasants.  As Civil War raged he took his family to Helsinki and then on to Paris. 
  Exile saw his talents decline further and his succumbing to alcoholism. He became lonely and withdrawn. The family's poverty increased his malaise.   
  In May 1937, the Kuprin’s returned to Moscow.  He now saw his work published but wrote almost nothing new.  In 1938 his health rapidly deteriorated.  Already suffering from a kidney problems and sclerosis, he had now developed cancer of the oesophagus.  
  Alexander Kuprin died on 25th August 1938.

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  The Awakening

  Kate Chopin

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  This wonderful novella, first published in 1899, has been described as a case study of 19th-century feminism. Kate Chopin began writing the novel in 1897 and, after its publication, it was heavily criticized as "not wholesome", "vulgar" and even "poison" by the press of the time. The novella received such a wave of disdain that the once-popular author was forced into literary obscurity. The Awakening went out of print for more than 50 years. When it was rediscovered in the 1950s, critics were in wonder at its modern sensibility. A second edition was published in 1964. Now widely read, The Awakening is critically acclaimed and it is an absolute must-read for feminists everywhere, not only for its beautiful pros but as an acknowledgment of how far we have come, albeit far more slowly than some might have hoped.

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  A Report for an Academy

  Franz Kafka

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  "A Report to an Academy" is a short story by Franz Kafka, written and published in 1917. In the story, an ape named Red Peter, who has learned to behave like a human, presents to an academy the story of how he effected his transformation. The narrator, speaking before a scientific conference, describes his former life as an ape. His story begins in a West African jungle, in which a hunting expedition shoots and captures him. Caged on a ship for his voyage to Europe, he finds himself for the first time without the freedom to move as he will.

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  So Big

  Edna Ferber

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  After losing her father and her husband, Selina Peake is left to raise her only son on the farm that was left to her. Dirk Peake, a tenacious boy who grows up to be a successful bond salesman, must come to terms with his own regrets later in life after he decides not to pursue architecture, a passion that both he and his mother shared. This classic novel about family, immigration, and the role of art and culture in society asks an age-old question: Can money really buy happiness?

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  Cabbages and Kings

  O. Henry

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  "Cabbages and Kings" by O. Henry is a collection of short stories set in the fictional country of Anchuria, reflecting on human nature, love, and life's unpredictability. Through vivid characters and witty narratives, it explores themes of ambition, romance, and societal contrasts with O. Henry's signature twist endings.

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