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  Tobermory - From their pens to...

  Saki Saki

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  Hector Hugh Munro, more familiarly known by his pen-name ‘Saki’ was born in what was then Akyab in British Burma on 18th December 1870. His father was an Inspector General for the Indian Imperial Police, and his mother the daughter of a Rear Admiral. 
  When he was 2 his mother died and he and his siblings were sent back to England to be raised by their grandmother and paternal maiden aunts in a strict, puritanical household near Barnstaple, Devon. Educated by governesses Saki used many of these women as character models for his later writing. 
  At 17 his father retried and returned to England and then embarked on a series of European travels with Saki and his siblings. 
  After a short stint working in Burma with the Indian Imperial Police Saki decided to move to London to make a living as a writer. Initially he wrote as a journalist for a number of newspapers and magazines before attempting an historical study, ‘The Rise of the Russian Empire’, whose real value lay in directing him to writing short stories instead, the first of which, ‘Dogged’, he published in 1899. 
  From here it was a short stab of the pen to writing political satire before in 1902 he became the foreign correspondent for The Morning Post, first in the Balkans, then Russia, Paris and back to London in 1908, where 'the agreeable life of a man of letters with a brilliant reputation awaited him.'  
  Collections of his short stories full of witty, mischievous and often macabre stories that satirized Edwardian society and two novels now appeared in the years up to the Great War.  At its’ outbreak he was 43 but managed to join as an ordinary trooper. More than once he returned to the battlefield when officially too sick or injured.  
  On 14th November 1916 Hector Hugh Munro was sheltering in crater during the Battle of the Ancre, when he was shot and killed by a German sniper. According to several sources, his last words were "Put that bloody cigarette out!"

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  The Five Orange Pips

  Arthur Conan Doyle

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  The Five Orange Pips, one of the 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is the fifth of the twelve stories in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.The story was first published in The Strand Magazine in November 1891. Conan Doyle later ranked the story seventh in a list of his twelve favourite Sherlock Holmes stories. A young gentleman named John Openshaw has a strange story: in 1869 his uncle Elias Openshaw had suddenly come back to England to settle on an estate in Horsham, West Sussex after living for years in the United States as a planter in Florida and serving as a colonel in the Confederate Army.Not being married, Elias had allowed his nephew to stay at his estate. Strange incidents have occurred; one is that although John could go anywhere in the house, he could never enter a locked room containing his uncle's trunks. Another peculiarity was that in March 1883 a letter postmarked Pondicherry, in India, arrived for the Colonel inscribed only "K. K. K." with five orange pips (seeds) enclosed.More strange things happened: Papers from the locked room were burnt and a will was drawn up leaving the estate to John Openshaw. The Colonel's behaviour became bizarre. He would either lock himself in his room and drink or he would go shouting forth in a drunken sally with a pistol in his hand. On 2 May 1883 he was found dead in a garden pool.Famous works of the author Arthur Conan Doyle's: "A Study in Scarlet", "Silver Blaze", "The Hound of the Baskervilles", "The Yellow Face", "A Scandal in Bohemia", "The Red-Headed League", A Case of Identity", "The Boscombe Valley Mystery", "The Five Orange Pips", "The Man with the Twisted Lip", "The Blue Carbuncle", "The Speckled Band", "The Engineer's Thumb", "The Noble Bachelor", "The Beryl Coronet", "The Copper Beeches" and many more.

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  A Garland of Earth - From their...

  Dorothy Edwards

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  Amelia Ann Blanford Edwards was born on 7th June 1831 in Islington, London.  She was educated at home by her mother and showed early promise as a writer, publishing her first poem at the age of 7 and her first story at 12.  Thereafter several popular periodicals published her poetry, stories and articles. 
  In addition she also illustrated some of her own writings and painted scenes from books she had read.  This talent was not supported by her parents, who saw an artist’s life as scandalous.  Undeterred Amelia took up composing and performing music until a bout of typhus caused throat damage.  Other interests soon followed until, early in the 1850s, Amelia focused exclusively on writing.  Her early novels were well received, and with ‘Barbara's History’ in 1864, a work revolving around bigamy, her reputation was established.  
  Amelia’s pen was also the purveyor of ghost stories for magazines and are still anthologized as classic tales to this day. 
  In January 1851, Amelia became engaged, apparently to please her parents, but she quickly broke it off.  In reality her emotional attachments were almost exclusively with women.  From the early 1860s she lived with Ellen Drew Braysher, a widow 27 years her senior, until both women died in early 1892.  During this relationship other women also entered and left her life.  Her frequent travelling companion, Lucy Renshaw, accompanied her to Egypt in the winter of 1873 and there she found a life-changing interest in Egyptology.  Aware of increasing threats from tourism and modern development she became an advocate for their research and preservation.  
  To advance the work Amelia largely abandoned much of her writing in favour of Egyptology and even took on strenuous lecture tours to raise funds. 
  After catching influenza, Amelia Edwards, ‘the Godmother of Egyptology’ died on 15th April 1892 at Weston-super-Mare.  She was 60.

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  A Christmas Carol

  Charles Dickens

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  Hearth & Home Audio are proud to present this new abridged audiobook of Charles Dickens' classic 'A Christmas Carol' 
  Performed by Callum Hale with Music by Dylan Allcock. 
  Ebenezer Scrooge is infamous throughout London as a cruel miser, but one Christmas evening; he is visited by the spectre of an old acquaintance, an acquaintance who urges Scrooge to repent his penny pinching ways, and seek redemption. 
  Experience this classic, uplifting fable anew with this fresh production by Hearth & Home Audio.

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  Frankenstein

  Mary Shelley

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  Mary Shelley began writing Frankenstein when she was only eighteen. At once a Gothic thriller, a passionate romance, and a cautionary tale about the dangers of science, Frankenstein tells the story of committed science student Victor Frankenstein. Obsessed with discovering the cause of generation and life and bestowing animation upon lifeless matter, Frankenstein assembles a human being from stolen body parts but; upon bringing it to life, he recoils in horror at the creature’s hideousness. Tormented by isolation and loneliness, the once-innocent creature turns to evil and unleashes a campaign of murderous revenge against his creator, Frankenstein.
  Frankenstein, an instant bestseller and an important ancestor of both the horror and science fiction genres, not only tells a terrifying story, but also raises profound, disturbing questions about the very nature of life and the place of humankind within the cosmos: What does it mean to be human? What responsibilities do we have to each other? How far can we go in tampering with Nature? In our age, filled with news of organ donation genetic engineering, and bio-terrorism, these questions are more relevant than ever.
  
  ©2020 Pandora's Box (P)2020 Pandora's Box

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  The Secret of the Island

  Jules Verne

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  "The Secret of the Island" by Jules Verne concludes the thrilling adventures of the castaways from Mysterious Island . The colonists face new dangers as they uncover the island’s hidden mysteries, including the true identity of their benefactor and the source of the strange phenomena aiding their survival. Verne masterfully blends action, science, and suspense, exploring themes of ingenuity, resilience, and humanity’s relationship with nature. As volcanic eruptions threaten their home, the group must rely on courage and resourcefulness to escape. A celebration of human determination and curiosity, this novel reflects Verne’s signature blend of adventure and scientific wonder, offering a satisfying resolution to the saga while underscoring the fragility of life and the power of discovery.

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