Other books that might interest you

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  Young Man on a Bicycle and The...

  Victor Canning

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  Victor Canning’s light-hearted and cleverly plotted novella set on the beautiful French Riviera 
   
  Young Paul Ashcroft has travelled to the beautiful French Riviera. His goal: to make a lot of money. His methods: more than questionable. Following his motto ‘the world owes me a living’, he steals and swindles – using what he needs for himself and passing on the rest to those less fortunate. 
   
  After coming across the beautiful Villa Triton, he disguises himself as M. Durobat, a middle-aged Frenchman, to inspect the villa and to pawn the owner’s ornaments and paintings. At the local Casino, he becomes acquainted with the rich ladies of the resort. As he steals their jewellery, he blames the robberies on 'Gringo the Greek', a small crook he knew a long time ago.  
   
  But just as Paul's schemes and tricks start to be fruitful and he falls in love with the intriguing Elise Benoit, the real Gringo the Greek appears on the scene, ready to take on the cunning thief who has been blaming him all this time… 
  Praise for Victor Canning: 
   
  ‘Quite delightful … with an atmosphere of quiet contentment and humour that cannot fail to charm’ Daily Telegraph 
   
  ‘What counts for most in the story … is his mounting pleasure in vagabondage and the English scene’ The Times 
   
  ‘A paean to the beauties of the English countryside and the lovable oddities of the English character’ New York Times 
   
  ‘His delight at the beauties of the countryside and his mild astonishment at the strange ways of men are infectious’ Daily Telegraph 
   
  ‘A swift-moving novel, joyous, happy and incurably optimistic’ Evening Standard

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  Medusa

  Ariel Sanders

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  This audiobook is narrated by an AI Voice.   
  When brilliant but reckless archaeologist Dr. Sophia Hass discovers a sealed tomb on a remote Greek island, she ignores local warnings about an ancient curse. But as her team members begin turning to stone and mysterious figures appear at the edge of vision, she's forced to confront the terrifying truth: the Medusa of legend is awakening. ⛏️🏛️ 
  🐍 What if everything we know about Medusa is wrong? 🐍 
  As Sophia delves deeper into the mystery, she uncovers a shocking revelation—Medusa wasn't the monster history painted her to be, but a victim whose story was rewritten by those in power. Now, thousands of years later, the Gorgon seeks someone to carry her truth into the modern world. 👁️💔 
  ⚡ A race against time and myth ⚡ 
  With a mythologist's help and her own connection to the excavation site, Sophia faces an impossible choice that will determine not just her fate, but how an ancient injustice will be remembered. Will she contain the awakened power, banish it forever, or become something neither human nor myth has seen before? 🔮⏳ 
  💫 Perfect for fans of archaeological thrillers with supernatural twists, feminist retellings of ancient myths, and stories that challenge what we think we know about history. MEDUSA will leave you questioning whose version of events you've been believing... 💫 
  🌟 Don't just read history—discover the truth behind the myth! 🌟

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  Topping the Dome - Art and...

  Richard F. Novak

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  Based on actual events during the politically tense period leading up to the American Civil War. It tells the tragic true story of the sculptor Thomas Crawford chosen to create the iconic image, Statue of Freedom, crowning the Capitol Dome in Washington, DC. His life as a sculptor in Rome intermingles with some of the most interesting personages of the era—the great abolitionist Senator from Massachusetts Charles Sumner, Clark Mills a self-taught sculptor and Washington insider, and Captain Montgomery C. Meigs construction supervisor of the of extension of the capitol and its new dome. The story moves back and forth between Crawford's studio in the ancient capital of Italy, Rome, and the new capital of America, Washington, DC. Well researched.

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  Ali Pacha

  Alexandre Dumas

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  "Ali Pacha" by Alexandre Dumas is a vivid historical tale of power, ambition, and betrayal set in the Ottoman Empire. The story follows Ali Pacha of Ioannina, a ruthless and cunning ruler who rises to prominence through strategic alliances and brutal force. Dumas explores his complex character, portraying him as both a visionary leader and a tyrant driven by greed and paranoia. As Ali’s quest for dominance unfolds, themes of loyalty, revenge, and cultural conflict come to the fore. Set against a backdrop of political intrigue and war, the novel delves into the tension between tradition and modernity. A gripping blend of drama and history, it reflects on the cost of power and the fragility of legacy in a turbulent era.

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  A Witch's Den - A look into the...

  Helena Blavatsky

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  Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, often known as Madame Blavatsky, was born on 12th August 1831 into an aristocratic family in present day Dnipro in Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire.  She was the younger sister of the writer Vera Zhelikhovsky. 
   
  Much of Blavatsky’s life story relies on her own memories which changed much during her lifetime and therefore parts of it are unreliable.  What appears to be certain is that much of her life was lived first on family travels and postings and then on her journeys in an effort to further her own self-education and quest for knowledge. 
   
  As a teenager she developed an interest in Western esotericism and from there she claimed many travels including a trip to India where she encountered a group of spiritual adepts, the ‘Masters of the Ancient Wisdom’, who sent her to Shigatse, Tibet, where they trained her to develop a deeper understanding of the synthesis of religion, philosophy, and science.  
   
  By the early 1870s, Blavatsky was involved in the Spiritualist movement, which was then popular both in Britain and abroad, even though she argued against its main tenet that those ‘contacted’ were the spirits of the dead.  
   
  She moved to the United States in 1873 and became close to the journalist Henry Steel Olcott who helped her gain public attention as a spirit medium and then also became an adherent to her principles.   
   
  In 1875 in New York City she co-founded the Theosophical Society and two years later published ‘Isis Unveiled’, a book outlining her Theosophical world-view from its ancient roots to the modern day.  Her work was even more popular in Asia than elsewhere and is said to have influenced both Ghandi and Nehru amongst many others.  
   
  In 1880, she and Olcott moved to India, where the Society was allied to a Hindu reform movement.  That same year she converted to Buddhism.  However, she was often plagued with accusations of fraudulent paranormal phenomena.  
   
  With her health failing she returned to London and published ‘The Secret Doctrine’, her commentary on claimed ancient Tibetan manuscripts, and other books.  
   
  Helena Blavatsky died in London of influenza during the global pandemic on 8th May 1891.  She was 59.

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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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