Editorial: Sovereign
The Open Boat, one of the seventeen stories featured in this volume is based on Crane's experience of surviving a shipwreck off the coast of Florida earlier that year while travelling to Cuba to work as a newspaper correspondent. Crane was stranded at sea for thirty hours when his ship, the SS Commodore, sank after hitting a sandbar.
First in the classic gothic trilogy. “A masterpiece . . . a moody, melancholy comedy with an underlying wit and profundity that cannot be denied.” —SpeculictionThe basis for the 2000 BBC seriesNow in development by Showtime As the novel opens, Titus, heir to Lord Sepulchrave, has just been born. He stands to inherit the miles of rambling stone and mortar that form Gormenghast Castle. Meanwhile, far away and in the kitchen, a servant named Steerpike escapes his drudgework and begins an auspicious ascent to power. Inside of Gormenghast, all events are predetermined by complex rituals, the origins of which are lost in time. The castle is peopled by dark characters in half-lit corridors. Dreamlike and macabre, Peake’s extraordinary novel is one of the most astonishing and fantastic works in modern fiction.Praise the Gormenghast Trilogy “Mervyn Peake is a finer poet than Edgar Allan Poe, and he is therefore able to maintain his world of fantasy brilliantly through three novels. It is a very, very great work.” —Robertson Davies, New York Times-bestselling author “A sumptuous, poetic epic . . . considered by some to have an equal or even greater degree of importance to the development of modern fantasy as Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.” —SFF180 “Mervyn Peake’s gothic masterpiece, the Gormenghast trilogy, begins with the superlative Titus Groan, a darkly humorous, stunningly complex tale of the first two years in the life of the heir to an ancient, rambling castle . . . This true classic is a feast of words unlike anything else in the world of fantasy. Those who explore Gormenghast castle will be richly rewarded.” —SFF Book ReviewsVer libro
Ten-year-old Sarah Crue arrives at Miss Minchin's London boarding school arrayed like a princess. She wears velvet, lace and silk, carries a gorgeous life-like doll, and has a French maid. Charming and imaginative, she soon becomes the envy of the other girls. When tragedy suddenly takes away Sarah's fine clothes and privileges, her schoolmates wait to see if she will give up. But, now living in the school's dingy attic and toiling long hours for the demanding students who were once her friends, Sarah's generous spirit remains untouched by the hardship and cruelty. Frances Hodgson Burnett earned a special place in children's hearts with her wonderful books which include The Secret Garden. Since 1905, A Little Princess has captivated countless readers, and recently it has been made into a major motion picture. Now, through Leishman's lyrical narration, Sarah and the other unforgettable characters of this delightful riches-to-rags tale speak to new generations.Ver libro
Smee is a crackling ghost story about a guest in a haunted house telling other visitors of the death of a young girl, years ago, playing a game of hide-and-seek.Ver libro
This story coincides with April 30, or May Day’s Eve, when it was held that witches met on the Brocken mountain and kept communion with the Devil. It is named after St. Walburga, and English nun who helped convert Germans to Christianity in the 8th century. Her feast day coincides with an ancient pagan festival, whose rites were intended to give protection against witchcraft. Stoker originally wrote this story to be included in his novel, Dracula, but the editor struck it from the original work. Dracula’s Guest was published posthumously, being the title of a collection of short stories of similar gothic horror.Ver libro
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1989, Jigsaw: An Unsentimental Education is a semi-autobiographical novel that tells the story of Billi, a girl growing up in Europe between the two World Wars. Upon the death of her German baron father, Billi moves from the family château to live with her vibrant and erratic English mother on the French Riviera. From there she is sent for schooling in England, where she lives an itinerant life, boarding among a bohemian crowd, attending galleries and public lectures, and reading some of the greatest books of the era. Her ambition to become a writer is nurtured when she returns to the Mediterranean and meets a community of stimulating artists and intellectuals, including Aldous Huxley, while her mother’s life takes a tragic turn. Powerfully evocative and densely observed, Jigsaw assembles the puzzle pieces of the author’s life to paint a vivid portrait of a vanished age.Ver libro
Ivan Alekseevich Kuprin, a Russian writer of the early 20th century, was renowned for his short stories and novellas imbued with deep psychological insight and attention to detail. His works often depict the lives of ordinary people, their dreams, sufferings, and joys. Kuprin crafted vivid characters that continue to captivate readers with their authenticity and emotional depth.Ver libro
