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  South by Java Head: An epic and...

  Alistair MacLean

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  The 50th anniversary edition of this classic World War 2 adventure set in south-east Asia. 
  February, 1942: Singapore lies burning and shattered, defenceless before the conquering hordes of the Japanese Army. 
  The last boat escapes out of the harbour into the South China Sea, and on board are a desperate group of strangers, each with a secret to guard, each willing to kill to keep that secret safe. 
  Dawn sees them far out to sea but with the first murderous dive bombers already aimed at their ship. Thus begins a nightmare succession of disasters wrought by the hell-bent Japanese, the unrelenting tropical sun and, ultimately, by the survivors themselves, as they head south by Java Head. 
  Alistair MacLean, the author of this best-seller, masterfully weaves a story of suspense and action. The adventure unfolds as the desperate group battles not only the hell-bent Japanese and the unrelenting tropical sun, but also their own secrets. 
  For fans of Frederick Forsyth (The Veteran), Nevil Shute (A Town Like Alice), Ken Follett (The Armour of Light), Edward Marston (The Railway Detective's Christmas Case), and Eric Ambler (The Mask of Dimitrios). 
  HarperCollins 2024

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  Devdas

  Saratchandra Chattopadhyay

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  Saratchandra Chatterjee's Devdas became a reader's delight right after its first publication in 1917, and since then, its protagonist Devdas has been the tragic hero in the hearts of millions of readers.
  
  Devdas is a tragic story of a man called Devdas who loved but never got his lover. The protagonist Devdas shared a magnetic childhood with his lovely playmate Parvati (popularly known as Paro), and the supreme love matured in Paro's heart much before Devdas could realize. As the two playmates became youths, the love intensified in Parvati so much so that she was ready to do anything to get Devdas. But, unfortunately, Devdas failed to understand Paro's passionate love towards him and his whimsical 'no' at a very critical time created a permanent wall of separation between him and his beloved Paro. When he did realize how much his heart felt for Paro, it was too late, as the heartbroken Paro became the wife of another man.
  
  This completely shattered Devdas. He was unable to bear the agony of a life without Paro. The absence of his beloved Paro in his life made alcohol his constant companion, but that could not make him forget the piercing pain. Even the unconditional love and devotion of a beautiful courtesan, Chandramukhi, could not
  ease the pain of losing Paro. The pain ultimately brought his untimely death as he breathed his last at Paro's doorstep to keep his earlier promise that he would meet her at least once before his death.
  
  Devdas is a 'timeless' story of a tragic hero that is admired even today.

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  Dullborough Town (Unabridged)

  Charles Dickens

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  Charles Dickens was a writer and social critic who created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity.
  DULLBOROUGH TOWN: It lately happened that I found myself rambling about the scenes among which my earliest days were passed; scenes from which I departed when I was a child, and which I did not revisit until I was a man.

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  The Facts in the Case of...

  Edgar Allan Poe

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  Edgar Poe was born in Boston Massachusetts on 19th January 1809. His father abandoned his family the following year and within a year his mother had died leaving him an orphan.   
  He was taken in by the Allan family but never formally adopted although he now referred to himself as Edgar Allan Poe.  His father alternatively spoiled or chastised him and tension was frequent over gambling debts and monies for his education.  His university years to study ancient and modern languages was cut short by lack of money and he enlisted as a private in the army claiming he was 22, it is more probable he was 18. After 2 years he obtained a discharge in order to take up an appointment at the military academy, West Point, where he failed to become an officer. 
  Poe had released his 1st poetry volume in 1827 and after his 3rd turned to prose and placing short stories in several magazines and journals.  At age 26 he obtained a licence to marry his cousin.  She was a mere 13 but they stayed together until her death from tuberculosis 11 years after. 
  In January 1845 ‘The Raven’ was published and became an instant classic.  Thereafter followed the prose works for which he is now so rightly famed as a master of the mysterious and the macabre. 
  Edgar Allan Poe died at the tragically early age of 40 on 7th October 1849 in Baltimore, Maryland. Newspapers at the time reported Poe's death as ‘congestion of the brain’ or ‘cerebral inflammation’, common euphemisms for death from disreputable causes such as alcoholism but the actual cause of death remains a mystery.

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  A Fragment of Stained Glass -...

  D H Lawrence

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  David Herbert Lawrence was born on the 11th September 1885 in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, a coal mining town where the reality of a harsh life was only useful as experiences for future literary works. 
  He was educated at Beauvale Board School and became the first local boy to receive a scholarship to attend Nottingham High School. After 3 years he became a junior clerk in Haywood’s surgical appliances factory. He was also attempting a literary career which, in the short term, led to a teacher training position in Eastwood and later a teaching qualification from University College, Nottingham.  
  Lawrence’s first efforts were poems, short stories and a draft of ‘The White Peacock’. Moving to London and a teaching position in Croydon his writing attracted the attention of Ford Madox Ford, editor of The English Review, and he commissioned him to write ‘Odour of Chrysanthemums’.  
  Wanting to write full-time he now began work on what would become ‘Sons and Lovers.   
  In 1912 he met the older and married mother-of-three Frieda Weekley. They eloped to Germany and here Lawrence could see for himself the growing tensions with France.  So keen was his interest that he was arrested and accused of being a British spy.  
  In early 1914 Frieda obtained her divorce and they returned to Britain to be married just days before the outbreak of war. Owing to her German parentage, and his own public dislike of militarism and violence, the couple were treated with contempt and suspicion throughout the war years.  
  Despite this he continued to write but his reputation in England was so tarnished and, mirrored by his own disdain for the country, he and Frieda left England in November 1919, first for Europe and then America via Ceylon and Australia. 
  They bought a ranch in Taos, New Mexico and visited Mexico several times. The third visit in March 1925 caused a near fatal attack of malaria. To convalesce they moved to Florence. Here he continued work on ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ which for many years would cause controversy. A renewed interest in oil painting resulted in an exhibition in 1929 which was raided by the police and several works were confiscated.  
  D H Lawrence died of complications arising from a bout of tuberculosis on the 2nd of March 1930 in Vence, France.  He was 44.

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  Queen of the Black Coast

  Robert E. Howard

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  Queen of the Black Coast by Robert E. Howard is one of the most iconic tales of Conan the Barbarian—a gripping fantasy adventure filled with passion, piracy, and peril. When Conan flees tyranny and joins the infamous pirate queen Bêlit, their fiery romance ignites a saga of blood-soaked raids, supernatural horrors, and tragic destiny. Set against a backdrop of cursed rivers, haunted lands, and ruthless battles, this early 20th-century sword-and-sorcery classic blends high-seas adventure with themes of love, honor, and loss. Perfect for fans of epic fantasy, pulp adventure, and timeless tales of heroism and doom.

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