Publisher: Charles River Editors
The Mayor of Casterbridge is one of Thomas Hardy's classic novels. Herkalion Press has included a linked table of contents for easy navigation.
The Secret of the Silver Car (1922) is a novel by Wyndham Martyn, in which Trent, the master criminal solves a case as a detective. Excerpt from the book: "Stop him," the second officer yelled, "he's going to jump overboard!" The man who dashed past him and through a group of passengers waving hands at friends on the deck below, was too quick for those who sought to stay him. He balanced himself for a moment on the rail and then jumped ten feet down to the pier. The gangplanks had already been withdrawn and the great liner bound for New York was too mighty a piece of momentum to pause now. Furthermore her commander was going down the river on a favoring tide and nothing short of a signal from the port authorities would have made him put back for a passenger who had chosen such a singular moment for a leap into the dark…Show book
Known mainly for his tales of adventure, this work of science fiction by Jack London is set in a post-apocalyptic future. It's 2072, sixty years after the scarlet plague has depopulated the planet. James Howard Smith is one of the few survivors of the pre-plague era left alive in the San Francisco area, and as he realizes his time grows short, he tries to impart the value of knowledge and wisdom to his grandsons. Through his narrative, we learn how the plague spread throughout the world and of the struggles of the handful of survivors it left in its wake. The Scarlet Plague was originally published in London Magazine in 1912Show book
The Scottish author’s literary masterpiece—the fantastical story of a young boy’s adventures with a woman of supernatural powers. Historically, At the Back of the North Wind ranks as George MacDonald’s most well-known and enduring book, the haunting tale of little Diamond, a simple London cabman’s son and his dreamy encounters with the mysterious, wise, powerful, comforting, and occasionally frightening lady known as North Wind. Their eerie nighttime adventures have captivated readers old and young ever since the book’s publication in 1871. It has been published in more editions than any of MacDonald’s works, and ranks as one of the few (perhaps only) title of MacDonald’s that has likely never been out of print. Its skillfully woven intermingling of realism and fantasy set MacDonald apart as a writer of uniqueness and distinction in the early 1870s as his reputation widened. This edition for The Cullen Collection is unedited in any way.Show book
Here is a tale straight from the fireside. We are compelled to follow the humble and mysterious figure of the linen weaver Silas Marner, on his journey from solitude and exile to the warmth and joy of family life. His path is a strange one; when he loses his hoard of hard-earned coins all seems to be lost, but in place of the golden guineas come the golden curls of a child – and from desolate misery comes triumphant joy.Show book
Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. A few pages can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere. In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted ‘Top Tens’ across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions – Why that story? Why that author? The theme itself will form the boundaries for our stories which range from well-known classics, newly told, to stories that modern times have overlooked but perfectly exemplify the theme. Throughout the volume our authors whether of instant recognition or new to you are all leviathans of literature. Some you may disagree with but they will get you thinking; about our choices and about those you would have made. If this volume takes you on a path to discover more of these miniature masterpieces then we have all gained something. A decade of catastrophic worldwide war. Empires in tectonic collision, a society heaving under the yoke, tired of sacrifice, ready for revolution. In literature ideas were explored and detailed revealing a world and people that seem so long ago but also very near. 1 - The Top 10 - The 1910's - The Men - An Introduction 2 - The Dead - Part 1 by James Joyce 3 - The Dead - Part 2 by James Joyce 4 - In the Penal Colony by Franz Kafka 5 - The Interlopers by Saki the pseudonym for H H Munro 6 - Odour of Chrysanthemums by D H Lawrence 7 - The Revolutionist by Mikhail Petrovich Artzybashev 8 - Casting the Runes by M R James 9 - Carnacki, The Ghost Finder - No 1 - The Gateway of the Monster by William Hope Hodgson 10 - Hands by Sherwood Anderson 11 - The Matador of the Five Towns by Arnold Bennett 12 - August Heat by W F HarveyShow book
In A Study in Scarlet, Holmes and Watson's first mystery, the pair are summoned to a south London house where they find a dead man whose contorted face is a twisted mask of horror. The body is unmarked by violence but on the wall a mysterious word has been written in blood.The police are baffled by the crime and its circumstances. But when Sherlock Holmes applies his brilliantly logical mind to the problem he uncovers a tragic tale of love and deadly revenge...Show book
