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  The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

  F. Scott Fitzgerald

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  This short story by Francis Scott Fitzgerald depicts the strange and curious life of Benjamin Button, born an old man and aging backwards. 
  Narrated by Michael Ward

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  The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll...

  Robert Louis Stevenson

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  Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is an 1886 Gothic novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between his old friend Dr. Henry Jekyll and a murderous criminal named Edward Hyde. 
   
  Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is one of the most famous pieces of English literature and is considered to be a defining book of the gothic horror genre. The novella has also had a sizable impact on popular culture, with the phrase "Jekyll and Hyde" being used in vernacular to refer to people with an outwardly good but sometimes shockingly evil nature.

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  Clarissa

  Samuel Richardson

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  Clarissa, or The History of a Young Lady is one of the longest novels in the English language. Written by Samuel Richardson over a period of several years and published in 1748, it is composed entirely of letters. Though this may seem daunting, the novel is highly regarded and is considered by many critics as one of the greatest works of English literature, appearing in several lists of the best British novels ever written. The novel tells the story of the young Clarissa Harlowe, eighteen years of age at the start of the novel. She is generally regarded by her family, neighbors, and friends as the most virtuous and kind young woman they know. But she is drawn into correspondence with Richard Lovelace, a well-born, rich young man regarded as something of a rake, when she attempts to reconcile a dispute between Lovelace and her rash brother. Lovelace, imagining this indicates her love for him, carries out a series of stratagems which result in him essentially abducting her from her family, from whom Clarissa then becomes estranged. Much of the correspondence consists of the letters between Clarissa and her close friend Anna Howe, and between Lovelace and his friend Jack Belford, to whom he confesses all of his stratagems and "inventions" in his assault on Clarissa's honor. The novel is thus a fascinating study of human nature. Much of Lovelace's actions and attitudes towards women are regrettably only too familiar to modern readers. And while Clarissa herself may be a little too good to be true, nevertheless she is shown as having some flaws which lead to a tragic outcome.

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  The Death of Ivan Ilyich - A...

  Leo Tolstoy

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  What if the life you built was nothing more than an illusion? 
  The Death of Ivan Ilyich is one of Leo Tolstoy’s most profound and thought-provoking works—a gripping tale of a man forced to face his own mortality. Ivan Ilyich, a high-ranking judge, has lived his life according to society’s expectations, seeking prestige, wealth, and comfort. But when a sudden illness begins to consume him, he is left utterly alone, abandoned by the very people he once sought to impress. 
  As his body deteriorates, Ivan is plagued by a terrifying realization: he has spent his entire life avoiding the truth. His pain and suffering are not merely physical—they are the symptoms of a life lived without genuine meaning. Through his agony, he embarks on a final journey of self-discovery, leading to a moment of clarity that transforms his understanding of existence itself. 
  What You’ll Discover in This Modern Translation:A Profound Exploration of Mortality – Experience Tolstoy’s masterful meditation on the fear of death and the search for meaning.A Powerful Critique of Society’s Illusions – Witness how social ambition and materialism leave Ivan Ilyich spiritually empty.A Masterpiece in a Fresh, Readable Style – This modern adaptation preserves Tolstoy’s brilliance while making it accessible for contemporary readers.A Story That Resonates Across Time – Reflect on the questions that define our own lives: What truly matters? How should we live? 
  More than just a novel, The Death of Ivan Ilyich is a timeless philosophical masterpiece that forces us to confront the ultimate question—how do we live a life worth remembering? 
  Can Ivan Ilyich find peace before it’s too late? 
  Get your copy today and experience one of Tolstoy’s greatest literary achievements.

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  Inspiration An - From their pens...

  George Gissing

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  George Robert Gissing was born on November 22nd, 1857 in Wakefield, Yorkshire.  
  He was educated at Back Lane School in Wakefield. Gissing loved school. He was enthusiastic with a thirst for learning and always diligent.  By the age of ten he was reading Dickens, a lifelong hero. 
  In 1872 Gissing won a scholarship to Owens College. Whilst there Gissing worked hard but remained solitary. Unfortunately, he had run short of funds and stole from his fellow students. He was arrested, prosecuted, found guilty, expelled and sentenced to a month's hard labour in 1876. 
  On release he decided to start over.  In September 1876 he travelled to the United States. Here he wrote short stories for the Chicago Tribune and other newspapers. On his return home he was ready for novels. 
  Gissing self-published his first novel but it failed to sell.  His second was acquired but never published. His writing career was static.  Something had to change.  And it did. 
  By 1884 The Unclassed was published.  Now everything he wrote was published. Both Isabel Claren-don and Demos appeared in 1886. He mined the lives of the working class as diligently as any capitalist. 
  In 1889 Gissing used the proceeds from the sale of The Nether World to go to Italy. This trip formed the basis for his 1890 work The Emancipated. 
  Gissing's works began to command higher payments. New Grub Street (1891) brought a fee of £250.  
  Short stories followed and in 1895, three novellas were published; Eve's Ransom, The Paying Guest and Sleeping Fires. Gissing was careful to keep up with the changing attitudes of his audience.  
  Unfortunately, he was also diagnosed as suffering from emphysema. The last years of his life were spent as a semi-invalid in France but he continued to write. 1899; The Crown of Life. Our Friend the Charlatan appeared in 1901, followed two years later by The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft. 
  George Robert Gissing died aged 46 on December 28th, 1903 after catching a chill on a winter walk.

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  Heart of Darkness

  Joseph Conrad

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  Heart of Darkness (1899) is a short novel by Joseph Conrad, written as a frame narrative, about Charles Marlow's life as an ivory transporter down the Congo River in Central Africa.    The river is "a mighty big river, that you could see on the map, resembling an immense snake uncoiled, with its head in the sea, its body at rest curving afar over a vast country, and its tail lost in the depths of the land." In the course of his travel in central Africa, Marlow becomes obsessed with Mr. Kurtz.    The story is a complex exploration of the attitudes people hold on what constitutes a barbarian versus a civilized society and the attitudes on colonialism and racism that were part and parcel of European imperialism. Originally published as a three-part serial story, in Blackwood's Magazine, the novella Heart of Darkness has been variously published and translated into many languages.    In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Heart of Darkness as the sixty-seventh of the hundred best novels in English of the twentieth century. Short Summary Aboard the Nellie, anchored in the River Thames near Gravesend, England, Charles Marlow tells his fellow sailors about the events that led to his appointment as captain of a river-steamboat for an ivory trading company. He describes his passage on ships to the wilderness to the Company's station, which strikes Marlow as a scene of devastation: disorganized, machinery parts here and there, periodic demolition explosions, weakened native black men who have been demoralized, in chains, literally being worked to death, and strolling behind them a white Company man in a uniform carrying a rifle.    At this station Marlow meets the Company's chief accountant who tells him of a Mr. Kurtz, and explains that Kurtz is a first-class agent.

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