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  The Marquis of Lossie

  George MacDonald

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  A gothic novel of romance, danger, and deception—the sequel to the acclaimed Malcolm from the 19th-century Scottish literary master.   This 1877 sequel to Malcolm begins where the first volume of the doublet left off, at Lossie House in Cullen’s fictionalized Portlossie. Soon thereafter Malcolm travels to London to rescue Florimel from the harmful influences of duplicitous friends who do not have her best interests in mind. Kidnapping her out of London, Malcolm’s and Florimel’s return to the north coast of Scotland brings to a stirring climax the divergent threads of mystery and intrigue woven through this triumphant literary tapestry. It is a classic Victorian romance, complete with rogues, inheritances, castles, and of course true love. Of The Marquis of Lossie, Michael Phillips says, “Escaping a common pitfall of sequels not measuring up to the level of excellence of their predecessor, MacDonald crafts an equally engaging, and in some ways an even heightened dramatic crescendo to Malcolm’s story. With the setting so altered, this is a spectacular creative achievement.”

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  The Drover's Wife

  Henry Lawson

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  Henry Lawson's poignant tale of a woman bringing up her four children alone in the Australian outback. When her family is threatened by a venomous snake that has invaded their home, she (with the help of Alligator, the family's dog-of-all-breeds) must find a way to defend her children.

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  Poems of the Elder Edda -...

  Anonymous

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  The great poetic tradition of pre-Christian Scandinavia is known to us almost exclusively though the Prose Edda, a collection of narrative literature, and its companion, the Poetic Edda. The poems originated in Iceland, Norway, and Greenland between the ninth and 13th centuries, when they were compiled in a unique manuscript known as the Codex Regius. The poems are primarily lyrical rather than narrative. Terry's fine translation includes the magnificent cosmological poem, "The Völuspá", didactic poems concerned with mythology and the everyday conduct of life, and heroic poems, of which an important group is concerned with the story of Sigurd and Brynhild.

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  The Duel - And Other Stories

  Anton Chekhov

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  Classic tales of changing lives and loves from one of Russia’s greatest playwrights, a master of the modern short story. Morality, philosophy, and science merge in “The Duel,” the classic tale of transformation in which educated Russian aristocrat Ivan Andreitch Laevsky falls in love with the married Nadya Fyodorovna and runs off to the Black Sea with her. As their passion wanes, Nadya turns to other men for comfort, while Ivan indulges in heavy drinking and gambling. When he receives word that Nadya’s husband has died, freeing them to marry, Ivan hides it. He knows he cannot marry a woman he no longer loves but struggles with the idea of leaving Nadya penniless and alone.   Soon Ivan’s conundrum becomes the topic of conversation around a doctor’s dinner table. When their discussion touches on evolution, one of the doctor’s boarders—a zoologist—states that someone with Ivan’s moral failings should not be allowed to reproduce. As events unfold, setting Ivan and the zoologist on a path to confrontation, the character of each man will be revealed—for better and for worse.   Other short stories collected in this volume include “Excellent People,” “Mire,” “Neighbours,” “At Home,” “Expensive Lessons,” “The Princess,” and “The Chemist’s Wife.”  

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  Fat and Thin

  Anton Chekhov

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  "Fat and Thin" is a satirical short story by Anton Chekhov, first published in the No. 40, 1 October 1883 issue of Oskolki magazine, signed A. Chekhonte (А. Чехонте). The plot of the short story "Fat and Thin" in its original version was based on an anecdote, and the conflict between the characters arose accidentally, due to the involuntary oversight of the "Thin". At a railway station the fat one, Mischa, accidentally meets the thin one, Porfiri. The thin man travels accompanied by his wife and son. The two old school friends greet each other in an exuberant and informal manner. A conversation follows, and it is about careers of both of them as government officials.

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  Adventure of the Missing...

  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

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  "The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter", one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 13 stories in the cycle collected as The Return of Sherlock Holmes. It was originally published in The Strand Magazine in 1904 with illustrations by Sidney Paget. Mr. Cyril Overton of Trinity College, Cambridge, comes to Holmes seeking his help in Godfrey Staunton's disappearance. Staunton is the key man on Overton's rugby union team (who plays at the three-quarters position, hence the story's title) and they will not win the important match tomorrow against Oxford if Staunton cannot be found.

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