Other books that might interest you

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  Marriage à la Mode

  Katherine Mansfield

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  Marriage à la Mode is a 1921 short story by Katherine Mansfield. It was first published in The Sphere on 31 December 1921, and later reprinted in The Garden Party and Other Stories. - The title is a play on the phrase mariage à la mode in French, which means 'fashionable marriage'.
  William would usually buy his children sweets because he knows his wife won't let him buy them 'big donkeys and engines', as that would be unseemly. This time he buys fruit instead.

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  The Wild Duck

  Henrik Ibsen

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  "The Wild Duck" is a play written by Henrik Ibsen, a renowned Norwegian playwright. First published in 1884, it is considered one of Ibsen's most complex and psychologically intense works. "The Wild Duck" delves into themes of truth, illusion, and the consequences of deception, exploring the effects of hidden truths on individuals and their relationships. 
   
  The play revolves around the Ekdal family and their complex dynamics. Gregers Werle, a well-intentioned but idealistic outsider, enters their lives and sets in motion a chain of events that unravel long-held secrets. Central to the story is the metaphor of the wild duck, which represents the ideal of truth and the consequences of disrupting the illusions that people construct to protect themselves. 
   
  Through the characters' interactions and revelations, Ibsen explores the destructive nature of hidden truths and the self-deception that individuals engage in to maintain a fragile sense of happiness. The play raises questions about the value of truth, the masks people wear to navigate their lives, and the consequences of confronting or avoiding painful realities. 
   
  Ibsen's skillful character development and intricate plot twists make "The Wild Duck" a powerful exploration of human nature and the complexities of interpersonal relationships. The play challenges societal norms and exposes the destructive effects of maintaining illusions. It serves as a critique of social hypocrisy and the consequences of clinging to idealistic notions of truth. 
   
  "The Wild Duck" continues to be regarded as a significant work in the canon of modern drama. Its exploration of truth, illusion, and the consequences of deception resonates with audiences, prompting contemplation of the human capacity for self-deception and the inherent complexities of navigating relationships and society. 
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  The Minerva Club

  Victor Canning

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  The Minerva Club might look like any other London gentlemen’s club but behind its respectable and discreet façade, some of the most ambitious schemes for heists, money-making and evasion of the law are being worked out. It’s an exclusive club for criminals. Entry qualification: members must have served a prison sentence of two years minimum. Though the club’s criminal ventures don’t always go as planned… 
  From trying to break into an old prison cell and stealing a stash of jewels hidden during a previous incarceration, love getting in the way during a hideout from the police, a cleverly planned break-in being interrupted by an unexpected guest, to figuring out where to steal a last-minute wedding cake – the club’s amiable criminals somehow always achieve their goal in the most surprising ways.   
  This collection of five short stories follows the Minerva Club’s (mis)adventures and evokes the very best of humorous classic crime fiction.

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  Emma

  Jane Austen

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  Emma, is a novel about youthful hubris and romantic misunderstandings. It is set in the fictional country village of Highbury and the surrounding estates of Hartfield, Randalls and Donwell Abbey, and involves the relationships among people from a small number of families. The novel was first published in December 1815, with its title page listing a publication date of 1816. As in her other novels, Austen explores the concerns and difficulties of genteel women living in Georgian–Regency England. Emma is a comedy of manners, and depicts issues of marriage, sex, age, and social status.Before she began the novel, Austen wrote, "I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like."  In the first sentence, she introduces the title character as "Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and a happy disposition... had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her." Emma is spoiled, headstrong, and self-satisfied; she greatly overestimates her own matchmaking abilities; she is blind to the dangers of meddling in other people's lives; and her imagination and perceptions often lead her astray.Emma, written after Austen's move to Chawton, was her last novel to be published during her lifetime, while Persuasion, the last complete novel Austen wrote, was published posthumously.The novel has been adapted for a number of films, television programmes and stage plays.Jane Austen was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage in the pursuit of favorable social standing and economic security. Her works critique the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century literary realism.

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  The Overtone

  D H Lawrence

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  'The Overtone' looks at a sterile marriage with no children and no spontaneous sexual feeling between the couple. Lawrence seems to lose interest in the story, although he introduces a younger woman, who walks away baffled at the end. His purpose seems to be to analyse the relationship between men and women in religious terms - Christianity for the women and the old Pan religion for the men. Lawrence produces some fine writing but the argument at the end of the story seems contrived.

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  The Advanced Lady

  Katherine Mansfield

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  The Advanced Lady is a short story by Katherine Mansfield: “Do you think we might ask her to come with us,” said Fräulein Elsa, retying her pink sash ribbon before my mirror. “You know, although she is so intellectual, I cannot help feeling convinced that she has some secret sorrow. And Lisa told me this morning, as she was turning out my room, that she remains hours and hours by herself, writing; in fact Lisa says she is writing a book! I suppose that is why she never cares to mingle with us, and has so little time for her husband and the child.”

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