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  Agnes Grey

  Anne Brontë

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  "Agnes Grey" is a novel written by Anne Brontë, the youngest of the Brontë sisters. The book was first published in 1847 under the pseudonym Acton Bell. It is a semi-autobiographical novel that provides a poignant and insightful portrayal of the life of a governess in the 19th century. The novel follows the life of the protagonist, Agnes Grey, who becomes a governess to support her financially struggling family. Agnes faces various challenges and hardships in her role as a governess, dealing with unruly and spoiled children as well as indifferent and sometimes cruel employers. The narrative explores themes of social class, morality, and the limited opportunities available to women in the Victorian era. Through Agnes's experiences, the novel offers a critical commentary on the treatment of governesses and the prevailing social norms of the time.

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  The Queen of Spades - The...

  Alexander Pushkin

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  Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was born on 26th May 1799 in Moscow into a family of Russian nobility. 
   
  Raised by nursemaids and French tutors in French he learnt Russian only via the household staff. 
   
  He graduated from the prestigious Imperial Lyceum, near St Petersburg and plunged into the vibrant and raucous intellectual youth culture of what was then the capital of the Russian Empire.  
   
  In 1820, he published his first long poem, ‘Ruslan and Ludmila’, with much controversy about both subject and style.  Pushkin was heavily influenced by the French Enlightenment and gravitated, with other literary radicals, towards social reform angering the Government. 
   
  His early literary work and reputation was poetic and written as he travelled around the Empire or engaged himself in various rebellions against the Ottoman Empire.  A clash with his own government after his poem, ‘Ode to Liberty’, was found among the belongings of the Decembrist Uprising rebels meant two years of internal exile at his mother's rural estate.  His friends and family continually petitioned for his release, sending letters and meeting with Tsar Alexander I and then Tsar Nicholas I.   
   
  In 1825, whilst at his Mother’s estate, Pushkin wrote his most famous play, the drama ‘Boris Godunov’.  
   
  Upon meeting with Tsar Nicholas I, Pushkin obtained his release and began work as the Tsar's Titular Counsel of the National Archives.  However, because of the earlier problems the tsar retained control of everything Pushkin published, and he was banned from travelling at will. 
   
  Around 1828, Pushkin met the 16-year-old Natalia Goncharova, one of the most talked-about beauties of Moscow.  After much hesitation, Natalia accepted his marriage proposal after she received assurances that the government had no intentions to persecute the libertarian poet.  When the Tsar gave Pushkin the lowest court title, Gentleman of the Chamber, he became enraged, feeling that the Tsar intended to humiliate him. 
   
  In the year 1831, during Pushkin's growing literary influence, he met Nikolai Gogol.  Recognising his gifts Pushkin supported him and published his short stories in his own magazine ‘The Contemporary’. 
   
  By the autumn of 1836, Pushkin was falling into greater and greater debt and facing scandalous rumours that his wife was having an affair.  
   
  In January 1837, Pushkin sent a ‘highly insulting letter’ to his wife’s pursuer, Georges-Charles de Heeckeren d'Anthès.  The only answer could be a challenge to a duel. 
   
  It took place on 27th January.  D'Anthès fired first, critically wounding Pushkin; the bullet entered at his hip and penetrated his abdomen.  Two days later Alexander Pushkin died of peritonitis.  He was 37. 
   
  One of Pushkin’s most lauded stories ‘The Queen of Spades’ takes on gambling and the need for just a tiny piece of information that will turn the game in his favour and take life to a level that is sure to be both deserved and his by right.

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  Cordelia the Crude - From their...

  Wallace Thurman

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  The bookshelves of American literature are incredible collections that have gathered together centu-ries of very talented authors.  From this continent their fame spread and whilst among their number many are now forgotten or neglected their talents endure.  Among them is Wallace Thurman.

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  Tales Of Shakespeare

  Charles Lamb, Mary Lamb

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  The following Tales are meant to be submitted to the young reader as an introduction to the study of Shakespeare, for which purpose his words are used whenever it seemed possible to bring them in; and in whatever has been added to give them the regular form of a connected story, diligent care has been taken to select such words as might least interrupt the effect of the beautiful English tongue in which he wrote: therefore, words introduced into our language since his time have been as far as possible avoided

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  Timeless Terrors Vol 2 - Volume...

  Various Authors

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  The veil between life and death grows thin once more. Timeless Terrors: Volume Two gathers six haunting masterworks of classic and Gothic horror, each a descent into the strange, the spectral, and the doomed. Step into worlds where music can hold back madness, where fate is written in heat and shadow, and where no mask can hide from death itself. 
  Witness the oppressive dread of August Heat, the dark justice of The Cats of Ulthar, the haunted sorrow of The Boarded Window, and the otherworldly melodies of The Music of Erich Zann. Journey onward to The Tomb, where obsession crosses the threshold of mortality, and end beneath the crimson glow of The Masque of the Red Death, Poe’s chilling vision of plague and retribution. 
  This volume includes: 
  August Heat, The Cats of Ulthar, The Boarded Window, The Music of Erich Zann, The Tomb, and The Masque of the Red Death. 
  Through the voice of horror author Jonathan Dunne, these timeless stories rise again from the crypt of literature’s darkest imagination. Immerse yourself in tales that echo through eternity — where every silence hides a secret, and every breath may be your last.

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  Gulliver's Travels

  Jonathan Swift

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  A shipwrecked traveler. A world of tiny people. A journey that reveals how strange humans really are.
  Lemuel Gulliver sets sail expecting ordinary voyages—only to encounter miniature kingdoms, giants, flying islands, talking horses, and societies that turn his understanding of civilization upside down. With sharp wit and boundless imagination, Swift transforms each adventure into a clever, funny, and biting reflection on politics, pride, and human folly.
  
  Celebrated as "one of the greatest satires ever written," Gulliver's Travels blends humor, fantasy, and insight into a story that entertains as much as it challenges. Its bold ideas and unforgettable worlds have captivated readers for centuries.
  
  If you enjoy clever adventures, thought-provoking storytelling, and classics that reveal new meanings with every reading, this timeless novel is a must-have.
  
  Open the book—and follow Gulliver into lands where everything is strange, yet strangely familiar.

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