. .We know what life was like for Victoria and Albert, but what was it like for a commoner? How did it feel to cook with coal and wash with tea leaves? Drink beer for breakfast and clean your teeth with cuttlefish? Dress in whalebone and feed opium to the baby? Catch the omnibus to work and wash laundry while wearing a corset? How To Be A Victorian is a new approach to history, a journey back in time more intimate, personal, and physical than anything before. It is one told from the inside out--how our forebears interacted with the practicalities of their world--and it's a history of those things that make up the day-to-day reality of life, matters so small and seemingly mundane that people scarcely mention them in their diaries or letters. Moving through the rhythm of the day, from waking up to the sound of a knocker-upper man poking a stick at your window, to retiring for nocturnal activities, when the door finally closes on twenty-four hours of life, this astonishing guide illuminates the overlapping worlds of health, sex, fashion, food, school, work, and play.If you liked The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century or 1000 Years of Annoying the French, you will love this book.

    It's quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to Finishing School.Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is a great trial to her poor mother. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper manners--and the family can only hope that company never sees her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. So she enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality. But Sophronia soon realizes the school is not quite what her mother might have hoped. At Mademoiselle Geraldine's, young ladies learn to finish...everything. Certainly, they learn the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but the also learn to deal out death, diversion, and espionage--in the politest possible ways, of course. Sophronia and her friends are in for a rousing first year's education.Set in the same world as the Parasol Protectorate, this YA series debut is filled with all the saucy adventure and droll humor Gail's legions of fans have come to adore.

    But by May of the same year, Wilde was in Reading prison sentenced to hard labour. 'De Profundis' is an epistolic account of Oscar Wilde's spiritual journey while in prison, and describes his new, shocking conviction that 'the supreme vice is shallowness'. This edition also includes further letters to his wife, his friends, the Home Secretary, newspaper editors and his lover Lord Alfred Douglas - Bosie - himself, as well as 'The Ballad of Reading Gaol', the heart-rending poem about a man sentenced to hang for the murder of the woman he loved.This Penguin edition is based on the definitive Complete Letters, edited by Wilde's grandson Merlin Holland. Colm Tóibín's introduction explores Wilde's duality in love, politics and literature. This edition also includes notes on the text and suggested further reading.Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin. His three volumes of short fiction, The Happy Prince, Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and A House of Pomegranates, together with his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, won him a reputation as a writer with an original talent, a reputation enhanced by the phenomenal success of his society comedies - Lady Windermere's Fan, A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband and The Importance of Being Earnest.Colm Tóibín is the author of five novels, including The Blackwater Lightship and The Master, and a collection of stories, Mothers and Sons. His essay collection Love in a Dark Time: Gay Lives from Wilde to Almodovar appeared in 2002. He is the editor of The Penguin Book of Irish Fiction.

    And so begins her new life with Noah Tuke.But instead of marital bliss, Harriet finds herself in the cramped farmhouse which Noah calls home, and in this overcrowded and angry household she meets with hostility and bitterness. The only person who offers her friendship is Noah's brother, Fletcher. Gradually she learns the true reasons behind Noah's desire to marry her - and realises that the only person she finds real companionship with is the person she can't possibly be with.

    Edited by respected anthologist George Mann, and including a story by Mann himself.Introduction by George Mann The Loss of Chapter Twenty-One by Mark HodderHolmes and the Indelicate Widow by Mags L HallidayThe Demon Slasher of Seven Sisters by Cavan ScottThe Post-Modern Prometheus by Nick KymeMrs Hudson at the Christmas Hotel by Paul MagrsThe Case of the Night Crawler by George MannThe Adventure of the Locked Carriage by Stuart DouglasThe Tragic Affair of the Martian Ambassador by Eric BrownThe Adventure of the Swaddled Railwayman by Richard Dinnick  The Pennyroyal Society by Kelly HaleThe Persian Slipper by Steve LockleyThe Property of a Thief by Mark WrightWoman’s Work by David BarnettThe Fallen Financier by James Lovegrove

    Dodge has a talent for painting vibrant scenes and stirring up strong emotions in readers. A well-crafted, immersive, and memorable story sure to appeal to fans of historical romance.5 stars!" - NY Literary MagazineSpring 1867. Luke Harcourt has made a home for himself on a mountain in the wild Canadian forests. On a supply run to town he comes across the Bride Ship. One of the women catches his eye; although dirty, her clothes speak of a gentle refinement and her eyes of desperation. Luke knows he can't leave her there. He buys her on a whim, compelled to save her from a life of prostitution and slavery. Hope Booker is terrified when she's sold. But Luke allays her fears by promising not to touch her, unless she asks him to. She's frightened, confused and facing danger every day on their mountain. As she gets to know him, Hope is tempted to open her heart to Luke but, uncertain about his feelings, she’s afraid the biggest danger is falling in love with her husband. As Luke and Hope navigate their way through falling in love and facing wolves, rapids and Indians, a string of events ensue that tear them apart, leaving Hope stranded alone on the mountain in one of the worst winters in decades. Why did Luke disappear, and will he return? Can Hope face a winter on the mountain alone? Harcourt’s Mountain is a tale of courage and love. Elaine Dodge paints a vivid picture of frontier life and draws you into this epic story right from the first page. Embrace this journey as you risk the wild Canadian West with Hope and Luke and witness their trials, misfortunes and ultimately the love they both deserve.

    He needs to be a man of fortune and highly respectable in order to restore both her family's lost wealth and reputation. She enters the Marriage Mart with all flags flying, determined to find the right bachelor.But Louisa’s hopes are dashed when the Bishop of Hargate drops dead at her feet—and she is shockingly accused of murder! Soon, Louisa’s so-called friends begin shunning her, because the company of a suspected killer is never desirable in polite society.The problem comes to the ears of Detective Inspector Lloyd Fellows, by-blow of the decadent Scottish Mackenzie family and an inspector for Scotland Yard. He has shared two passionate kisses with Lady Louisa–and vows to clear her name. For not only does he know she’s innocent, he recognizes he’s falling for the lovely lady.Fellows is Louisa's only hope of restoring her family's honor—and it is he alone who intrigues Louisa in a way that may be even more scandalous than murder…* Includes a preview of the upcoming novel, “THE WICKED DEEDS OF DANIEL MACKENZIE”

    This is a short story (about 30 pages) that takes place after the end of As Shadows Fade, the fifth book in the Victoria Gardella Vampire Chronicles series.It includes Victoria Gardella, Max Pesaro, and Sebastian Vioget.***Please note: There will be spoilers for the entire series in this short story.

    Her compositions only have worth when they are published under her brother's name, yet this deception barely enables them to scrape out a living in the poorest quarter of London.Meets the Master... Darien Reynard, the most celebrated musician in Europe, pursues success with a single-minded intensity. When he comes across Becker's compositions, he knows that this music will secure his place in history. Darien tracks the composer down and, with some difficulty, convinces the man to tour with him. Mr. Becker agrees, but with the most unusual condition that he bring along his sister...Set against the glittering backdrop of 19th century celebrity, Sonata for a Scoundrel is the newest full-length historical romance novel from RITA-nominated author Anthea Lawson.

    Two years younger than Queen Victoria, Jessica is the well-educated daughter of a deceased professor. Sole support of her widowed mother and avoiding an unacceptable marriage prospect, Jessica has secretly collected a flock of cast-off hens, and is supplementing her income hoping to improve her future.Jessica is alarmed when horsemen race headlong through the twilight on the footpath she has inadvertently cut to the henhouse. She stops the charge short of disaster to find the threat is not many horses, but one magnificent, riderless runaway. Ignorant of the dangers in handling an overwrought stallion, Jessica calms the animal. She calls him “Sweetness.”Backtracking, Jessica finds the missing rider, twenty-eight-year-old Devlin Miracle, the arrogant Twelfth Duke of Fornay, badly injured, and waiting for daylight. But, for this aristocrat, there will be no daylight. His injuries have left him blind.Struggling against their disparities, Devlin and Jessica resist, but sometimes love will not be ignored.Sensuality Level: Behind Closed Doors

    Assigned to the task is his attorney’s daughter, prim Belle Oakhurst. As they travel to England together on a luxurious ocean liner, their tempestuous relationship encounters more than rough seas. Although Wesley is increasingly attracted to Belle, she is already engaged. While Belle begins to regret her hasty promise to marry, she is bound by honor and duty to keep her pledge. Furthermore, a thoughtless fabrication on her part threatens to expose her as a liar. Neither Wesley nor Belle can foresee that their voyage across the Atlantic will be fraught with peril, and will cost more than one man his life.(Same book as ASIN: B00DO5DAPK, but with new cover)

    Fogbound streets become a battleground between a literary star and a brilliant murderer, whose lives are linked by secrets long buried but never forgotten.

    Riddled with guilt, he prays that during the Crimean War an enemy’s bullet will end the consuming torture he can’t escape. Instead, that bullet finds his best friend. Now there isn’t enough whiskey in England to make him forget all the people who have died because of him. But before he can drown himself in an endless sea of liquor, he must keep the promise he made his dying friend. Except that promise is sure to risk an innocent woman’s life—and his own battered heart.When her brother’s sudden death leaves her destitute, Lady Anne Carmichael knows she must marry. Although her dark beauty earns her the attention of London’s most eligible bachelors, only one man can stir her soul with his kisses. Griffin Blackmoor is everything she swore she never wanted. So why does his love feel like exactly what she needs?

    If it were not for a weather-beaten plaque on the gatepost few would realise that beyond the rusted gates there lies, in unmarked paupers' graves, 2,861 former patients of the once formidable Menston Asylum. To be admitted to a lunatic asylum in the nineteenth century was fraught with danger, and in many cases meant a life sentence hidden away from society. It is estimated as many as 30 per cent of the asylum population was incarcerated incorrectly and up until 1959 there was no form of appeal. Looking into the faces of the long dead, the forgotten former inmates of this once bustling institution, it is impossible not to feel a certain sadness at their plight. Abandoned by an intolerant society and their families these people all had one thing in common, when death came there was no one to shed a tear or collect their remains. They were given a pauper's funeral and forgotten, until now.

    New light is cast upon past lives they thought they knew so well, and suddenly their futures become intertwined. The death of her uncle will leave eighteen-year-old Josephine King an orphan, an heiress and the owner of a priceless diamond, The Eye of the Khan. For Lilith Marks, a chance finally arises to end her life as a highly paid prostitute and to prove herself as a serious businesswoman. Set against the backdrop of the great gas-lit city, the two women are drawn together in their quest to discover just who killed the man they both loved. Diamonds & Dust is a page-whizzing narrative, with an intricate and absorbing plot that entices you through the teeming streets of Victorian London. If Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle all washed up on a desert island, they might have come up with something like this.

    A newish Police Force, a rapidly expanding Town.Meet Rookie Constable Samson Shepherd and his experienced mentor Constable John Beddows.Watch as they take on a community gripped by crime, intolerant to law and law enforcement, rich preying on poor and vulnerable, and getting richer by the minute.Compare and contrast the arrogance, decadence and depravity of the emerging Industrialists, to the grim, and often short, lives of the poor.The survival of the fittest, or the survival of the richest?Watch crime fighting and criminal investigation grow and flourish, as Shepherd, Beddows and their colleagues in Leicester Borough Police, meet the bad guys head on.In this, the first of a series featuring Samson Shepherd, John Beddows and 'The Borough Boys', the body of a young boy is found floating in the River Soar in the heart of Leicester.Very quickly, it becomes apparent that this body should not have been found.Thus begins a series of events, which will expose a network of local people, linked together through murder, corruption, child exploitation and depravity.Many wars were fought on home soil, and this is but one!Good versus Bad, but who will have the nonce to take control?

    For Emily, accepting the proposal of Philip, Viscount Ashton, was an easy way to escape her stifling home life so when her new husband dies on safari, she feels little grief for she barely knew the man. Now, two years on, when she finds his journals she discovers a very different man to the one she thought she had married – one who was a gentleman scholar who was very much in love with his new wife. Emily becomes fascinated with this new image of her dead husband and immerses herself in his intellectual pursuits, studying Greek and spending time in the quiet corridors of the British Museum. But there, amid priceless ancient statues, she uncovers a dark, dangerous secret involving stolen artifacts from the Greco-Roman galleries… and as she sets out to solve the crime she discovers even more surprises about her dead husband… A Poisoned Season London’s social season is in full swing, and the aristocracy can’t stop whispering about a certain gentleman who claims to be the direct descendant of Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette. Drawing rooms, boudoirs and ballrooms are also abuzz with the latest news of an audacious cat burglar who has been making off with precious items that once belonged to the ill-fated queen. But light gossip turns serious when the owner of one of the pilfered treasures is murdered and the thief develops a twisted obsession with Lady Emily Ashton as a brewing scandal threatens both her reputation and her private life. A Fatal Waltz A deadly dance between two implacable enemies… At her friend Ivy’s behest, Lady Emily Ashton reluctantly agrees to attend a house party at the country estate of Lord Fortescue, a man she finds as personally odious as he is politically powerful. But on arrival she finds him to be the least of her problems. Among the guests is Kristiana von Lange, an Austrian countess who had once been linked romantically with Emily’s fiancé, Colin Hargreaves, and she makes no secret of that fact, tormenting Emily for her own amusement. Annoying for Emily – but then matters turn deadly serious when Lord Fortescue is found murdered and his protégé, Robert Brandon – Ivy’s husband – is arrested for the crime. Emily’s efforts to clear her friend’s name take her to Vienna, a place of glittering balls, sordid back streets, chic cafes… and home to her nemesis, the Countess von Lange… Tears of Pearl Set amid the beauty and decadence of the Ottoman Empire, Lady Emily's latest adventure is full of intrigue, treachery, and romance. Looking forward to the joys of connubial bliss, newlyweds Lady Emily and Colin Hargreaves, diplomats of the British Empire, set out toward Turkey for an exotic honeymoon. But on their first night in the city, a harem girl is found murdered, strangled in the courtyard of the sultan's lavish Yildiz Palace. Sir Richard St. Clare, an Englishman who works at the embassy in Constantinople, is present and recognizes the girl as his own daughter who was kidnapped twenty years earlier. Emily and Colin promise the heartbroken father that they'll find her killer, but as the investigation gains speed, they find that appearance can be deceiving-especially within the confines of the seraglio. As a woman, Emily is given access to the forbidden world of the harem and quickly discovers that its mysterious, sheltered walls offer no protection from a ruthless murderer.

    By the 1880s it was a confident nation of progress and prosperity, transformed not just by industrialisation but by new attitudes to politics, education, women and the working class. That it should have changed so radically was very largely the work of an astonishingly dynamic and high-minded group of people - politicians and philanthropists, writers and thinkers - who in a matter of decades fundamentally remade the country, its institutions and its mindset, and laid the foundations for modern society.Simon Heffer's first major new book since the success of Strictly English explores this process of transformation, and will delight readers of similar titles such as A. N. Wilson's The Victorians. It traces the evolution of British democracy and shows how early laissez-faire attitudes to the lot of the less fortunate turned into campaigns to improve their lives and prospects. It analyses the birth of new attitudes to education, religion and science. And it shows how even such aesthetic issues as taste in architecture were swept in to broader debates about the direction that the country should take. In the process, Simon Heffer looks at the lives and deeds of major politicians, from the devout and principled Gladstone to the unscrupulous Disraeli; at the intellectual arguments that raged among writers and thinkers such as Matthew Arnold, Thomas Carlyle, and Samuel Butler; and at the 'great projects' of the age, from the Great Exhibition to the Albert Memorial. Drawing heavily on previously unpublished documents, he offers a superbly nuanced insight into life in an extraordinary era, populated by extraordinary people - and how our forebears' pursuit of perfection gave birth to modern Britain.

    unmistakeably heartfelt' Daily Mail'A poignant and intricately crafted story of love and loss, picturesquely and memorably set on the sea-coast of Cornwall' Stevie Davies, author of Awakening He turns and waves, twenty feet or so away... she can't swim as strongly as usual. She can taste blood again. Nicholas bobs where he is, letting her catch up. Her nightdress blooms around her like a sail. She reaches him and he touches her arm, very gently. She wants to grab him, hold him tightly in the water. Would he let her? Cornwall. 1880. Pearl, Jack and Nicholas play among the fishing boats of Skommow Bay, not understanding the undercurrents beneath their games. As they grow older, the choices they make shape the pattern of their lives. 1936 and everything has changed. The fish have stopped coming and the Pilchard Palace is abandoned. Pearl, exiled in favour of holidaymakers, turns to the memory of her great love, and her greatest loss. She's waiting for her own visitor. Will he come for her? The sea's ghosts are stirring. The past can be more alive than the present... A cliff top romance in the style of Daphne Du Maurier and set in a fictional village based on St Ives, The Visitor is a novel steeped in the coast and people of Cornwall. It shivers and flashes with visions as elusive as the fish at the centre of its story.

    But her biggest challenge will be their father; masterful and strong in everything—especially his kiss. Poor and without dowry—and even worse—now orphaned, Miss Carly Blakemore is thrown into the Victorian world without aid. Carly is forced to seek a position as governess in the house of Lord Huntington, the Earl of Dunfordshire—a man alone in his own right—and under suspicion for the tragic murder of his well-known and adulteress wife. His governess’s honesty and forthrightness quickly offend his noble person, finding himself reeling from her constant evaluation of his lack of parenting skills. However, in the midst of his resentments, he finds himself strangely drawn in by her very no-nonsense ways that drive him to madness. Carly stands her ground in head-to-head battles of will that take her to the brink of dismissal. Carly and the earl continually fight the feelings growing between them. Both are oblivious to the clouds of deceit and intrigue that are growing around the manor house, some bent upon removing the beautiful, headstrong governess permanently. A final desperate chase leads to an interception of a ship upon the high seas headed for the Mediterranean and a secret society of white-slave traders, opening the way for this book’s sequel.

    A Cornish Victorian romance set against the backdrop of the magnificent Bosvenna Estate, with eccentric rural characters and the sweeping hills of the dramatic Bodmin Moor. Janey Carhart's story is a tale of obsession, jealousy and love. At the age of nine, Janey's younger sisters die from scarlet fever and her grief stricken mother blames Janey for their deaths. Financial difficulties and a desire to win back her mother's love, forces Janey to enter service where she quickly rises through the ranks. Upon her arrival to the elegant Cornish Country Estate, she successfully secures a position of a lady's maid for the wealthy and powerful Brockenshaw family. An exchange of letters between Lady Brockenshaw and her son ignites Janey's interest, but Janey's feelings for this mysterious and charming gentleman soon change her life forever. Old sins cast long shadows and not only does Janey's mother's wrath affect Janey's life, there are others whose sins risk destroying her, the people she cares about and her capacity to love again. Daniel Kellow, her neighbour, offers his help. Can she trust this man who has, it is rumoured, killed a man? Who is the real Daniel Kellow and can she trust him? Can he trust her?

    The Starlings of Chatham Street is the story of a handful of women whose fate brought them to live within the cold, cruel walls of the Chatham Street Workhouse. Carrie MacDuff, a young Scottish woman, was left at the gate of the Chatham Street Workhouse by her husband, Daniel, shortly after their marriage. They had come to London in search of a better life, but quickly found themselves unprepared. Now, alone and frightened, Carrie has little idea where her husband has gone or if he intends to return for her as promised. Lizzie Barnes entered the Chatham Street Workhouse with her pregnant sister, Ruth, three years before. When she lost both her sister and the child in childbirth, she was left alone in the world. Assigned to work in the workhouse infirmary, she must watch first hand the suffering of the aged and infirm while ministering what little aide she can to the sick and injured.Victoria Craig, the daughter of a wealthy gentleman, enjoyed the luxuries of life until she made the tragic mistake of falling in love with the man intended for her older sister Margaret. When her attempt to elope was discovered, she was brought to the Chatham Street Workhouse to be disposed of by her own father whose shame for her was so complete he wanted nothing more than to forget her. Eva Gimley, acting matron of the workhouse and a spinster in her late twenties, works alongside her short tempered, judgmental brother. She is very plain but has hopes that one day she will find a home and husband of her own away from the workhouse. When the only object of her affection, the workhouse vicar, announces his engagement to a well-to-do debutant and her brother announces his engagement to an inmate with her sights set on being matron, Eva must face the fact that she is merely one step above an inmate herself.

    Once a progressive establishment dedicated to curing the mental problems of the inmates, now the asylum is under increasing pressure to treat and release patients whether they are ready or not. Professional pride, personal ideals, financial pressures and dark secrets compete to determine whether Goldcord will survive.In the midst of this maelstrom of conflicting interests, Ivy Squire is committed. A strange young woman, so self-destructive that she must be kept in isolation, Ivy begins to reveal her story to new nurse Tilly Swann. But can Tilly find the key to Ivy’s madness before she is dragged into danger by Superintendent Enoch Gale’s increasing recklessness?

    After five years in an Australian penal colony, the Artful Dodger returns to London in search of a hidden fortune. Unaware of the fate that befell Twist, Fagin and Sikes, Dodger revisits the criminal underworld of Dickensian London to seek out his old comrades, any of whom might possess the key to the treasure. He finds the city a changed place from his youth: with law and order upheld by a new police force, Fagin gone to the gallows, his old gang scattered and danger around every corner.

    Felix himself almost believes this golden image. But underneath is a damaged soul soothed only by public adulation.Louisa Cantwell needs to marry well to support her sisters. She does not, however, want Lord Wrenworth—though he seems inexplicably interested in her. She mistrusts his outward perfection and the praise he garners everywhere he goes. But when he is the only man to propose at the end of the London season, she reluctantly accepts.Louisa does not understand her husband's mysterious purposes, but she cannot deny the pleasure her body takes in his touch. Nor can she deny the pull this magnetic man exerts upon her. But does she dare to fall in love with a man so full of dark secrets, anyone of which could devastate her, if she were to get any closer?

    Instead she has hard work, a tyrannical aunt, and the hope of one day becoming a prima ballerina. Dancing on the stage she catches the attention of two powerful men: Lord Gainsworth and Lord De Vale. Lord Evander Gainswith never expected to fall in love, let alone with a woman so wholly unacceptable to his family and his peers. The sinister Lord De Vale covets Lisette's youth and strength, and is willing to pay well for it. Lisette may dance roles in fairy tales and fantasies, but the real world is about to intrude, bringing with it the harsh realities of life for a young girl with dreams of rising above the demimonde.

    Something between a novella in verse and a poem with prose interludes. The humbug and his human companion Victorine escape from a house of small horrors created by a mage of sorts and his female counterpart, a medium with migraine and multiple bottled still-born babes. The medium is also Victorine’s mother, at least in name. As a hob and gargoyles come to life and inhabit a neo-Victorian world that appears to be part Dickens, part Lewis Carroll, with generous dashes of Beardsley and Belloc, the verse weaves and dodges from brilliant rhymes toward couplets, free verse, and then prose, creating a metrical tour de force that will engage the skeptical even in the face of Ouija boards, mesmerism, and mediums. A must-read for neo-Victorians, steampunk lovers, and connoisseurs of the occult who have a sense of humor." –Mary Ellis Gibson "The thing I have loved most, from first reading and through subsequent visits, about these poems is the way one is drawn into who Victorine is and how she feels. Her moods become rooms. Her companions are places as much as people. Time stops and sits a spell, whether for delight, horror, or fascination. If you remember losing a day in a square yard’s worth of grass and twigs and earth and pebbles, with ants and dragonflies for company; or, more recently, you’ve warded yourself against the flat cold of a winter’s day with only a hot cuppa and your favorite woolens; then I feel the enchantment in these poems will be well worth whiling away the day down into evening." –Dan Campbell

    She goes to school, plays soccer, and roams the mall with friends. Her life is just like that of any other 14 year old's until she is sent to clean the attic in the old Victorian as punishment for fighting with her younger brother. Suddenly she is thrown back in time to a totally foreign world. Frightened and armed only with dreams of her grandfather, Emerson ventures into the unknown. How did she get here? Who are these people? Who is she and why is she here? These questions and many more follow Emerson into a new life in a new land.

    But Quinn's active London life is suddenly spun sideways by a chance encounter with a shadowy figure in Brompton Cemetery. With the speed of a gunshot, Quinn and Agatha are kidnapped. So begins a treacherous and bone-chilling journey through the darkest parts of 1800's Europe, led by a tall, eerie captor whose motives are shady at best, whilst being pursued by factions whose intents may in fact be deadly. And along the way, Quinn might just learn a few secrets about himself--and his traveling companions--that will change him forever.

    Being of a nervous and superstitious disposition, her Ladyship lives in fear. Her husband and elder son were recently murdered, apparently by the ghost of a court jester who was executed on the site centuries before. The apparition has warned that she, too, is to die. Holmes rejects a supernatural explanation, although his adversary seems unaffected by gunfire and is able to take flight and disappear. The Great Detective brings his powers to bear, but still the killings continue...

    This eBook presents a comprehensive range of Oliphant’s works, with the complete Chronicles of Carlingford, the complete Stories of the Seen and Unseen, numerous illustrations, rare texts appearing in digital print for the first time, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1) * Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Oliphant’s life and works * Concise introductions to the novels and other texts * 23 novels, with individual contents tables * Rare novels available in no other collection, including Oliphant’s first novels MARGARET MAITLAND and CHRISTIAN MELVILLE * Rare supernatural novels appearing in digital publishing for the first time: DIES IRAE and THE LADY’S WALK * Images of how the books were first published, giving your eReader a taste of the original texts * Excellent formatting of the texts * The complete ‘Chronicles of Carlingford’ series, inspired by Trollope’s Barsetshire books, with special index and links – includes the very rare short story ‘The Executor’ * Special chronological and alphabetical contents tables for the short stories * Features the complete Stories and Novels of the Seen and Unseen – first time in digital print * Includes a selection of Oliphant’s non-fiction * Features a bonus biography * Scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles CONTENTS: The Chronicles of Carlingford Index Stories of the Seen and Unseen Index The Novels MARGARET MAITLAND OF SUNNYSIDE MERKLAND, A STORY OF SCOTTISH LIFE, OR SELF-SACRIFICE CHRISTIAN MELVILLE THE DAYS OF MY LIFE THE HOUSE ON THE MOOR THE DOCTOR’S FAMILY SALEM CHAPEL THE PERPETUAL CURATE MISS MARJORIBANKS MADONNA MARY AT HIS GATES THE CURATE IN CHARGE PHOEBE, JUNIOR A BELEAGUERED CITY THE LADIES LINDORES THE WIZARD’S SON THE LADY’S WALK SIR TOM HESTER, A STORY OF CONTEMPORARY LIFE OLD LADY MARY A COUNTRY GENTLEMAN AND HIS FAMILY THE MARRIAGE OF ELINOR DIES IRAE, THE STORY OF A SPIRIT IN PRISON The Shorter Fiction THE EXECUTOR THE RECTOR A WIDOW’S TALE AND OTHER STORIES COMPLETE STORIES OF THE SEEN AND UNSEEN The Short Stories LIST OF SHORT STORIES IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER LIST OF SHORT STORIES IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER The Non-Fiction ROYAL EDINBURGH THE MAKERS OF MODERN ROME JEANNE D’ARC: HER LIFE AND DEATH THE SISTERS BRONTË The Biography MARGARET OLIPHANT by Richard Garnett Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles

    This book contains first hand accounts of life in the workhouse, enabling you to see the workhouse through the eyes of people who experienced it.CONTENTSFOODI am fond of gruelSaltless gruel and dry breadSweetened gruel and diarrhoeaSour gruelSICKNESSRaw, festering soresThe tramp with diarrhoeaAsking for the doctorBATHING, UNDRESSING AND DRESSINGDirty looking bathsOur clothes were taken from us“Hurry up, women”Wet clothesThe condition of the clothesCONDITIONS AND PEOPLEDo I look like a prostitute?We were “only tramps”Coming into contact with other men’s fleshThirst“Your neighbour breathed right into your face”Being woken up throughout the nightPunished for being cheekyBEDS AND BEDDINGThe wire mattressThe wire pillow – a cruel inventionDirty blankets and hard bedsLABOURPicking oakumStone-breaking in Paddington work houseA NIGHT IN A WORKHOUSEYou’ve missed your gruelA stain of blood bigger than a man's handFilthy anecdotesThe swearing clubChecking for liceThree fourths of a pint of gruel in a yellow basinMilling with the crank-handleTHE CRAWLERS: THE WOMAN UNABLE TO GET ADMISSION TO THE WORKHOUSEA CHILD'S MEMORIES OF BEING PUT IN THE WORKHOUSE

    The magazine's editors feared the story was indecent as submitted, so they censored roughly 500 words, without Wilde's knowledge, before publication. But even with that, the story was still greeted with outrage by British reviewers, some of whom suggested that Wilde should be prosecuted on moral grounds, leading Wilde to defend the novel aggressively in letters to the British press. Today, Wilde's fin de siècle novella is considered a classic. It is presented here with illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley, Wilde's one time friend with whom he fell out over 'Salome.' The illustrations include a caricature of Wilde by Beardsley as well as a high definition copy of the original Lipincott's Magazine cover from July, 1890. 'Vileroy or The Horrors of Zindorf Castle' This epic, gripping thriller from Thomas Peckett Prest, the creator of Sweeney Todd is available in a beautifully formatted e-book for the very first time. 'Zindorff' was a wildly popular serial in the 1850s, outselling works by Dickens and Thackeray, but has now largely been forgotten. All the tropes of the early penny dreadful are here: a quintessential Gothic romance, replete with incidents of physical and psychological terror; remote, crumbling castles; seemingly supernatural events; a brooding, scheming villain; and a persecuted heroine. 'Jack Harkaway and his Son's Adventures in Australia' "For a regular thriller commend me to 'Jack Harkaway.' " - Horatio Alger Jack Harkaway first appeared in the penny magazine Boys of England in 1871 and was an instant hit. The Harkaway titles – which came out in penny parts as well as magazines – were pirated in America and by 1872 the character created by writer Bracebridge Hemyng had become a household name around the world. Young men loved reading about globe-trotting adventurer Jack Harkaway’s shenanigans in stories like ‘Jack Harkaway Afloat and Ashore,’ ‘Jack Harkaway in America and Cuba,’ 'Jack Harkaway at Oxford' and ‘Jack Harkaway’s Adventures in China.’ There were fifteen stories in all and for a decade the world was enthralled. Now largely forgotten and long since out of print, the Penny Dreadful Series is introducing Jack Harkaway and his son to a new generation of readers. Here in e-book format for the first time is Jack’s 13th adventure, ‘Jack Harkaway and his Son’s Adventures in Australia.’ 'Dracula's Guest' This short story by Bram Stoker, the creator of 'Dracula,' was published posthumously by Stoker's widow in 1914, two year's after the author's death and is a must read for any vampire aficionado. *Over 50 stunning period illustrations reformatted for the Kindle. *Fully annotated with original essays "What is a Penny Dreadful?" and "Who wrote Vileroy?" Three Penny Dreadful classics and the Bram Stoker short story for one unbeatable low price! *Individual, active Table of Contents for each book accessible from the Kindle "go to" feature. *Perfect formatting in rich text compatible with Kindle's Text-to-Speech features.

    But over the last thirty years, the city seems to have banished animals from its streets. In Beastly London, Hannah Velten uses a wide range of primary sources to explore the complex and changing relationship between Londoners of all classes and their animal neighbors. Velten travels back in history to describe a time when Londoners shared their homes with pets and livestock—along with a variety of other pests, vermin, and bedbugs; Londoners imported beasts from all corners of the globe for display in their homes, zoos, and parks; and ponies flying in hot air balloons and dancing fleas were considered entertainment. As she shows, London transformed from a city with a mainly exploitative relationship with animals to the birthplace of animal welfare societies and animal rights’ campaigns. Packed with over one hundred illustrations, Beastly London is a revealing look at how animals have been central to the city’s success.

    Firmly on the shelf at forty-one. Sophie accepts her fate until she impulsively uses her father's criminal activities to escape a life of servitude and right a wrong at the same time. But she never expected the Devil of Devlyn to accept her rash proposal, and she certainly hadn't planned on falling in love with a younger man.When Sophie Hamilton, the eldest daughter of his worst enemy shows up on the Earl of Devlyn's doorstep with an unexpected offer, Devlyn seizes the chance for vengeance. What he doesn't bargain on is how revenge could cost him the one thing he wants the most. Sophie's love. Book 2: Love’s Portrait When Julia Westgard commissions a nude portrait of herself, the painting is much more than a rebellious act. It's an attempt to regain her self-worth after years of a loveless, repressive marriage to her late husband. But the private portrait puts her directly in the path of Morgan St. Claire. A man who doesn't take no for an answer.From the first moment Morgan sees Julia's portrait, he's determined to have her. But the woman he meets is a far cry from the image on canvas. What starts out as a simple exercise in seduction quickly evolves into a quest to reveal the true Julia. With each sensual encounter, he employs every weapon at his disposal in hopes of making Julia see she really is the woman in Love's Portrait.

    Diana Fuss does so by identifying three distinct but largely unrecognized voices within the well-studied genre of the elegy: the dying voice, the reviving voice, and the surviving voice. Through her deft readings of modern poetry, Fuss unveils the dramatic within the elegiac: the dying diva who relishes a great deathbed scene, the speaking corpse who fancies a good haunting, and the departing lover who delights in a dramatic exit.Focusing primarily on American and British poetry written during the past two centuries, Fuss maintains that poetry can still offer genuine ethical compensation, even for the deep wounds and shocking banalities of modern death. As dying, loss, and grief become ever more thoroughly obscured from public view, the dead start chattering away in verse. Through bold, original interpretations of little-known works, as well as canonical poems by writers such as Emily Dickinson, Randall Jarrell, Elizabeth Bishop, Richard Wright, and Sylvia Plath, Fuss explores modern poetry's fascination with pre- and postmortem speech, pondering the literary desire to make death speak in the face of its cultural silencing.

    In England, a horticultural nation with a mania for gardens and flowers, news of the discovery sparked a race to bring a live specimen back, and to bring it to bloom. In this extraordinary plant, named Victoria regia for the newly crowned queen, the flower-obsessed British had found their beau ideal. In The Flower of Empire, Tatiana Holway tells the story of this magnificent lily, revealing how it touched nearly every aspect of Victorian life, art, and culture. Holway's colorful narrative captures the sensation stirred by Victoria regia in England, particularly the intense race among prominent Britons to be the first to coax the flower to bloom. We meet the great botanists of the age, from the legendary Sir Joseph Banks, to Sir William Jackson Hooker, director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, to the extravagant flower collector the Duke of Devonshire. Perhaps most important was the Duke's remarkable gardener, Joseph Paxton, who rose from garden boy to knight, and whose design of a series of ever-more astonishing glass-houses--one, the Big Stove, had a footprint the size of Grand Central Station--culminated in his design of the architectural wonder of the age, the Crystal Palace. Fittingly, Paxton based his design on a glass-house he had recently built to house Victoria regia. Indeed, the natural ribbing of the lily's leaf inspired the pattern of girders supporting the massive iron-and-glass building. From alligator-laden jungle ponds to the heights of Victorian society, The Flower of Empire unfolds the marvelous odyssey of this wonder of nature in a revealing work of cultural history.

    But her biggest challenge will be their father; masterful and strong in everything—especially his kiss. Poor and without dowry—and even worse—now orphaned, Miss Carly Blakemore is thrown into the Victorian world without aid. Carly is forced to seek a position as governess in the house of Lord Huntington, the Earl of Dunfordshire—a man alone in his own right—and under suspicion for the tragic murder of his well-known and adulteress wife. His governess’s honesty and forthrightness quickly offend his noble person, and he finds himself reeling from her constant evaluation of his lack of parenting skills. However, in the midst of his resentments, he finds himself strangely drawn in by her very no-nonsense ways that drive him to madness. Carly stands her ground in head-to-head battles of will that take her to the brink of dismissal. Carly and the earl continually fight the feelings growing between them. Both are oblivious to the clouds of deceit and intrigue that are growing around the manor house, some bent upon removing the beautiful, headstrong governess permanently. A final desperate chase leads to an interception of a ship upon the high seas headed for the Mediterranean and a secret society of white-slave traders, opening the way for this book’s sequel.NEW CHAPTERS added to the end!

    The journal soon draws them into a covert and sinister conspiracy, a conspiracy centred around an otherworldly artefact with the power to change everything …Karl and Esther have spent almost every day of their thirteen years in the quiet market town of Shraye. Stifled by their rural surroundings and frustrated by their unfulfilled ambitions, they find the allure of the journal’s mysterious pages impossible to ignore. The book seems to be beckoning them away from Shraye, away from their homes and towards the coast where an unsolved disappearance has set a dark chain of events in motion.The voyage Karl and Esther soon find themselves undertaking is one of desperate importance and true peril. It will change the way they see the world, and each other, forever.Tethers is the first book of the Tethers trilogy.

    The carefully researched text is accompanied by historical photographs showing each line in operation prior to its closure, as well as specially commissioned images from the present day.Thousands of miles of Britain’s railways were closed during the 20th century, many following the implementation of the ‘Beeching Report ‘ in the 1960s and early 1970s. Since then, many have been converted to footpaths and cycleways. Fortunately, both the keen walker and the railway enthusiast can enjoy these well-worn routes and hidden byways in peace and tranquillity. Follow the routes of over 50 long-closed railways across some of our most beautiful countryside and discover the lost railways of Britain.Routes include:• Drake’s Trail – Plymouth to Tavistock• Downs Link – Guildford to Shoreham-by-Sea• Midshires Way – Market Harborough to Northampton• Elan Valley Trail – Rhayader to Craig-Goch Dam• Hornsea Rail Trail – Hull to Hornsea• Deeside Way – Aberdeen to BallaterExploring Britain’s Lost Railways is an essential armchair companion for every railway enthusiast and outdoor adventurer.

    Stylish lady detective Miss Isabel Hewitt's manservant Clarke is away in Flanders serving in the Royal Medical Core. Isabel is anxious for his safety. On the Home Front she has become involved with the Women's Emergency Corps. Through this work she has met a tall, well built young woman named Hattie Peach. Hattie is now her maid and driver. Isabel is coping with her new life and then someone murders two girls from the WEC. These take place in Shoreditch and there are fears that Jack the Ripper may be back. Isabel is asked to investigate and she embarks on a journey which becomes both emotional and very dangerous indeed.

    Had she just gone missing or was this another in the string of child abductions that had plagued the capital in recent times?Neighbourhood gossip thought otherwise. It fixed responsibility for the disappearance squarely on a local woman named Esther Pay, who until recently had been the mistress of Georgie's father. But when Scotland Yard detectives came calling, sexy, sassy Esther just laughed them off, flaunting a seemingly impregnable alibi.But the detectives kept digging and in doing so uncovered an almost unbelievable saga of sex and betrayal that would lead to one of the most sensational trials ever heard in a Victorian courtroom.In The Killing of Georgie Moore, noted forensic science author Colin Evans presents a never-before-told story that is sure to appeal to true-crime aficionados everywhere.

    The first flowering of the great age of newspapers and caricature gave us boozy Prime Ministers and party leaders who settled their political differences with duels in Hyde Park (when they weren't gambling, or writing essays about farting); peers of the realm who sat the unburied corpses of their cherished mistresses at their dinner tables; entertainers who rode horses standing upright in the saddle, while wearing a mask of bees; and celebrity courtesans who ate 1,000-guinea banknotes stuffed into sandwiches, simply to make a point. Before it was dashed from their lips by the Victorian party-poopers, our Georgian forebears drank deep from the cup of life. The Gin Lane Gazette is a compendium of illustrated 'best bits' from a fictional newspaper of the latter 1700s. It contains some of the most sensational headlines and true stories of the period. Presided over by inky-fingered hack Mr. Nathaniel Crowquill, the editor and proprietor, its premises are located in Hogarth's chaotic Gin Lane. Mr Crowquill has devoted fifty years to sniffing out scandal and intrigue. His drunken acolyte, Mr. Jakes, supplies merciless caricatures and engravings for every page. Sports reports, obituaries, fashion news, courtesans of the month, book reviews, and advertisements for bizarre - and often alarming - goods, services and entertainments also feature in a riotous melange of metropolitan mayhem

    Volume B begins with the writings of William Blake and continues through the Romantic Period, the Victorian Age, through to the Twentieth Century. This new Major Authors edition is a library between two covers—an indispensable addition to the family bookshelf.

    

    A Romance of Two Worlds: A NovelArdath: The Story of a Dead SelfGod's Good Man: A Simple Love StoryInnocent: Her Fancy and His FactTemporal Power: A Study in SupremacyThe Life Everlasting: A Reality of RomanceThe Master-ChristianThe Mighty AtomThe Secret Power: A Romance of the TimeThe Sorrows of Satan; or, The Strange Experience of One Geoffrey Tempest, Millionaire, A RomanceThe Soul of Lilith (3 Volumes)The Treasure of Heaven: A Romance of RichesThelma: A Society NovelVendetta! A Story of One ForgottenZiska: The Problem of a Wicked Soul

    Laura isn't so interested in being married off, unless it's to a novel, of course...

    Through Daniel’s eyes he begins to see how much more could be done to improve the lot of the working people, and at the same time he begins to feel a very strong attraction towards Daniel himself. However this is the Victorian era, Daniel is believed to be a troublemaker, and Harrison has a position to maintain and a family who are expecting him to marry a well-to-do young woman and settle down to a conventional life …

    Now, in his engaging sequel, The Invention of Craft, his theoretical discussion of skilled work is extended back in time and across numerous disciplines.Adamson searches out the origins of modern craft, locating its emergence in the period of the industrial revolution. He demonstrates how craft was invented as industry's "other", a necessary counterpart to ideas of progress and upheaval. In the process, the magical and secretive culture of artisans was gradually dominated through division and explication. This left craft with an oppositional stance, a traditional or anti-modern position.The Invention of Craft ranges widely across media, from lock-making, wood-carving and iron-casting to fashion, architecture and design. It also moves back and forth between periods, from the 18th century to the present day, demonstrating how contemporary practice can be informed through the study of modern craft in its moment of invention.

    Now the man to whom she gave her heart will visit Blythe Manor for Christmas. How can she enjoy the holidays knowing Miles Greystoke must despise her for revealing her feelings in such an unguarded fashion?As an awkward youth, Miles fell in love with a kindred spirit…but his love was unrequited. Against his wishes, he’s now obliged to spend the holidays at Blythe Manor. Time has wrought changes in his physique, but his devotion to Lara Robinson has never wavered. He searches for the perfect present to show her how he feels, but nothing seems quite right…until he realizes the best sort of gift will embrace the true meaning of Christmas.A Victorian Christmas short story.

    I was brought in as a consultant, and my first big client, Dimitrii Maximov, turned out not only to be one of the most attractive men I’ve ever met, but he’s also a vampire. Yeah, I know! Now I’m trapped with the knowledge of this world, and am slowly learning that nothing is as it seems. Vampires, Werewolves, Elves, Mernoids and even Changelings are real, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg! Not only that, but women at my new job are slowly disappearing and turning up dead, and it looks like I’m the next target! Dimitrii’s promised to protect me, but the more time I spend with him, the more I want to spend time with him...

    The famous poem Love and Friendship by Emily Bronte.