Love Letters of Great Men


Ursula Doyle - 2008
    However, since all of the letters referenced in the film did exist, we decided to publish this gorgeous keepsake ourselves.Love Letters of Great Men follows hot on the heels of the film and collects together some of history's most romantic letters from the private papers of Beethoven, Mark Twain, Mozart, and Lord Byron. For some of these great men, love is a delicious poison (William Congreve); for others, a nice soft wife on a sofa with good fire, & books & music (Charles Darwin). Love can scorch like the heat of the sun (Henry VIII), or penetrate the depths of one's heart like a cooling rain (Flaubert). Every shade of love is here, from the exquisite eloquence of Oscar Wilde and the simple devotion of Robert Browning, to the wonderfully modern misery of the Roman Pliny the Younger, losing himself in work to forget how much he misses his beloved wife, Calpurnia.Taken together, these letters show that perhaps men haven't changed all that much over the last 2,000 years--passion, jealousy, hope and longing still rule their hearts and minds. In an age of e-mail and texted i luv us, this timeless and unique collection reminds us that nothing can compare to the simple joy of sitting down to read a letter from the one you love.

Focus


Arthur Miller - 1945
    It remains as chilling and incisive today as it was at the time of its controversial debut. As World War II draws to a close, anti-Semitism is alive and well in Brooklyn, New York. Here, Newman, an American of English descent, floats through a world of multiethnic neighborhoods indifferent to the racism around him. That is, until he begins wearing glasses that render him "Jewish" in the eyes of others, making him the target of anti-Semitic persecution. As he and his wife find friendship and support from a Jewish immigrant, Newman slowly begins to understand the racial hatreds that surround him. "A strong, sincere book bursting with indignation." (The New York Times Book Review)

The Complete Works of O. Henry


O. Henry - 1937
    Henry's short stories are known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization and clever twist endings.

Autumn in Peking


Boris Vian - 1947
    But nevertheless Vian was a great songwriter, playwright, singer, jazz critic and, of course novelist so it should have been Boris instead of Jack. Vian's 1947 novel Autumn in Peking (L'Automne a Pekin) is perhaps Vian's most slapstick work, with an added amount of despair in its exotic recipe for a violent cocktail drink. The story takes place in the imaginary desert called Exopotamie where all the leading characters take part in the building of a train station with tracks that go nowhere. Houses and buildings are destroyed to build this unnecessary structure - and in Vian's world waste not, make not. In Alistair Rolls' pioneering study of Vian's novels, "The Flight of the Angels," he expresses that Exopotamie is a thinly disguised version of Paris, where after the war the city started changing its previous centuries of architecture to something more modern. Yes, something dull to take the place of what was exciting and mysterious. Vian, in a mixture of great humor and unequal amount of disgust, introduces various 'eccentric' characters in this 'desert' adventure, such as Anne and Angel who are best friends; and Rochelle who is in love and sleeps with Anne, while Angel is madly in love with her. Besides the trio there is also Doctor Mangemanche; the archeologist Athanagore Porphyroginite, his aide, Cuivre; and Pipo - all of them in a locality similar to Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, where there is a tinge of darkness and anything is possible, except for happiness.

The House in Smyrna


Tatiana Salem Levy - 2007
    The writing soon becomes an exploration of her family’s legacy of displacement in Europe, told in several narrative strands. Sifting through family stories — her grandfather’s migration from Turkey to Brazil, her parents’ exile in Portugal under the Brazilian military dictatorship, her mother’s death, and her own love affair with a violent man — she traces her family’s history in a journey to make sense of the past and to understand her place in it.With an epic sweep of time and place — traversing Brazil, Turkey, and Portugal — this is a profoundly moving portrait of a young woman finding her way back into life. Spare, heartfelt, and evocative, The House in Smyrna is an unforgettable story from one of the most accomplished and original new voices in Brazil.

The Night of the Iguana and Other Stories


Tennessee Williams - 1987
    

The Landlady


Fyodor Dostoevsky - 1847
    Set in Saint Petersburg, it tells of an abstracted young man, Vasily Mikhailovich Ordynov, and his obsessive love for Katerina, the wife of a dismal husband whom Ordynkov perceives as a malignant fortune-teller or mystic. The story has echoes of Russian folklore and may contain autobiographical references. In its time The Landlady had a mixed reception, more recently being seen as perhaps unique in Dostoyevsky's oeuvre. The first part of the novella was published in October 1847 in Notes of the Fatherland, the second part in November that year.

Coup de Grâce


Marguerite Yourcenar - 1939
    Set in the Baltic provinces in the aftermath of World War I, Coup de Grace tells the story of an intimacy that grows between three young people hemmed in by civil war: Erick, a Prussian fighting with the White Russians against the Bolsheviks; Conrad, his best friend from childhood; and Sophie, whose unrequited love for Erik becomes an unbearable burden.

All Our Yesterdays


Natalia Ginzburg - 1952
    Set against the backdrop of Italy between 1939 to 1944 - the months of anxiety before the country entered the war, through to the tension following the Allied victory - "All Our Yesterdays" follows the lives of two families during the period of great turbulence.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Macmillan Reader)


F.H. Cornish - 2007
    The classic story of a boy's adventures in the Mississippi Valley.

The Lower Depths


Maxim Gorky - 1902
    It became his first major success, and a hallmark of Russian social realism. The play depicts a group of impoverished Russians living in a shelter near the Volga.When it first appeared, The Lower Depths was criticized for its pessimism and ambiguous ethical message. The presentation of the lower classes was viewed as overly dark and unredemptive, and Gorky was clearly more interested in creating memorable characters than in advancing a formal plot. However, in this respect, the play is generally regarded as a masterwork.The theme of harsh truth versus the comforting lie pervades the play from start to finish, as most of the characters choose to deceive themselves over the bleak reality of their condition.

Todos los fuegos el fuego


Julio Cortázar - 1966
    From the exasperated metaphor of human relationships that is "La autopista del sur" through the masterpiece that is "El otro cielo," Cortazar once again paves the way to stories that are a must-read for lovers of the story genre in general. "La salud de los enfermos," "Reunión," "La señorita Cora," "La isla a mediodía," "Instrucciones para John Howell," and "Todos los fuegos el fuego" are a celebration of intelligence, passion, and genius.

The Joys of Motherhood


Buchi Emecheta - 1979
    Nnu Ego is a woman who gives all her energy, money and everything she has to raising her children - leaving her little time to make friends.

The Interpreters


Wole Soyinka - 1965
    The Nobel Laureate's first novel spotlights a small circle of young Nigerian intellectuals living in Lagos.

Complete Works of Anthony Trollope


Anthony Trollope - 1923
    This enormous eBook offers readers the unique opportunity of exploring the prolific writer’s complete works in a manner never before possible. * illustrated with hundreds of images relating to Trollope’s life and works * annotated with concise introductions to the novels and other works * ALL 47 novels – even rare ones - and each with their own contents table * separate contents tables for the Barsetshire and Palliser novels * images of how the novels first appeared, giving your Kindle a taste of the Victorian texts * the Christmas stories, including the scarce novella THE TWO HEROINES OF PLUMPINGTON * rare short story collections like WHY FRAU FROHMANN RAISED HER PRICES AND OTHER STORIES – first time in digital print * both of the rare plays * includes Trollope’s travel writing and classical studies * includes Trollope’s rare biographies of Lord Palmerston, Thackeray and Cicero * the textbook Trollope analysing Caesar’s Commentaries * rare sketches, like the fully illustrated text CLERGYMEN OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, available nowhere else in digital print * boasts a special criticism section, examining Trollope’s contribution to literature * SPECIAL BONUS text of Trollope’s autobiography - explore the author’s interesting life! * scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres, allowing easy navigation around Trollope’s immense oeuvre * UPDATED with more images, corrections and improved structure * UPDATED with rare short story THE GENTLE EUPHEMIA CONTENTS: The Barsetshire Series The Palliser Series The Novels THE MACDERMOTS OF BALLYCLORAN THE KELLYS AND THE O’KELLYS THE WARDEN LA VENDÉE BARCHESTER TOWERS THE THREE CLERKS DOCTOR THORNE THE BERTRAMS CASTLE RICHMOND FRAMLEY PARSONAGE ORLEY FARM THE STRUGGLES OF BROWN, JONES AND ROBINSON RACHEL RAY THE SMALL HOUSE AT ALLINGTON CAN YOU FORGIVE HER? MISS MACKENZIE THE BELTON ESTATE THE CLAVERINGS NINA BALATKA THE LAST CHRONICLE OF BARSET LINDA TRESSEL PHINEAS FINN HE KNEW HE WAS RIGHT THE VICAR OF BULLHAMPTON SIR HARRY HOTSPUR OF HUMBLETHWAITE RALPH THE HEIR GOLDEN LION OF GRANPÈRE THE EUSTACE DIAMONDS HARRY HEATHCOTE OF GANGOIL LADY ANNA PHINEAS REDUX THE WAY WE LIVE NOW THE PRIME MINISTER THE AMERICAN SENATOR IS HE POPENJOY? JOHN CALDIGATE AN EYE FOR AN EYE COUSIN HENRY THE DUKE’S CHILDREN AYALA’S ANGEL DOCTOR WORTLE’S SCHOOL THE FIXED PERIOD KEPT IN THE DARK MARION FAY MR. SCARBOROUGH’S FAMILY THE LANDLEAGUERS AN OLD MAN’S LOVE The Shorter Fiction TALES OF OTHER COUNTRIES SERIES I TALES OF OTHER COUNTRIES SERIES II THE GENTLE EUPHEMIA LOTTA SCHMIDT AND OTHER STORIES AN EDITOR’S TALES CHRISTMAS DAY AT KIRKBY COTTAGE NEVER, NEVER — NEVER, NEVER CATHERINE CARMICHAEL WHY FRAU FROHMANN RAISED HER PRICES AND OTHER STORIES THE TWO HEROINES OF PLUMPLINGTON NOT IF I KNOW IT The Short Stories LIST OF SHORT STORIES IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER LIST OF SHORT STORIES IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER The Sketches HUNTING SKETCHES TRAVELLING SKETCHES CLERGYMEN OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND LONDON TRADESMEN The Travel Writing THE WEST INDIES AND THE SPANISH MAIN NORTH AMERICA AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND SOUTH AFRICA HOW THE ‘MASTIFFS’ WENT TO ICELAND The Plays DID HE STEAL IT? THE NOBLE JILT The Non-Fiction LIST OF ESSAYS AND ARTICLES THE COMMENTARIES OF CAESAR The Criticism STUDIES IN EARLY VICTORIAN LITERATURE by Frederic Harrison NOTES ON TROLLOPE by Leo Tolstoy EXTRACT FROM ‘THE NEW NOVEL’ by Henry James PARTIAL PORTRAITS: ANTHONY TROLLOPE by Henry James The Biographies THACKERAY LIFE OF CICERO LORD PALMERSTON AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY