Every night for three years the vengeful King Shahriyar sleepswith a different virgin, executing her the next morning. To endthis brutal pattern and to save her own life, the vizier'sdaughter, Shahrazad, begins to tell the king stories of adventure,love, riches and wonder - tales of mystical lands peopled withprinces and hunchbacks, the Angel of Death and magical spirits,tales of the voyages of Sindbad, of Ali Baba outwitting a band offorty thieves and of jinnis trapped in rings and in lamps. Thesequence of stories will last 1,001 nights.
Eleanor Cahn, a professor of literature, wife of a preeminentsurgeon, and devoted mother of two, is in Paris to present a paperon Anna Karenina. A chance encounter brings to the surface passionsshe has suppressed for years. As The Life Room unfolds, we learnthe secrets of her erotic past: ethereal William, her high schoolboyfriend; her role as muse to troubled painter Adam; her marriageto loyal, steady Michael. On her return to New York, Eleanor'scharged attraction to another man takes on a life of its own,threatening to destroy everything she has. Jill Bialosky hascreated a fresh, piercingly real heroine who must choose betweenresponsibility and desire.
Some of Agatha Christie's earliest stories - including her very first - which show the Queen of Crime in the making! A macabre recurring dream ...revenge against a blackmailer ...jealousy, infidelity and a tortured conscience ...a stolen gemstone ...the haunting attraction of an ancient relic ...a race against time ...a tragic love triangle ...a body in a box ...an unexpected visitor from beyond the grave...Nine quintessential examples of Agatha Christie's brilliance are contained in this new collection of early short stories - including the very first one she ever wrote - and provide a unique glimpse of the Queen of Crime in the making.
Though the story has been told on film—and whispered inhistoric gossip—this is the first book in almost fifty years tosolely explore the great queen’s attachment to her beloved RobertDudley, the Earl of Leicester. Fueled by scandal and intrigue,their relationship set the explosive connection between public andprivate life in sixteenth-century England in bold relief. Why didthey never marry? How much of what seemed a passionate obsessionwas actually political convenience? Elizabeth and Leicesterreignites this 400- year-old love story in a book for anyoneinterested in Elizabethan literature.
This collection remains the incomparableachievement of one of America's greatest poets-a passionate man wholoved his country and wrote of it as no other has ever done.
The Prophet represents the acme of Kahlik Gibrans achievement Writing in English Gibran adopted the tone and cadence of King James I s Bible fusing his personalised Christian philosophy with a spirit and oriental wisdom that derives from the richly mixed influences of his native Lebanon His language has a breath-taking beauty. Before returning to his birthplace Almustafa the prophet is asked for guidance by the people of Orphalese His words redolent with love and understanding call for universal unity and affirm Gibran s certatinty of the correlated nature of all existence and of reincamation. The Prophet has never lost its immediate appeal and has become a buiquitous touchstone of spiritual literature.
Reading any great poem for the first time is always athrilling discovery, even if it's only four lines long, and thiscollection brings together some of the best ever to read, memorize,or recite. Girls of all ages will enjoy reading poems cateredspecifically to them, whether it means envisioning adventures withprincesses and witches, or laughing at the antics of mischievouslittle girls. The book is divided into eight sections: Nature,Imagination, Love Friendship, Inspiration, Animals, NurseryRhymes, Limericks Tongue Twisters, and Fun Nonsense. 100 GREAT POEMS FOR GIRLS is a perfect introduction forthose encountering poetry for the first time, but readers who grewup with poems will also cherish this treasury of classics.
With an Introduction by Dr Pamela Knights, Department of English Studies, Durham University On a poor farm near Starkfield in western Massachusetts, Ethan Frome struggles to wrest a living from the land, unassisted by his whining and hypochondriacal wife Zeena. When Zeena's young cousin Mattie Silver is left destitute, the only place she can go is Ethan's farm. An embittered man and an enchanting young woman meeting in such circumstances unleash predictable consequences as passions are aroused between the three protagonists, Edith Wharton's characterisation and deft handling of reversals of fortune are so accomplished that Ethan Frome has remained enduringly popular since its first publication in 1911 and is considered her greatest tragic story.
Wishing she could enjoy the freedoms and pleasures so casuallyenjoyed by ordinary women, orthodox rabbi's daughter Rachelanticipates her arranged marriage and imagines what her life willbe like. Reprint.
Mike Gayle has carved a whole new literary niche out of the male confessional novel. He's a publishing phenomenon'EVENING STANDARD 'Delightfully observant nostalgia.., will strike a chord with both sexes' SHE 'A warm, funny romantic comedy' DAILY MAIL 'Gayle's chatty style sustains a cracking pace' THE TIMES "Thirty means only going to the pub if there,s somewhere to sit down, Thiity means owning at least one classical CD, even if it's New That's What I Call Classical Vol 6. Thirty means calling off the search for the perfect partner because now, after al! thee years in the wilderness, you've finally found what you've been looking for." Unlike most people Matt Beckford is actually looking forward to turning thirty. After struggling through most of his twenties he thinks his career, finances and love life are finally sorted. But when he splits up with his girlfriend, he realises that life has different plans for him.and Matt temporarily moves back home to his parents. Within hours,his mum and dad
Eight Neanderthals encounter another race of beings likethemselves, yet strangely different. This new race, Homo sapiens,fascinating in their skills and sophistication, terrifying in theircruelty, sense of guilt, and incipient corruption, spell doom forthe more gentle folk whose world they will inherit. Golding, authorof Lord of the Flies, won the 1983 Nobel Prize for Literature.
Two boys: the same age, almost the same face. The onedifference: Tom Canty is a child of the London slums; Edward Tudoris heir to the throne. How insubstantial this difference is becomesclear when a chance encounter leads to an exchange of clothing andof roles...
Charles Dickens was a phenomenon: a demonicly hardworkingjournalist, the father of ten children, a tireless walker andtraveller, a supporter of liberal social causes, but most of all agreat novelist - the creator of characters who live immortally inthe English imagination: the Artful Dodger, Mr Pickwick, Pip, DavidCopperfield, Little Nell, Lady Dedlock, and many more. At the ageof twelve he was sent to work in a blacking factory by hisaffectionate but feckless parents. From these unpromisingbeginnings, he rose to scale all the social and literary heights,entirely through his own efforts. When he died, the world mourned,and he was buried - against his wishes - in Westminster Abbey. Yetthe brilliance concealed a divided character: a republican, hedisliked America; sentimental about the family in his writings, hetook up passionately with a young actress; usually generous, he cutoff his impecunious children. Claire Tomalin, author of "WhitbreadBook of the Year Samuel Pepys", paints an unforgettable portrai
These beautifully crafted poems - by turns dark, playful,intensely moving, tender, and intimate - make up Margaret Atwood'smost accomplished and versatile gathering to date, " setting footon the middle ground / between body and word." Some draw onhistory, some on myth, both classical and popular. Others, morepersonal, concern themselves with love, with the fragility of thenatural world, and with death, especially in the elegiac series ofmeditations on the death of a parent. But they also inhabit acontemporary landscape haunted by images of the past. Generous,searing, compassionate, and disturbing, this poetry rises out ofhuman experience to seek a level between luminous memory and therealities of the everyday, between the capacity to inflict and thestrength to forgive.
He is a good man, a brilliant corporate executive, an honest,handsome family man admired by men and desired by women. But a lifetime ago Ben Tyson was a lieutenant in Vietnam. There the men under his command committed a murderous atrocity --and together swore never to tell the world what they had done. Nowthe press, army justice, and the events he tried to forget havecaught up with Ben Tyson. His family, his career, and his personalsense of honor hang in the balance. And only one woman can revealthe truth of his past -- and set him free.
Though generally overlooked during her lifetime, EmilyDickinson's poetry has achieved acclaim due to her experiments inprosody, her tragic vision and the range of her emotional andintellectual explorations.
When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, she just thinks he has gone off by himself for a few days - as he has done before - and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home. But as Strike investigates, it becomes clear that there is more to Quine's disappearance than his wife realises. The novelist has just completed a manu* featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were published it would ruin lives - so there are a lot of people who might want to silence him. And when Quine is found brutally murdered in bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer, a killer unlike any he has encountered before ...A compulsively readable crime novel with twists at every turn, The Silkworm is the second in the highly acclaimed series featuring Cormoran Strike and his determined young assistant Robin Ellacott.
"Criticism" features ten essays on The Book of theCourtier , which represent the best interpretations from theUnited States, Italy, and England including the backgrounds-richessays by Amedeo Quondam and James Hankins. A SelectedBibliography, a Chronology, and an Index are included.
ENDURING LITERATURE ILLUMINATED BY PRACTICAL SCHOLARSHIP Virgil's sweeping epic of Trojan warrior Aeneas and the founding of Rome -- a stirring tale of exile, heroism, and combat, and of a man caught between love, duty, and fate. THIS ENRICHED CLASSIC THIS ENRICHED CLASSIC EDITION INCLUDES: A concise introduction that gives the reader important background information A chronology of the author's life and work A timeline of significant events that provides the book's historical context An outline of key themes and plot points to guide the reader's own interpretations Detailed explanatory notes Critical analysis and modern perspectives on the work Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book group interaction A list of recommended related books and films to broaden the reader's experience Enriched Classics offer readers affordable editions of great works of literature enhanced by helpful notes and in
Joseph Epstein demonstrates time and again his talent fortaking nearly any subject and polishing it into a gem of sparklingwit and fascination. In Narcissus Leaves the Pool, he displays hissignature verve and charm in sixteen agile, entertaining pieces.Among his targets in this collection are name-dropping, talentversus genius, the cult of youthfulness, and the informationrevolution.
HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics. 'Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There's no better rule.' Living with his sister and her husband, Pip is an orphan without any expectations. It is only when he begins to visit a rich old woman, Miss Havisham and her adopted niece that he begins to hope for something better. When it is revealed that Pip has inherited a large sum of money from a mysterious benefactor on the condition that he moves to London to become a gentleman, Pip's adventure really begins. Epic, illuminating and memorable, Dickens mysterious tale of Pip's quest to find the truth about himself is one of his most enduring and popular novels to date.
The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., is home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs.