WThen an infected bolt of cloth carries plagae from London toan isolated mountain viilage, a housemaid named Anna' Frith emergesas an unlikely heroine and healer. ThroUgh Anna s eyes we followthe story" of the plague vear, I666, as her fellow viliagers makean extraordinan choice: convinced by a visionary young, ministerthey elect to quarantine themselves within the village boundariesto arrest the spread of the disease. But as death reaches intoevery household.faith flays. When villagers turn from prayers tomurderous witch-hunting, Anna must confront the deaths of family,,the disintegration of her community, and the lure of illicit love.As she struggles to survive, a year of plague becomes instead arumsmirabilis, a year of wonders."

Featuring a stunning Introduction by popular author of The Ice Storm and Demonology Rick Moody, this special edition of The Mayor of Casterbridge is a tie-in to the AandE Television Network adaptation of Thomas Hardy's critically acclaimed novel. In a surprisingly personal essay, Moody names the saga "the first great novel about alcoholism," and delivers penetrating insight into the character of Michael Henchard and the crippling deficiencies that foretell his ruin. The Mayor of Casterbridge opens with an act of such heartlessness and cruelty that it still shocks readers today. Michael Henchard, an out-of-work hay-trusser, gets drunk at a fair and for five guineas sells his wife and child to a sailor. When the horror of his act sets in the following morning, the wretched Henchard swears he will not touch alcohol for twenty-one years. Through hard work and acumen, he becomes rich, respected, and eventually the mayor of Casterbridge. Eighteen years pass before Henchard's fateful oath comes back to claim its due

Thomas Hardy's richly evocative novel opens with the arrival of Bathsheba in the village of Weatherbury to work the large, dilapidated farm that is her inheritance. The plot turns on her sentimental education, her infatuation for Sergeant Troy, a dazzling young cavalry officer, and her relationship with the shepherd-farmer, Gabriel Oak. Gabriel's strong presence permeates a drama of temptation,treachery and passion in which Bathsheba achieves a painful but necessary self-knowledge.

Fifteen men on the dead man's chest-Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!' Treasure Island is a tale of pirates and villains, maps, treasure and shipwreck. When young Jim Hawkins finds a packet in Captain Flint's sea chest, he could not know that the map inside it would lead him to unimaginable treasure. Shipping as cabin boy on the Hispaniola, he sails with Squire Trelawney, Captain Smollett, Dr Livesey, the sinister Long John Silver and a frightening crew to Treasure Island. There, mutiny, murder and mayhem lead to a thrilling climax.

Oliver Twist is born in a workhouse and lives there until the day he pleads for more gruel Cast out into a harsh world, Oliver is taught to survive in London by Fagin and his gang of thieves. But can wits alone over-come poverty on the dangerous city streets?PENGUIN POPULAR CLASSICS are the per-fect introduction to the world-famous PENGUIN CLASSICS series - which en-compasses the best books ever written,from Homer's Odyssey to Orwell's 1984 and everything in between. For a full list and ideas on what to read next, visit www.penguinclassics.com

Elizabeth Bennet is at first determined to dislike Mr. Darcy, who is handsome and eligible. This misjudgment only matched in folly by Darcy's arrogant pride. Their first impressions give way to truer feelings in a comedy concerned with happiness and how it might be achieved. Jane Austen was born in Steventon, Hampshire, on December 16, 1775. Her father, the Reverend George Austen, was rector of Steventon, where she spent her first twenty-five years, along with her six brothers (two of them later naval officers in the Napoleonic wars) and her adored sister, Cassandra. She read voraciously from an early age, counting among her favorites the novels of Samuel Richardson, Henry Fielding, and Fanny Burney, and the poetry of William Cowper and George Crabbe. Her family was lively and affectionate and they encouraged her precocious literary efforts, the earliest dating from age twelve, which already displayed the beginnings of her comic style. Her first novels, Elinor and Marianne (1796) and First Impressions (1

Black Beauty had a fine, soft black coat, one white foot and a silver star on his forehead. This tale tells of the horse's adventures and tjoys is perhaps the most famous animal story of all time.Tens of millions of copies have been sold,and it remains as pupular now as when it was first published over a century ago.

Eine Hippie-Kommune muss Kalifornien verlassen und beschlie?t,sich in Alaska anzusiedeln. Zwei Welten prallen aufeinander, neueFreundschaften und Feindschaften entstehen.

A concise introduction that gives readers 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 help readers form their own interpretations Detailed explanatory notes Critical analysis, including contemporary 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 insightful commentary. The scholarship provided in Enriched Classics enables readers to appreciate, understand, and enjoy the world's finest books to their full potential.

The Brothers Grimm rediscovered a host of fairy tales, telling of princes and princesses in their castles, witches in their towers and forests, of giants and dwarfs, of fabulous animals and dark deeds. This selection of their tales was made and translated by Lucy Crane, and includes firm favourites such as Rapunzel, The Goose Girl, Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel and Snow White. It is Illustrated throughout by Walter Crane's charming line drawings.

Book De*ion Let number-one New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts flyyou into Lunacy, Alaska, and into a colorful, compelling new novelabout two lonely souls who find love - and redemtion... Lunacy was Nate Burke's last chance. As a Baltimore cop, he'dwatched his partner die on the street - and the guilt still hauntshim. With nowhere else to go, he accepts the job as chief of policein this tiny, remote Alaskan town, where the peace provides a balmfor his shattered soul - and an unexpected affair with pilot MegGalloway warms his nights... But other things in Lunacy are heating up. Nate suspects thekiller in an unsolved murder still walks the snowy streets. Hisinvestigation will unearth the secrets and suspicions that lurkbeneath the placid surface, as well as bring out the big-citysurvival instincts that made him a cop in the first place. And hisdiscovery will threaten the new life - and the new love - that hehas finally found for herself. "Roberts is among the best popul

Perhaps the most haunting and tragic love story ever written, Wuthering Heights is the tale of Heathcliff, a brooding, troubled orphan, and his doomed love for Catherine Earnshaw. His desire for her leads him to madness, however, when Catherine is made to marry a wealthy lord, sending Heathcliff on a life-long quest to avenge himself upon those who stole his only love and his life. In this gripping chronicle of the never-ending conflict between the heart and the mind -- and the pain and passion of true romance -- Emily Bront created an unforgettable classic saga of love, desperation, vengeance, and forgiveness. Published just one year before Bront 's death in 1848 at the age of thirty, Wuthering Heights endures as one of the world's greatest love stories and a classic of English literature. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

A writer is held hostage by his number-one fan in the novel that"demand[s] that we take King seriously as a writer with a deeplyfelt understanding of human psychology" ( Publishers Weekly ).His deeply felt understanding of what terrifies us doesn't hurteither.

Alice falls down a rabbit hole, changes size unexpectedly, and attends a tea party given by a March Hare. Along the way, she meets such unforgettable characters as the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, the Mock Turtle, the autocratic Red Queen, and other fanciful folk. 42 original illustrations by John Tenniel.

The unforgettable story of Heathcliff and Catherine, whose doomed love torments them in a tempest of madness, vengeance, and redemption. EACH ENRICHED CLASSIC EDITION INCLUDES: A concise introduction that gives readers 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 help readers form their own interpretations Detailed explanatory notes Critical analysis, including contemporary 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 insightful commentary. The scholarship provided in Enriched Classics enables readers to appreciate, understand, and enjoy the world's finest books to their full pot

They were just kids when they stumbled upon the hidden horror oftheir hometown. Now, as adults, none of them can withstand theforce that has drawn them all back to Derry, Maine, to face thenightmare without end, and the evil without a name.

A concise introduction that gives readers 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 help readers form their own interpretations Detailed explanatory notes Critical analysis, including contemporary 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 insightful commentary. The scholarship provided in Enriched Classics enables readers to appreciate, understand, and enjoy the world's finest books to their full potential.

The Shadows of Sherlock Holmes is a fascinating collection of stories featuring detectives, criminal agents and debonair crooks from the golden age of crime fiction: a time when Sherlock Holmes was esconsced in his rooms at 221B Baker Street and London was permanently wreathed in a sinister fog. These gripping tales of mystery, suspense and clever puzzles are wonderfully entertaining and in them you will meet The Crime Doctor, Professor Augustus S.F.X.Van Dusen - The Thinking Machine, Max Carrados - the incredible blind detective, the repulsive but brilliant Skin o' My Teeth, and the natty, ingenious French sleuth Eugene Valmont. On the other side of the law, there are gentleman crooks Raffles and Simon Carn - the Prince of Swindlers. The stories include: The Purloined Letter by Edgar Allan Poe, The Stolen Cigar Case by Bret Harte, The Swedish Match by Anton Chekhov, Nine Points of the Law by E.W. Hornung, The Ghost at Massingham Mansions by Ernest Bramah and The Great Pearl Mystery by Baroness Orczy.

PENGUIN POPULAR CLASSICS Jane Eyre escapes the cold charity of Lowood School to become governess to Mr Rochester's young ward. Plain but passion-ate, Jane gradually falls in love with her employer, but her discovery of Rochester's secret in the attic of Thornfield Hall threat-ens to destroy them both. PENGUIN POPULAR CLASSICS are the per-fect introduction to the world-famous PENGUIN CLASSICS series - which en-compasses the best books ever written,from Homer's Odyssey to Orwell's 1984 and everything in between. For a full list and ideas on what to read next, visit www.penguinclassics.com

Dorian Gray has just had his portrait painted. It is a perfect likeness of the quite extraordinary beautiful young man, and it prompts him to make a mad wish for eternal youth. In the years to come, he devotes his public life to and aestheticism-and his private one to decadence and debauchery.