One day old Mr. Franklin asks Bet to go out to the field and read aloud from a book about earthworms. Why? Who is listening? Soon, Bet becomes the most trusted friend of her listener, who turns out to be a bewitched mole.
At first she and the mole simply sit together in their field, reading, talking, sharing hopes and fears. But soon Bet is helping the Little Gentleman unravel his long and legendary past -- a past that includes the death of a king and a pouch of magic herbs. Bet begins to believe the mole's powers are stronger than he knows. She thinks he can even shift her size and take her exploring in his tunnels if he tries. Nothing is impossible. When the mole finally reveals his deepest wish, Bet knows she can help him.
But will it change everything? Views: 703
In this not-so-serious retelling of the Phantom of the Opera, Christine Daaé, a rather bratty girl who lives to become a diva, is horrified to discover that her mentor, whom she believed to be an angel, is really a monstrously-disfigured man. But as she works to accomplish her goals of fame and fortune, she realizes that it is really her genteel fiancé, Raoul de Chagny, who is the true monster.Christine Daae's sole goal in life is to fulfill her late father's dream by becoming a famous singer, and attaining wealth, power, and glory for herself. But she isn't a very good singer, and her career as a ballerina at the Opera Garnier isn't going anywhere. That is, until she meets the Angel of Music, who agrees to teach her to sing.Erik, the self-styled Phantom of the Opera, cursed his lonely and pointless life until he found Christine, who desperately needed a musical instructor. Despite her bratty and demanding nature, he is overjoyed that his years of study in the musical arts will finally be useful to someone.Raoul, the Vicomte de Chagny is a foppish nobleman trying to cram as many seductions as possible into the three months before his wedding. After seeing one of Christine’s performances, he decides that she will be the perfect final seduction of his bachelor career.As Christine works to achieve her dreams, her struggle between love and greed, beauty and ugliness, kindness and hauteur, sets Paris ablaze. Views: 703
Jennifer Chaise prides herself on being the perfect mistress. Her latest boyfriend, wealthy high-roller Nick Noble, is good to her, showering her with money, gifts, and trips to exotic places. Unfortunately, on this particular trip to Las Vegas, Nick's spouse shows up, and Jennifer walks into a scene where the wife's bloody body is sprawled facedown on the bed. To make matters worse, Jennifer hears Nick barking orders to his goons to take care of her, too. Terrorized, Jennifer, a head-turning beauty, shaves her head and eyebrows and hides out in Boulder City, finding a job as a waitress in a mom-and-pop cafe. It's hard for Jennifer, now "Doris," to keep a low profile in such a friendly little town, especially when her neighbor turns out to be a cop. Views: 703
In the late summer of 1913 the aristocratic young poet Cecil Valance comes to stay at ‘Two Acres’, the home of his close Cambridge friend George Sawle. The weekend will be one of excitements and confusions for all the Sawles, but it is on George’s sixteen-year-old sister Daphne that it will have the most lasting impact, when Cecil writes her a poem which will become a touchstone for a generation, an evocation of an England about to change for ever.
Linking the Sawle and Valance families irrevocably, the shared intimacies of this weekend become legendary events in a larger story, told and interpreted in different ways over the coming century, and subjected to the scrutiny of critics and biographers with their own agendas and anxieties. In a sequence of widely separated episodes we follow the two families through startling changes in fortune and circumstance. Views: 703
World War II pilot Peter Marshall leads the most successful bombing crew at his airbase, having survived an unusual number of extremely dangerous missions over Germany. However, when Peter falls hopelessly in love with an attractive WAAF officer—one who insists that wartime duties should take precedence over emotions—his concentration begins to suffer. Soon it looks as though his perfect run of successful missions may be at risk—along with the lives of Peter and his men—unless she can be persuaded to relent. Views: 702
Ten Years After are an English blues rock band, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Between 1968 and 1973, Ten Years After scored eight Top 40 albums on the UK Albums Chart. In addition they had twelve albums enter the US Billboard 200, and are best known for tracks such as "I\'m Going Home", "Hear Me Calling", "I\'d Love to Change the World" and "Love Like a Man". Their musical style consisted of blues rock, and hard rock. Views: 702
Hilary Burde, saved by education from a delinquent childhood, cheated of Oxford by a tragic love tangle, cherishes his obsessive guilt and disappointment in a dull, orderly civil service job.
When the man whom he has harmed and betrayed reappears as head of his department, Hilary hopes for forgiveness, even for redemption and a new life, but finds himself haunted by a ghostly repetition. Views: 702
The Man Within tells the story of Andrews, a young man who has betrayed his fellow smugglers and fears their vengeance. Fleeing from them, with no hope of pity or salvation, he takes refuge in the house of a young woman, also alone in the world. She persuades him to give evidence against his accomplices in court, but neither she nor Andrews is aware that to both criminals and authority treachery is as great a crime as smuggling. Views: 702
Vyder Ironstone is an assassin with a troubled past. At the order of his king, Vyder must undertake his most dangerous mission yet. A mission from which he may never return.Vyder Ironstone is an assassin with a troubled past. At the order of his king, Vyder must undertake his most dangerous mission yet. A mission from which he may never return.If he is successful, it might just be enough to alleviate war tearing the kingdom apart.The prospect of failure is not worth considering. Views: 702
'Peake's books are actual additions to life; they give, like certain rare dreams, sensations we never had before, and enlarge our conception of the range of possible experience' C.S. Lewis
Enter the world of Gormenghast. The vast crumbling castle to which the seventy-seventh Earl, Titus Groan, is Lord and heir. Titus is expected to rule this Gothic labyrinth of turrets and dungeons, cloisters and corridors as well as the eccentric and wayward subject. Things are changing in the castle and Titus must contend with a kingdom about to implode beneath the weight of centuries of intrigue, treachery, manipulation and murder. Views: 702
Dennis Mira just had two unpleasant surprises. First he learned that his cousin Edward was secretly meeting with a real estate agent about their late grandfather’s magnificent West Village brownstone, despite the promise they both made to keep it in the family. Then, when he went to the house to confront Edward about it, he got a blunt object to the back of the head.
Luckily Dennis is married to Charlotte Mira, the NYPSD’s top profiler and a good friend of Lieutenant Eve Dallas. When the two arrive on the scene, he explains that the last thing he saw was Edward in a chair, bruised and bloody. When he came to, his cousin was gone. With the mess cleaned up and the security disks removed, there’s nothing left behind but a few traces for forensics to analyze.
As a former lawyer, judge, and senator, Edward Mira mingled with the elite and crossed paths with criminals, making enemies on a regular basis. Like so many politicians, he also made some very close friends behind closed—and locked—doors. But a badge and a billionaire husband can get you into places others can’t go, and Eve intends to shine some light on the dirty deals and dark motives behind the disappearance of a powerful man, the family discord over a multimillion-dollar piece of real estate . . . and a new case that no one saw coming. Views: 701
In Ancient Greece, a skilled marble sculptor has been blessed by a goddess who has given his masterpiece – the most beautiful woman the town has ever seen – the gift of life. Now his wife, Galatea is expected to be obedience and humility personified, but it is not long before she learns to use her beauty as a form of manipulation. In a desperate bid by her obsessive husband to keep her under control, she is locked away under the constant supervision of doctors and nurses. But with a daughter to rescue, she is determined to break free, whatever the cost...
Pygmalion's story has moved millions through the centuries, inspiring George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, and later the beloved musical My Fair Lady. Ecco is proud to publish Orange Prize-winning author Madeline Miller’s E-book original short story Galatea which will appear in the forthcoming anthology xo Orpheus: Fifty New Myths to be published in October. This retelling of the Pygmalion myth from the statue’s perspective is a tale that will make readers rethink how they relate to the great myths of our time. Views: 701
An alternate cover edition exists here.
Sue Monk Kidd's phenomenal debut, The Secret Life of Bees, became a runaway bestseller that is still on the New York Times bestseller list more than two years after its paperback publication. Now, in her luminous new novel, Kidd has woven a transcendent tale that will thrill her legion of fans. Telling the story of Jessie Sullivan -- a love story between a woman and a monk, a woman and her husband, and ultimately a woman and her own soul -- Kidd charts a journey of awakening and self-discovery illuminated with a brilliance that only a writer of her ability could conjure. Views: 701
... I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance. –John 10:10, AMPGood Friday started off as anything but that for Melinda Black. After losing her job and self-dignity, a series of events cascade her onto an emotional roller coaster ride that changes her life forever.Will Melinda be able to handle the pressure when she stands to lose what's most important in her life?The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance. –John 10:10, AMPGood Friday started off as anything but that for Melinda Black. After losing her job and self-dignity, a series of events cascade her onto an emotionally charged roller coaster ride that drastically changes her life forever.Will Melinda be able to handle the pressure when she stands to lose what's most important in her life? Once Upon a Sunday is an inspirational short story. Views: 701
