A collection of light hearted short stories which could be set any where in the world. We can find humour and interest in any situation and possibly reflect on the absolute joy of living.A collection of light hearted short stories which could be set any where in the world. We can find humour and interest in any situation and possibly reflect on the absolute joy of living.These little anecdotes have been the result of some of the wonderful quirks of our human nature.Take a moment to read and look around you and find other classic moments of our fantastic world. Views: 266
When the strange man who has been watching their house turns out to be the grandfather she has never seen, eleven-year-old Cessie couldn't be happier -- at first sight. But then he has a stroke and actually has to come live with them. Popsicle, as she calls him, is impossible to live with: moody, forgetful, clumsy. Only Cessie loves him and believes in him. So when he is sent off to a home for the elderly, she helps him escape. And plays first mate to him on a dramatic nighttime boat trip across the English channel to unravel a secret only the two of them know. This Morpurgo story makes the reader want to cheer -- young people, the elderly, and courage at any age. Views: 266
Lady Darby returns to London with her new husband, Sebastian Gage, but newlywed bliss won't last for long when her past comes back to haunt her in the latest exciting installment in this national bestselling series.November 1831. After fleeing London in infamy more than two years prior, Lady Kiera Darby's return to the city is anything but mundane, though not for the reasons she expected. A gang of body snatchers is arrested on suspicion of imitating the notorious misdeeds of Edinburgh criminals, Burke and Hare—killing people from the streets and selling their bodies to medical schools. Then Kiera's past—a past she thought she'd finally made peace with—rises up to haunt her. All of London is horrified by the evidence that "burkers" are, indeed, at work in their city. The terrified populace hovers on a knife's edge, ready to take their enmity out on any likely suspect. And when Kiera receives a letter of blackmail, threatening to divulge details... Views: 266
Dashing Selby Harle, Lord Harlestone, has a reputation in London as a 'ladies man' and at the instigation of the influential Princess of Wales is all but blackmailed into marrying a Society beauty he does not like let alone love. And so he decides to escape to America, where he has invested some of his fortune in cattle ranching. In the wilds of Colorado, where the gold and minerals rush is at fever pitch, even this man of the world is shocked by the brazen houses of pleasure in Denver where 'madams' shamelessly ply their trade. He is even more appalled when a gang of rough cowboys arrive at one such house with a helpless young waif offering her for sale, who has just lost her mother and father to the Red Indians.The girl's name, they say, is Nelda Harle. Could this be the daughter of his estranged cousin, 'Handsome Harry', a notorious gambler and 'card sharp'? Selby feels duty bound to 'purchase' the girl for her own protection and proposes to send her safely home to England as... Views: 266
From "quite possibly the best historical novelist we have" (Philadelphia Inquirer), the fourth Joe Wilderness spy thriller, moving from Red Scare-era Washington, D.C. to a KGB prison near Moscow's KremlinIn Moscow Exile, John Lawton departs from his usual stomping grounds of England and Germany to jump across the Atlantic to Washington, D.C., in the fragile postwar period where the Red Scare is growing noisier every day. Charlotte is a British expatriate who has recently settled in the nation's capital with her second husband, a man who looks intriguingly like Clark Gable, but her enviable dinner parties and soirées aren't the only things she is planning. Meanwhile, Charlie Leigh-Hunt has been posted to Washington as a replacement for Guy Burgess, last seen disappearing around the corner and into the Soviet Union. Charlie is soon shocked to cross paths with Charlotte, an old flame of his, who, thanks to all her gossipy parties, has a... Views: 266
English writer William Harrison Ainsworth wrote many historical novel. While training as a lawyer Ainsworth met a publisher who brought him into literary circles. Auriol is unique in Ainsworth\'s catalog as the action is fantasy so his supernatural elements can take free reign. Truly a gothic romance creating a nightmarish commentary on society of the early 1800\'s. Kidnapping, confining a lunatic, a two-hundred year old criminal, the eve of discovering the elixir of life and a deserted mansion keep this story alive and moving forward. This is an excellent example of Ainsworth\'s works a book for anyone that enjoys Gothic Fiction. Views: 266
When John Cave, a mortician by trade, appears on television to declare that death is infinitely preferable to life, he sparks a religious movement that quickly leaves Christianity and most of Islam in the dust. Aided by a relentless public-relations campaign and supported by a "theology" whipped into existence by a historian besotted with love for one of Cave's alluring disciples, Cave's message proves irresistible. Things really start to get out of hand, however, when the notion of "voluntary death" creeps into the doctrine and the world's population is invited to depart from life in "pleasant establishments". A deft and daring blend of satire and prophecy first published in 1954, Messiah eerily anticipates the excesses of Jim Jones, David Koresh, and "Do", the guru of Heaven's Gate. Views: 266
Historical fiction painting a realistic picture of migrant farm life in the early twentieth century. There have always been wandering farm laborers because so many crops need but a few workers part of the year and a great many at harvest. A two-thousand-acre peach orchard needs only thirty workers most of the year, and one thousand seven hundred at picking time. Lately, though, there have been more migrants than ever. One reason is that while in the past we used to eat fresh peas, beans, strawberries, and the like only in summer, now we want fresh fruits and vegetables all year round. To supply our wants, great quantities of fresh fruit and vegetables must be raised in the warm climates where they will grow. Views: 266
From the author of the ever-popular Flashman novels, a collection of film-world reminiscences and trenchant thoughts on Cool Britannia, New Labour and other abominations.
In between writing Flashman novels, George MacDonald Fraser spent thirty years as an "incurably star struck" screenwriter, working with the likes of Steve McQueen, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Cubby Broccoli, Burt Lancaster, Federico Fellini and Oliver Reed. Now he shares his recollections of those encounters, providing a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes.
Far from starry-eyed where Tony Blair Co are concerned, he looks back also to the Britain of his youth and castigates those responsible for its decline to "a Third World country … misruled by a typical Third World government, corrupt, incompetent and undemocratic".
Controversial, witty and revealing – or "curmudgeonly", "reactionary", "undiluted spleen", according to the critics – The Light's on at Signpost has struck a chord with a great section of the public. Perhaps, as one reader suggests, it should be "hidden beneath the floorboards, before the Politically-Correct Thought Police come hammering at the door, demanding to confiscate any copies". Views: 265
After her father’s death, a girl adjusts to life away from the river she loves
The river is where Lily’s father taught her to fish; it is where she played all summer; it is what sang her to sleep at night in their cabin. But when her father dies while fishing, it is the river that Lily blames. Unable to make ends meet, she and her mother sell their cabin and move into town to live above the family hardware store. Even though she’s angry, the river keeps calling her home.
With a pair of wire cutters she borrowed from the store, Lily snips the fence that’s keeping her out of their old property. Living in their cabin is a mysterious man named T. R. Tracy, a veteran who lost his legs in the war. Together they bond over the river, and together they will learn to forgive. Views: 265
The events of the present story take place during the reign of William of Orange. The father of the hero is a Jacobite gentleman who, to avoid arrest, is compelled to flee to Sweden. Here the hero, Charlie Carstairs, and a young companion, engage in the service of Charles XII, taking part in the wars between Sweden and Poland. The hero, acting as a scout, falls into the hands of Polish bandits. After numerous exciting adventures and hair-breadth escapes, he finally secures his release and returns to Sweden. Then he serves for a time under Marlborough in France, and distinguishes himself signally. A final return to England, where his father is pardoned, supplies a satisfactory close to a story remarkable for its thrilling adventures, its varied scenery, and its interesting historical pictures. "The adventures of a young English lad, whose father, denounced as a Royalist and a plotter against the Elector, has to flee England, taking his son with him. They make their way to Sweden; there the son enters the foreign legion under Charles XII of Sweden, and sees a deal of fighting against the Russians and Poles." -The Review of Reviews Views: 265
