See the other side of a Victorian Christmas through a housekeeper's eyes.Christmas is the biggest day of the year for Felicity and all the other servants at the de Veyney London house. There is food to prepare and guests to accomodate, including drunken cousins and amorous sisters. But no matter who they are or what their position, they all long for a white Christmas.Suitcase Tales is a collection a quirky poetic tales inspired by people watching and drinking coffee at an airport. It is amazing what people can really get up to inside an airport. A dark, disturbing but sensuous surrealistic read. A reality check. Split into two parts this collection will have you either laughing or crying. It is evocative to say the least. Part One contains five tales about five different people – all fictional and all quite strange in their own little ways. Part Two contains two surreal tales. They are all poetic and darkly humorous, at times touching on absurd, but they do have an underlying serious tone. They poke beneath the surface of humanity. We are all real people with real feelings and at times those feelings are strange and human behaviour can sometimes become irrational. Going to the airport to catch a flight for your holiday is great and it is good fun, but sometimes the inside of an airport can act as a refuge for some, and sometimes people around you can wonder off into their own madness. The Woman With The Bottle Of Wine tells a quirky sad story. What if a person from another country has nowhere to hide and the only option is to jump on a plane to England? Why has she come? What does she do when she gets here? How do the airport employees in this tale react to this when they find her intoxicated with alcohol inside Weatherspoons? Exemption - explores the theme of control and how authoritative members of society try to use their power at times. Is there a time when all humans should be treated as equal and why do some think they are better than others? This quirky tale relies heavily on characterisation of its main character and how he sees himself as opposed to others whilst going through airport security. How will he react when he is asked to be searched?Now Everybody Knows - is a quirky story that pokes well beneath the surface of humanity and explores the real life issue of paranoia. A man who lives alone hears knocking on his front door and realises when peeping through the spy hole that his neighbours have a letter for him. What does he do after the letter flies through his letter box and he hears his neighbours shuffling around next door? Too Late - is a quirky tale which explores madness and loneliness. When security manager, Edward takes a break from duty to go and find his friend in Burger King, his behaviour becomes irrational due to his friend not turning up. Touches on the absurd. Gifts - is a beautiful descriptive tale about a man who has taken up residence at the airport. People pass. People stop. Some stare at the bandages he is wearing. Others pass him pretty parcels wrapped in delicate ribbons. What are these gifts? What does he do with them? The City - will take you on a curious ride through Liverpool and the Amazon Jungle. This is a surreal tale written in a stream of consciousness style. It is vibrant with senses and colour and explores one of the downsides of life. Crossroads - is a heart wrenching story of a young woman who crosses the railway lines to find her lost lover. When she discovers his presence in a Doffidil beside her she takes desperate measure to join him. Full of poetry and wonderful images. Views: 748
The heart-lifting, heartbreaking new story by Michael Morpurgo, the nation's favourite storyteller. In the Imperial War Museum is a wooden Dachshund, carved by a German prisoner of war for the children of the British family with which he stayed after the fighting ended. This is the story of how it got there! When the Bismarck sinks, one of the only German survivors is taken on board a British ship as a prisoner of war. Sent to live with a host family, Walter must adapt to a new way of life, in the heart of an enemy country. Gradually, though, he finds a friend in ten-year-old Grace. So when the time finally comes to go back to Germany, it's an emotional parting, with Walter leaving Grace with only a carved wooden dog to remember him by. The question is, will Walter and Grace ever meet again? In 1966, with the World Cup coming to Britain, that opportunity may just have come along! Views: 748
From *New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, the second installment in the world-renowned Sharpe series, chronicling the rise of Richard Sharpe, a Private in His Majesty’s Army at the siege of Seringapatam.*
"The greatest writer of historical adventures today."
—*Washington Post*
Richard Sharpe. Soldier, hero, rogue—the man you always want on your side. Born in poverty, he joined the army to escape jail and climbed the ranks by sheer brutal courage. He knows no other family than the regiment of the 95th Rifles, whose green jacket he proudly wears. Views: 748
Token Creek, Montana Territory — 1880
Cassidy Norton is a fine seamstress who makes her living sewing for others. Amid the bustle of a busy frontier town, her life is rich. What time her business doesn’t take, her friends and church family fill. But Cassidy hasn't always lived in Token Creek, and few people know her full story. So she struggles with a nagging unsettledness in her heart.
Cassidy's friend Meg is married to a rancher and has a baby, something Cassidy wants for herself. But that would mean revealing the details of her life. Will Cassidy find the strength to take that risk? Views: 748
Resourceful, adventurous and utterly indefatigable, Sophy is hardly the mild-mannered girl that the Rivenhalls expect when they agree to take her in. Kind-hearted Aunt Lizzy is shocked; stern Cousin Charles and his humorless fiancée Eugenia are disapproving.
With her inimitable mixture of exuberance and grace Sophy soon sets about endearing herself to her family, but finds herself increasingly drawn to her cousin. Can she really be falling in love with him, and he with her? And what of his betrothal to Eugenia? Views: 747
She's the vampire that could destroy a nation. At least, that's what Pinkerton detective Finn Dunne thinks of Tara Fox. Capturing her aboard a ship sneaking its way northward, he's convinced she's been sent to take out President Lincoln. While she's certainly the most attractive assassin he's ever faced, that won't keep him from his duty. Tara has always been caught between worlds. As a vampire born and raised in Key West, she has many friends among the humans. Many friends that are now fighting and dying in the raging Civil War. When her strange dreams began, she thought of them as abstract visions. But she now knows that she must travel to Washington, D. C. , and protect the president at all costs. Finn still won't trust her, despite what he's seen. And if Tara has to go through him?or bring reinforcements?to save Lincoln, she will do whatever it takes, even if it costs her her heart. Views: 747
. . . .He knew better. But he did write a nice round hand, like a boy's hand. He knew Spanish, and enough English. For the sector that was assigned to him he would not need a map. He knew it better than anyone else, certainly better than any mapmaker. Besides, he was poor and needed the money. Views: 747
With these magic words, I begin my spell.
Hear me, first star, hear me well.
Send me dragon's gold, from the days of old.
The spell has been cast, let the magic last.
Ben wants to get a dog. Badly. But his mum says they'll have to move to a bigger house first, and they can't afford it. So Ben, his brother Tim and their friend James decide to find some dragon's gold. They have to meddle with magic to do it, though, and that is always a dangerous thing to do.
Next thing they know a fire-breathing dragon has kidnapped James sister Sarah and they have to find some way of rescuing her without getting fried! They're in for a marvellous magical misadventure. Views: 747
He would become the most powerful wizard in the history of Britain—Merlin. She would become Britain's most storied sorceress—Morgan le Fay. But before they were legends, they were young. And they were lovers. Together, in the sunlight of one day long ago, they saved a kingdom. Dawn of Avalon. A stand-alone story from the universe of Anna Elliott’s Twilight of Avalon.Rhetoric analysis of everyday useCharacter analysis of Mrs. Johnson (MAMA)Character change Dynamic character Views: 746
From Donald Ray Pollock, author of the highly acclaimed The Devil All the Time and Knockemstiff, comes a dark, gritty, electrifying (and, disturbingly, weirdly funny) new novel that will solidify his place among the best contemporary American authors.
It is 1917, in that sliver of border land that divides Georgia from Alabama. Dispossessed farmer Pearl Jewett ekes out a hardscrabble existence with his three young sons: Cane (the eldest; handsome; intelligent); Cob (short; heavy set; a bit slow); and Chimney (the youngest; thin; ill-tempered). Several hundred miles away in southern Ohio, a farmer by the name of Ellsworth Fiddler lives with his son, Eddie, and his wife, Eula. After Ellsworth is swindled out of his family’s entire fortune, his life is put on a surprising, unforgettable, and violent trajectory that will directly lead him to cross paths with the Jewetts. No good can come of it. Or can it?
In the gothic tradition of Flannery O’Connor and Cormac McCarthy with a healthy dose of cinematic violence reminiscent of Sam Peckinpah, Quentin Tarantino and the Coen Brothers, the Jewetts and the Fiddlers will find their lives colliding in increasingly dark and horrific ways, placing Donald Ray Pollock firmly in the company of the genre’s literary masters. Views: 746
A man of solitude, who felt at home among the hills.
A man of conviction, who heard when God called.
A man of fortitude, who spoke to a nation unwilling to listen.
The Israelites rebelled against God and were devoured by war. But first they were warned by a prophet who refused to be turned away.
Amos Views: 746
The erotic Sleeping Beauty trilogy now continues with a fourth novel by master storyteller and best-selling author of Prince Lestat, Anne Rice, writing as A. N. Roquelaure.
Mega-best-selling author Annie Rice returns to where she left off in Beauty's Release with the disappearance of Queen Eleanor in Bellavalten. Now, 20 years after they were forced to leave the kingdom to return to their homeland, Beauty and her husband, Laurent, agree to travel back as its king and queen, to uphold the ways of complete sensual surrender with a twist: They now insist on voluntary servitude in Bellavalten.
Countless eager princes, princesses, lords, ladies, and common folk journey to Beauty's new kingdom, where she and her husband awaken their domain, ushering in a new era of desire, longing, and sexual ecstasy. Provocative and stirring, Rice's imaginative retelling of the Sleeping Beauty myth will be hailed by her longtime fans and new listeners of erotica just discovering the novels. This audiobook is intended for mature audiences.
** Views: 745
Joella gets more than she bargains for while researching the reclusive cougar for her thesis, in an old mining canyon.A burned out drunk on the verge of death is saved by an alien scientist who wishes to use him as a host to study the human race. He is given a new body with enhancements with such features as telescopic, microscopic, infrared, and x-ray vision. His new improved brain allows him to invent new products and write computer programs which make him very wealthy. The alien helps him transform his body and assume a new identity and live out his dream of being a singer and attracting females to his private fan club,His new life doesn't not go unnoticed. A female journalist investigates rumors that he is using his fan club as sex slaves. Also, a detective comes to investigate his possible involvement in the murder of his former self. The detective brings a black cocaine whore to keep him company while he does his investigation.Once he has learned to use his new enhancements, the alien adds a Time/Transport Bubble to his body. To familiarize himself with the abilities of this amazing device, he does a few test trips in current time and in the not too distant past. For example, he travels to North Korea to steal the virginity of the dictator's new bride and wreck his new weapon of mass destruction. He also uses his abilities to save a famous woman who was unfairly accused of being a spy during World War 1. These are only two of the many adventures the new time traveler experiences. Views: 745
Rarely, if ever, does a new writer dazzle us with such a vivid imagination and storytelling, flawlessly capturing the essence of a land, a people, a legend. Conn Iggulden is just such a writer, bringing to vivid life one of the most fascinating eras in human history. In a true masterpiece of historical fiction, Iggulden takes us on a breathtaking journey through ancient Rome, sweeping us into a realm of tyrants and slaves, of dark intrigues and seething passions. What emerges is both a grand romantic tale of coming-of-age in the Roman Empire and a vibrant portrait of the early years of a man who would become the most powerful ruler on earth: Julius Caesar.
On the lush Italian peninsula, a new empire is taking shape. At its heart is the city of Rome, a place of glory and decadence, beauty and bloodshed. Against this vivid backdrop, two boys are growing to manhood, dreaming of battles, fame, and glory in service of the mightiest empire the world has ever known. One is the son of a senator, a boy of privilege and ambition to whom much has been given and from whom much is expected. The other is a bastard child, a boy of strength and cunning, whose love for his adoptive family-and his adoptive brother-will be the most powerful force in his life.
As young Gaius and Marcus are trained in the art of combat-under the tutelage of one of Rome's most fearsome gladiators-Rome itself is being rocked by the art of treachery and ambition, caught in a tug-of-war as two rival generals, Marius and Sulla, push the empire toward civil war. For Marcus, a bloody campaign in Greece will become a young soldier's proving ground. For Gaius, the equally deadly infighting of the Roman Senate will be the battlefield where he hones his courage and skill. And for both, the love of an extraordinary slave girl will be an honor each will covet but only one will win.
The two friends are forced to walk different paths, and by the time they meet again everything will have changed. Both will have known love, loss, and violence. And the land where they were once innocent will be thrust into the grip of bitter conflict-a conflict that will set Roman against Roman...and put their friendship to the ultimate test.
Brilliantly interweaving history and adventure, Conn Iggulden conjures a stunning array of contrasts-from the bloody stench of a battlefield to the opulence of the greatest city in history, from the tenderness of a lover to the treachery of an assassin. Superbly rendered, grippingly told, Emperor, The Gates of Rome is a work of vaulting imagination from a powerful new voice in historical fiction. "From the Hardcover edition." Views: 744
