The Hole in the Wall by Arthur MorrisonThe Hole in the Wall by Arthur Morrison Views: 251
"His keen understanding of history and legend...illuminate[s] his visits." —Publishers Weekly
"A vivid picture of the island." —Associated Press
"It is hard to think of anywhere on earth where so many firsts and mosts are crammed into a space so small," Barry Unsworth writes of the isle of Crete. Birthplace of the Greek god Zeus, the Greek alphabet, and the first Greek laws, as well as the home of 15 mountain ranges and the longest gorge in Europe, this land is indisputably unique. And since ancient times, its inhabitants have maintained an astonishing tenacity and sense of national identity, even as they suffered conquest and occupation by Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Venetians, Ottoman Turks, and Germans.
Throughout this evocative book, now in trade paper, Unsworth describes the incredible physical and cultural proportions of the island—in history, myth, and reality. Moving and artful, Crete gives readers a comprehensive picture and rich understanding of this complex—and indeed, almost magical—world of Mediterranean wonders.
With the same keen eye and clear, eloquent prose that distinguishes his acclaimed historical novels, Barry Unsworth delivers his readers a two-fold traveler's reward, at once a wonderfully detailed panorama of Crete's many layers of history and an evocative portrait of an island almost literally larger than life. Views: 251
Employing wry humor and a deceptively simple style, Amélie Nothomb, the author of over twenty-three bestselling novels (over exactly twenty-three years!) writes about twin abiding passions: one for champagne, and the other for a riotous friendship between her protagonist and Pétronille Fanto, a woman who refuses to drink alone. This is a funny, moving, “exotic” novel about travel, France, Champagne, and, above all, about women’s friendship. The on-again/off-again friendship between Petronille and the main character in the book, a writer by the name of Amélie Nothomb, gives the story it verve and the novel its heart. This is literary Thelma & Louise, with a little bit of French panache and a whole lot of champagne thrown into the mix. Amélie Nothomb is one of Europe’s most successful and talked about authors. Hygiene and the Assassin, her first published novel, was published when she was only twenty-five and since then she has become a cult figure, occupying a unique position in the world of French and European fiction. Delightful and witty, Pétronille is further proof of Nothomb’s versatility and brilliance. Views: 251
The sixteenth full length Redwall novel sheds light on the Abbey's ancient origins in a thrilling adventure. Loamhedge, the deserted Abbey, has been forgotten for countless seasons. What secrets do it's ruins hold? When it becomes clear that wheelchair-bound Martha might be cured by a formula buried there, two old warriors are inspired by the spirit of Martin the Warrior himself to go on a quest for the ancient Abbey and three young rebels are determined to go with them. Meanwhile. the giant badger Lonna Bowstripe thirsts for vengeance as he relentlessly pursues Raga Bl and his murdering crew of Searats...who are on their way to attack Redwall itself@ The valiant Abbeybeasts must defend their home, but how can they, when their boldest warriors are away on their quest? Will Redwall fall to vermin invaders at last?
A rare glimpse into Redwall's history makes this volume a memorable additional to Jacques' epic. Fans will not be disappointed, and new readers will be eager to jump on board. Views: 251
Pixie Kitchy was once Miss New Jersey. Now she's married to a dentist, an ex-quarterback in turtled golf pants. Her ten-year-old daughter, Mitzie, wears Bo-peep pincurls and twirls baton. Her sixteen-year-old son, Ezra, the person who knows her best, is caught up in his fling with the podiatrist's daughter. And Pixie is consumed by the past. She confides, "I was a housewife, and I became dangerous. Sometimes it's the only way possible to regain footing in the world." In this high-wire mixture of absurdity and pathos, hilarity and darkness, one American family finds out that there is no such thing as the perfect American family, and, for better or for worse, they come together and start anew. Views: 251
A thrilling, innovative novel about the interplay between nature and humankind by the author of Names on the Land.With Storm, first published in 1941, George Stewart invented a new genre of fiction, what we might today call the eco-novel. California had been plunged in drought throughout the summer and fall, when, just after the new year, half a world away, a ship on the Pacific reports an unusual barometric reading. In San Francisco, a junior meteorologist in the weather bureau takes note of the anomaly and plots "an incipient little whorl" on the weather map, a developing storm, he suspects, that he privately dubs Maria. Stewart's novel tracks Maria's eastward progress to and beyond the shores of the United States though the eyes of meteorologists, linemen, snowplow operators, a general, a couple of decamping lovebirds, and an unlucky owl, and the storm, as it ebbs and falls, will bring long-needed rain, flooding roads, deep snows, accidents, and death.... Views: 251
A spine-cilling tale of mystery and murder by one of America's most famous novelists, author of Great Lion of God. Home for Chirstmas - snow-laden trees, a blazing fire, carols around the piano...it all seemed so perfect. Views: 251
Booth Tarkington, a leading American novelist of the Interwar period, was famous for his novels 'The Magnificent Ambersons' and 'Alice Adams'. Although he was considered by many to be America's greatest living author in the 1910's and 1920's, being one of only three novelists to win the Pulitzer Prize multiple times, his works are sadly neglected today. This eBook presents Tarkington's complete fictional works, featuring rare novels for the first time in digital publishing. As well as numerous illustrations and informative introductions, this edition offers readers the opportunity to rediscover this important American novelist. (Version 2)* Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Tarkington's life and works* Concise introductions to the major texts* All 35 novels, with individual contents tables* Includes the complete Growth trilogy and the complete Penrod novels* Many rare novels appearing for the first time in digital publishing*... Views: 251
Frank Richard Stockton was a popular 19th century American author who remains best known for writing a series of acclaimed children\'s fairy tales. His books are still read across the world today. Views: 250
Even as
Detective Dhruva was enamored of Kavya, whom he rescues from her kidnapper,
Radha, an alleged murderess on the run, gatecrashes into his life. But when
Kavya too joins him after her man was poisoned there ensues the tussle of a
love triangle, which gets unraveled in a poignant end, but not before a series
of murders. So,
then who could have poisoned Ranjit the realtor, Shakeel the Inspector, Pravar
the criminal and Natya his accomplice?Well
the needle of suspicion tilted towards Pravar that was till he perished with
his mate, but then who was the one? Could
it be Radha under the scanner for her role in the death of her husband Madhu
and his mistress Mala, Pravar's sister? Or was it Ranjit's spouse Kavya, who
owing to Stockholm Syndrome, takes to Pravar her kidnapper.As
these deaths by poisoning puzzle Dhruva, Radha avers that Kavya had the motive
and the means to kill her spouse, her paramour and his wife besides the cop.However,
reckoning that when the ill-motives of the natural suspects to commit a murder
are an open secret, someone with a hidden agenda might be tempted to use that
as a camouflage for his subterfuge, Dhruva begins to look around for the
culprit.
The Book's Agenda for Revenge.1. Prey on
the Prowl2.
Shakeel’s Fixation3. Ranjit’s
Predicament 4. Rags to
Riches5. Dhruva’s
Dilemma 6. The
Gatecrasher7.
Operation Checkmate8. Foul on
Pravar 9.
Stockholm Syndrome10. An
Aborted Affair11. Psyche
of Revenge12. Victim
of Trust13.
Backyard of Life14.
Cuckoo’s Nest15.
‘Untried’ Crime16. Kavya’s
Quagmire17. Murders
to Mislead18. The
Other Woman 19.
Shakeel’s Demise20. A
Perfect Murder21. Deaths
in Spandan22.
Arraigned in Remand23. Depressing Discovery24. The Red
Herring25. Wages
of Abuse26.
Decoding the Crime27. A
Poignant End:Book excerpt for the feel of its literary style:Prey on the ProwlThat June
evening, the crimson sun gave in to the dark monsoon clouds to let them end its
long summer reign over the Deccan skies. What with the thickening clouds
thundering in triumph, Dhruva woke up from his siesta, and by the time he moved
into the portico of his palatial bungalow at 9, Castle Hills, the skies had
opened up to shower its sprawling lawns. It was as if the eagerness of the rainfall
matched the longing of the parched soil to receive its fertile mate in an aroma
of embrace, and in the ensuing echoes of that seasonal union, the roots of the
garden plants devoured every raindrop, that is, even as their leaves shed the
overburden to accommodate the new arrivals.Dhruva,
impelled by all that, stood engrossed, and Raju, the housekeeper, fetched him a
plateful of hot pakodas, which, facing the spatter, he began to savour,
and before he had finished with the snack, Raju returned with a mug of steaming
Darjeeling tea for him. Soon, the
refreshed sun resurged to warm up the leaves, even as the satiated roots
let the bounty go down the drain. Done with the beverage, Dhruva picked up the
sachet of lanka pogaku,
to roll a cigar, and finishing that as he reached for the cigar lighter,
the rainbow, in its resplendent colors, unfolded in the misty skies. However,
when he began puffing away at the cigar, as if dispelled by its strong scent,
the dissipated clouds began disappearing from the horizon.Watched by
Dicey, the Alsatian, Dhruva savored the cigar to the last puff, but as he
stubbed the butt, and stepped out onto the lush green lawn, the pet followed
him to leave its footprints on the damp canvas in its master’s tracks. Even as
the clouds began regrouping in the skies, he covered the garden to caress every
croton and coleus as he would Dicey. But when it portended downpour, Raju led
Dicey into the portico and Dhruva headed towards the study to pick up the
half-read Crimes Digest of the month.
However, as it rained again, he reached the first-floor French window, standing
by which he thought that it was akin to the urge of the assassin to revisit the
scene of the crime, for a review of the same. Amused by his analogy, he thought
as if the rain was obliterating its earlier footprints, but when it ceased
raining and the skies turned murky, seemingly mourning the loss of their
resplendence, he too immersed himself in the dark world of crime the Digest pictured.Meanwhile,
Raju let Dicey do the patrolling, and soon it began barking at the gate
inducing Dhruva to reach to the window, through which he saw a sensuous woman,
tentative at the half-open Iron Gate of his mansion. Enamoured of her
attractive face and desirous of her middle-aged frame, as he stood rooted, the
pet sprang up to the gate, forcing the tantalizing trespasser to beat a hasty
retreat. No less affected by her sensual gait in her retreat, Dhruva lost his
eyes to her, until she went out of his sight, but readily alive to her loss, he
cursed himself for not sticking to the portico. Inexplicably obsessed with her,
he rushed to the gate only to see her turning the bend even as Inspector
Shakeel came into view on his Bajaj Pulsar.When
Shakeel greeted Dhruva, feeling lost, he forced himself to hug him, just as
Dicey leapt up to the visitor in welcome, and as Raju took away the pet, Dhruva
led the cop into the portico, wondering aloud what made him scarce, for nearly
three months then. When Shakeel began to detail how he had reached the dead-end
of the investigation of a double murder he was handling, the detective closed
his eyes, as if to avoid reading the script from the cop’s body language. Views: 250
Hong Kong. American journalist Paul and his Chinese girlfriend face a crisis. A troubling letter arrives from mainland China from Christine's long lost brother and they feel compelled to come to his rescue. There they find a village in turmoil and her brother's life in disarray.
Their dangerous quest for justice begins in twenty-first century China beset by corrupt politicians and ruthless business interests, where citizens, still in the long shadow of the Cultural Revolution have few rights in the face of an all-powerful system.
Sendker's world is rich and intense: his books weave together love story and crime thriller, the wisdom of Confucius and the thoughts of Mao, between the emotive West and the fatalistic, philosophical East. And above all a sense of deep, honest faith in the human spirit. Views: 250
