Search results for ""author victoria"

Dombey and Son (1846–48), Dickens’s seventh novel, stands at the mid-point of his career. It was begun in Switzerland after a break from near-continuous novel writing and bears the hallmarks of its long gestation and Dickens’s deepening engagement with the many cross-currents shaping Britain’s social, cultural and political life. Predominant among them are public debates about the need to provide schooling for young children, ethical questions prompted by the demolition of neighbourhoods to make way for railways, the discussion of sanitary reforms to improve the nation’s health, and divergent responses to prostitution and other crimes inextricably linked with poverty, illiteracy and deprivation. Drawing on contemporary documentation, Dickens’s letters, his journalism and the novelist’s own personal involvement with schemes to improve the lives of the poor, this Companion to Dombey and Son offers an authoritative and exhaustive study of the many contemporary contexts that inform Dickens’s panoramic examination of mid-Victorian life. Of equal importance and intimately connected with the novel’s engagement with public issues is the moral thread that binds the whole, a familial story about pride and the pursuit of riches. Private matters accordingly receive comparable attention as Dickens exposes some of the consequences of mid-century domestic ideology, examining the nursing of infants, the education of young children, and the pressure on both men and women to marry. In compelling scenes artfully interwoven, the story of the novel’s prosperous merchant unfolds, in language, as the annotations show, enriched from fairy tale, science and pseudo-science, archaeology, popular and classical literature, poetry, the Bible and voyages and travels. Dombey and Son also illuminates in its extended portrait of a Lear-like figure truths about loss and love central to Dickens’s fiction.

Read more less

The Moonstone is one of the first true works of detective fiction, in which Wilkie Collins established the groundwork for the genre itself. This Penguin Classics edition is edited with an introduction by Sandra Kemp.The Moonstone, a priceless yellow diamond, is looted from an Indian temple and maliciously bequeathed to Rachel Verinder. On her eighteenth birthday, her friend and suitor Franklin Blake brings the gift to her. That very night, it is stolen again. No one is above suspicion, as the idiosyncratic Sergeant Cuff and the Franklin piece together a puzzling series of events as mystifying as an opium dream and as deceptive as the nearby Shivering Sand. The intricate plot and modern technique of multiple narrators made Wilkie Collins's 1868 work a huge success in the Victorian sensation genre. With a reconstruction of the crime, red herrings and a 'locked-room' puzzle, The Moonstone was also a major precursor of the modern mystery novel.In her introduction Sandra Kemp explores The Moonstone's the detective elements of Collins's writing, and reveals how Collins's sensibilities were untypical of his era.Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) was born in London in 1824, the eldest son of the landscape painter William Collins. In 1846 he was entered to read for the bar at Lincoln's Inn, where he gained the knowledge that was to give him much of the material for his writing. From the early 1850s he was a friend of Charles Dickens, who produced and acted in two melodramas written by Collins, The Lighthouse and The Frozen Deep. Of his novels, Collins is best remembered for The Woman in White (1859), No Name (1862), Armadale (1866) and The Moonstone (1868).If you enjoyed The Moonstone you might like Collins's The Woman in White, also available in Penguin Classics.'Probably the very finest detective story ever written'Dorothy L. Sayers'The first, the longest and the best of modern modern English detective novels'T.S. Eliot

Read more less

The first novel in Anthony Trollope's 'Palliser' series, Can You Forgive Her? traces the fortunes of three very different women in an exploration of whether social obligations and personal happiness can ever coincide. This Penguin Classics edition is edited with an introduction by Stephen Wall.Alice Vavasor cannot decide whether to marry her ambitious but violent cousin George or the upright and gentlemanly John Grey - and finds herself accepting and rejecting each of them in turn. Increasingly confused about her own feelings and unable to forgive herself for such vacillation, her situation is contrasted with that of her friend Lady Glencora - forced to marry the rising politician Plantagenet Palliser in order to prevent the worthless Burgo Fitzgerald from wasting her vast fortune. In asking his readers to pardon Alice for her transgression of the Victorian moral code, Trollope created a telling and wide-ranging account of the social world of his day.In his introduction, Stephen Wall examines Trollope's skill in depicting the strengths and weaknesses of his characters, their behaviour and inner lives. This edition also includes notes and a bibliography.Anthony Trollope (1815-82) had an unhappy childhood characterised by a stark contrast between his family's high social standing and their comparative poverty. He wrote his earliest novels while working as a Post Office inspector, but did not meet with success until the publication of the first of his 'Barsetshire novels', The Warden (1855). As well as writing over forty novels, including such popular works as Can You Forgive Her? (1865), Phineas Finn (1869), He Knew He Was Right (1869) and The Way We Live Now (1875) Trollope is credited with introducing the postbox to England.If you enjoyed Can You Forgive Her?, you might enjoy Henry James's The Ambassadors, also available in Penguin Classics.

Read more less

In Stevenson’s suspense-filled masterpiece of horror, a shameless, repulsive creature stalks the streets and he’s becoming harder to control… The charming Dr Jekyll could not be more different to the violent and depraved Mr Hyde – until, that is, he takes a potion of his own concoction which allows him to embrace his darker side. As Hyde’s savagery escalates, Dr Jekyll finds himself trapped in a truly nightmarish tale of duality, leaving him forced to take desperate measures, as he discovers that leaving the monster behind is not as easy as he needs it to be. Four of Stevenson’s other dark tales (including ‘The Body Snatcher’) complete this investigation into demonic influences of the most personal kind. FLAME TREE 451: From mystery to crime, supernatural to horror and fantasy to science fiction, Flame Tree 451 offers a healthy diet of werewolves and mechanical men, blood-lusty vampires, dastardly villains, mad scientists, secret worlds, lost civilizations and escapist fantasies. Discover a storehouse of tales gathered specifically for the reader of the fantastic. Each book features a brand new biography and glossary of Literary, Gothic and Victorian terms.

Read more less

She dreams of driving across the bridges. She’d never been afraid before; but now, in the dreams, strange, magical happenings unfold. One night, at the Golden Gate, the span carries her underwater, where she discovers long lost friends, all sitting at a beautiful table at the bottom of the Bay; only it was long ago, and everyone is in Victorian dress.In another dream, the Bridge does not yet exist. Where the beautiful city would appear, there are only sandstone cliffs and desert; and she is just spirit, flying above the water.But in most of the dreams she is driving. Her eyelids become heavy, she can’t see the road. struggles desperately to keep control of the car, but can feel herself falling, slipping towards the floor, the car breaking over the railing, carrying her with it under the water. The dreams recur so often that she becomes afraid of heights, of driving over the railing into the waves. Then just as suddenly the dreams stop. Years pass, un

Read more less

The Victorian age, the age of industrial revolution and expansion of cities, was also the age of an explosion of interest in the practice of gardening. This was not merely a private pastime. For the first time, a concerted effort was made throughout Britain to provide extensive gardens for the public to enjoy. More than merely an aesthetic enterprise, the development of public gardens attempted to promote benevolent behaviour and decrease social unrest. It was during this period that we saw the creation of infamous and elaborate gardens such as the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, and plants were brought from all around the world and housed in gardens such as James Bateman’s at Biddulph Grange, Staffordshire. The craze for plant collecting that developed in the nineteenth century catalysed the return to a more formal style of garden to display the variety of plant species from across the Empire. In this illustrative comprehensive tome, Frank J. Scott brought the art of beautifying home gardens to suburban homes. He demonstrates the simple means with which beautiful gardens may be achieved on small grounds and with little cost.

Read more less

Focusing on European and American trial fiction since about 1880, Dark Mirror argues that although it is generally animated by a sense of injustice, this literature reflects the virtual collapse in Western culture of the idea of a universal, or "natural," ethical law. From the ancient Greeks to the Victorians, that idea, though powerfully contested by the notion that justice was simply "the interest of the stronger," remained vigorously alive in books as in people’s minds. It thus constituted an alternative to injustice which modern literature, whether its angle is religious, social, or absurdist, rarely presents. Sterne presents the argument that the tradition of natural law can be adapted to the present condition, a hypothesis that necessitates a view of an international community in which distributive as well as punitive justice is done. Creators of literature, who have so persuasively dramatized the corruptions, cruelties, and absurdities of our time, would then eb called upon to increasingly choose to imagine "just" ways for us to emerge from chaos. Dark Mirror is the first study that combines, comprehensively, the treatment of the historical conflict between idealistic (natural law) and "realistic" or cynical approaches to the idea of justice.

Read more less

Highams Park lies on the Greenwich Meridian, about ten miles from St Paul's Cathedral, but it is not easy to find it on a map. The old hamlet of Hale End is even more elusive, but is a vital community with its own identity. Early settlers came to the Great Forest of Waltham and, from the Tudor period to the Victorian era, the beautiful forest around Hale End, and its proximity to the City, appealed to Lord Mayors of London and wealthy merchant bankers. Epping Forest and the lake attracted day trippers, who came by rail to Hale End station, but the urban village of Highams Park only began to develop in the 20th century, when a plastics factory was established there. Suddenly shops, schools and affordable houses were being built for factory workers and City clerks, and a lively community was created. Fascinating people have always lived in the area, from Haldan in Saxon times to the designers of the Airship R101 and Concorde more recently. Charmingly written, this book will appeal to residents and social historians alike.

Read more less

HarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics. ‘I thus drew steadily nearer to that truth, by whose partial discovery I have been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one, but truly two.’ A London lawyer is drawn into a series of strange occurrences concerning his old friend Henry Jekyll and the despicable stranger Edward Hyde, a man who seems to epitomise the very meaning of evil. What is Hyde’s mysterious hold over Jekyll, and what is the reason behind Jekyll’s increasingly odd behaviour? The investigations will lead into the dark heart of Victorian London, and of human nature itself, as the shocking truth about Hyde’s true identity is finally revealed. Published in 1886 to critical acclaim, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a thrilling exploration of the interplay of good and evil and the terrifying duality that lies within us all. These themes held a constant fascination for Stevenson and are further explored in his short stories Markheim and The Body Snatcher, also included in this book.

Read more less

A sunny, brilliantly witty comedy of manners, this edition of A Room with a View is part of the Penguin Essentials collection and features beautiful cover art by Chris Silas Neal'You love the boy body and soul, plainly, directly, as he loves you . . .' Lucy has her rigid, middle-class life mapped out for her until she visits Florence with her uptight cousin Charlotte, and finds her neatly ordered existence thrown off balance.Her eyes are opened by the unconventional characters she meets at the Pension Pertolini: flamboyant romantic novelist Eleanor Lavish, the Cockney Signora, curious Mr Emerson and, most of all, his passionate son George.Lucy finds herself torn between the intensity of life in Italy and the repressed morals of Victorian England, personified in her terminally dull fiancé Cecil Vyse. Will she ever learn to follow her own heart?'He says, and even more implies, things that no other novelist does, and we can go on reading Forster indefinitely' The Times'I loved it. My first intimation of the possibilities of fiction' Zadie Smith

Read more less

HarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics. ’I thus drew steadily nearer to that truth, by whose partial discovery I have been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one, but truly two’ A London lawyer is drawn into a series of strange occurrences concerning his old friend Henry Jekyll and the despicable stranger Edward Hyde, a man who seems to epitomise the very meaning of evil. What is Hyde’s mysterious hold over Jekyll, and what is the reason behind Jekyll’s increasingly odd behaviour? The investigations will lead into the dark heart of Victorian London, and of human nature itself, as the shocking truth about Hyde’s true identity is finally revealed. Published in 1886 to critical acclaim,The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a thrilling exploration of the interplay of good and evil and the terrifying duality that lies within us all. These themes held a constant fascination for Stevenson and are further explored in his short stories Markheim and The Body Snatcher, also included in this book.

Read more less

Discover things you never knew about yourself with over 300 writing prompts and exercises that are both reflective and entertaining.Life Questions is the perfect creative outlet when you need some screen-free time or want to unwind, featuring thought-provoking prompts, fun word association exercises, and interesting would you rather questions. The questions and prompts are divided into three sections: your present, past, and future. Record your current favorites, reminisce about your most significant childhood memories, and start dreaming and planning for your future. With a layflat format that’s easy to write in, this interactive self-exploration book includes hundreds of prompts like: What would surprise people to hear about you? Would you rather live in Victorian England or ancient Egypt? If you could go back in time and talk to yourself as a child, what would you say? And more Write, reflect, and then wreck this book!

Read more less

Warm-Hearted Victorian Romance Brings 1880s London to Life When a series of circumstances beyond her control leave Rosalyn Bernay alone and penniless in London, she chances upon a job backstage at a theater that is presenting the most popular show in London. A talented musician and singer, she feels immediately at home and soon becomes enthralled with the idea of pursuing a career on the stage. A hand injury during a skirmish in India has forced Nate Moran out of the army until he recovers. Filling his time at a stable of horses for hire in London, he has also spent the past two months working nights as a stagehand, filling in for his injured brother. Although he's glad he can help his family through a tough time, he is counting the days until he can rejoin his regiment. London holds bitter memories for him that he is anxious to escape. But then he meets the beautiful woman who has found a new lease on life in the very place Nate can't wait to leave behind.

Read more less

A psychological horror that will grip you from the first page, and haunt you long after you’ve finished the last. Nobody believes Lindy when she says she doesn’t pull her hair out on purpose. Nobody believes Lindy when she says she hears voices in the night. Nobody believes Lindy when she says her dead ancestors are haunting her dreams. Nobody believes Lindy … After the death of her father, Lindy falls headlong into a state of grief and no longer understands her place in the world. Through paranormal rituals, Ouija boards and spiritualist churches, Lindy attempts to speak to her father beyond the grave – but to no avail. That is until she receives a ‘visit’ from Esme, her Victorian ancestor, who reveals that her family is under a curse that separates them in the afterlife. Determined to break it, Lindy sacrifices her grip on reality. Not everyone wants her to succeed and there are secrets that fight to remain buried alongside the dead that she seeks . . .

Read more less

When Rona and Craig buy a large Victorian house up from Edinburgh’s Newhaven district – once teeming with fishing boats – they plan to renovate and set it up as a luxury care home. But something is not quite right: disturbing sounds can be heard when the sea mists swirl; their unpredictable neighbour makes it clear that the house was not always a happy family home. And their ‘characterful’ historic pile has a gloomy cellar harbouring relics from days gone by. Back in the 1890s, superstitious fishwives blame young Jessie for the deaths of their menfolk in a terrible storm, and she’s forced into the Newhaven Poorhouse. In those less enlightened times, life was often severe, cruel even, and Jessie is entirely at the mercy of a tyrant matron. But one inmate is not all she seems. Jessie begins to pick at the truth, uncovering the secrets and lies that pervade the poorhouse – and which will have profound and dangerous consequences in the future.

Read more less

On 8 October 1833 Coroner Thomas Higgs opened an inquest into the death of John Bickerton, an elderly eccentric who, despite rumours of his wealth and high connections, had died in abject squalor, from the want of the common necessaries of life'.Over the coming hours, Higgs and his jury would unpick the details of Bickerton's strange, sad story: a story that began with comparative wealth, including education at Oxford and the Inns of Court, and brought him to the attention of two sitting prime ministers, but which descended into madness, imprisonment, mockery and starvation.Using Bickerton as a narrative thread to weave the story around, historian Stephen Haddelsey explores the lives of the down-and-outs and out-of-favours of Georgian and early Victorian England, tracking the deprivations society's lost children faced. For any fan of the era of balls and intrigue, here is revealed the story of Society's rejects and those whose star was only ever doomed to fall.

Read more less

Victorian England in the 1870s and the early years of the FA Cup. Pitches are little better than mud baths. Crossbars and referees' whistles don't exist, while the players all charge around in a rough-and-tumble manner more suited to rugby. But one side dares to be different. Combining silky skills with military muscle, they pass the ball in a spectacular new style of play. And they have a team spirit like no other. They are a 'band of brothers' who fight for Queen and Country - and for each other. They are the Royal Engineers from Chatham in Kent and Foot Soldiers is their extraordinary story. Among their ranks are 'Renny', one of the game's first superstars, and 'The Major', the mastermind behind their astonishing rise. In a four-year quest to land football's greatest prize both men must confront a disastrous fire, monstrous bad luck, the elements at their fiercest and the shocking death of one of the team's favourite players on FA Cup Final day itself.

Read more less

Duncan Ferguson. David Moyes. Paul McCartney. A father and a son. A passion for Everton, and a passion for The Beatles. Blues & Beatles is a story of football and music across the generations, showing in touching and hilarious detail how a young boy inherited his father's obsessions - and would one day pass them on to his own sons. A journalist like his father, Neil Roberts has special access to his beloved football club, so his heartfelt memoir includes glimpses within the inner sanctum of Goodison Park as well as every unforgettable Everton moment since the 1980s, all soundtracked by the Fab Four. Along the way, Neil meets his heroes - including musical as well as Everton icons - and reveals intriguing connections to Dixie Dean and a famous Victorian footballer. But above all, Blues & Beatles is a story of football and music shared by father and son. Described by Everton fans' website Blue Kipper as "a fantastic read [which] covers every Everton 'moment' from the 70's to date carefully captured in detail."

Read more less

Have you ever watched wagon after wagon of a goods train thunder past and wondered where it is heading, what it is carrying, and how it works its way between the passenger services? While goods services now tend to be shrouded in anonymity, in past times they were celebrated, prominently advertised, and in many cases were the raisons d’être for a rail route. Throughout the nineteenth and much of the twentieth century, goods trains were the lifeblood of the nation, transporting precious raw materials, construction and industrial items, and fresh produce from coastal areas and farms into the centres of bustling cities. This informative illustrated history shows how rail freight has been carried since Victorian times, and how systems have been organized, from the train itself to the sidings, railway clearing houses, goods sheds and final destinations – whether villages, towns, cities, factories or docks. It also examines the basic rolling stock of these trains, from the humble coal wagon to today’s hi-tech containers.

Read more less

An irreverent book of morbid curiosities that leaves no headstone unturnedThis isn't your average walk through the graveyard. Filled with facts that will tickle your gray matter, You'll Leave This World with Your Butt Sewn Shut provides answers to all the questions about death that you've ever wanted to ask (and more than a few you never thought to). You'll learn how to avoid incendiary pacemakers and exploding caskets, why Victorians ate mummies and Napoleon artfully arranged skulls, and what morticians do to give you a rosy glow without blood flow.- Is your hamster, cat, or dog most likely to be first in line at the dead-body buffet? The answer may surprise you!- Why did people start booby-trapping graves after the Civil War? Hint: It's not vampire related.- What's your best shot at becoming a tree after you die? If you said cremation, you may want to sit down for Chapter 5.But have no fearthis no-holds-barred account of the end that a

Read more less

500 PIECE PUZZLE – The Spooky Portraits 500 Piece Foil Puzzle by Galison features a wall of spooky portraits enhanced with gold foil details. This puzzle is just the right level of challenge for the whole family to join in on for hours of puzzling fun! The box includes an insert with the full puzzle image for reference. BRIGHT AND BOLD ARTWORK – This puzzle features a Victorian inspired wall adorned with the spooky frames of infamous monsters' ghouls and other supernatural beings. Puzzle lovers will appreciate all the creepy details as they piece together the puzzle, creating a haunted display that will add a touch of spookiness to any room this fall season. PERFECT FOR GIFTING – Whether you're looking for a fun activity for a rainy day or a unique gift for a loved one, this puzzle is sure to impress! With its intricate details and challenging design, this puzzle is perfect for anyone who loves the haunted and the restless spirits

Read more less

'Richly evocative and glittering with atmosphere, this tale of ambition and identity had me gripped from start to finish' STACEY HALLS _________________________________Crowds gather at Crillick's Variety Theatre, where curiosity is satisfied with displays of intrigue and fear. They're here for the star of the show - the Great Amazonia warrior. They needn't know this warrior is in fact Zillah, a mixed-race actress from the East End fooling them each night with her thrilling performance. But something is amiss, and when Crillick's new act goes missing Zillah feels compelled to investigate, knowing the fates that can befall women in Victorian London. From the bustle of the West India Docks to the coffee houses of Fleet Street to the parlours of Mayfair, Zillah's journey for answers will find her caught between both sides of her own identity, and between two men: her wealthy white admirer, and an African merchant appalled by her act. Will Zillah be forced to confront the price of her o

Read more less

Death descends on the New Forest in Ann Granger's gripping eighth Victorian mystery featuring Scotland Yard's Inspector Ben Ross and his wife Lizzie.It is Spring 1871 when Lizzie Ross accompanies her formidable Aunt Parry on a restorative trip to the south coast. Lizzie's husband, Ben, is kept busy at Scotland Yard and urges his wife to stay out of harm's way. But when Lizzie and her aunt are invited to dine with other guests at the home of wealthy landowner Sir Henry Meager, and he is found shot dead in his bed the next morning, no one feels safe.On Lizzie's last visit to the New Forest, another gruesome murder took place, and the superstitious locals now see her as a bad omen. But Lizzie suspects that Sir Henry had a number of bitter enemies, many of whom might have wanted him dead. And once Ben arrives to help with the investigation, he and Lizzie must work together to expose Sir Henry's darkest secrets and a ruthless killer intent on revenge...

Read more less

This book traces the intimate connections between Britain and China throughout the nineteenth century and argues for China's central impact on the British visual imagination. Chang brings together an unusual group of primary sources to investigate how nineteenth-century Britons looked at and represented Chinese people, places, and things, and how, in the process, ethnographic, geographic, and aesthetic representations of China shaped British writers' and artists' vision of their own lives and experiences. For many Britons, China was much more than a geographical location; it was also a way of seeing and being seen that could be either embraced as creative inspiration or rejected as contagious influence. In both cases, the idea of China's visual difference stood in negative contrast to Britain's evolving sense of the visual and literary real. To better grasp what Romantic and Victorian writers, artists, and architects were doing at home, we must also understand the foreign "objects" found in their midst and what they were looking at abroad.

Read more less

It is said, and not without some justification, that a picture is worth a thousand words. As it happens Southwold, very nearly England's most easterly town, is endlessly written about. Its charm, grace and pure magic have captivated writers and journalists ever since Daniel Defoe visited in 1713. But this book tells the story of Southwold over the last 100 years in pictures. The photographers seized opportunities presented by the late Victorian and early Edwardian era - whcih also proved to be the golden age of the postcard - to capture Southwold on their glass plate negatives, and also on film. It is all here: the beach, the common, the sea, the town, the people, the wars and the special Southwold occasions. And of course there are some lovely pictures of the eccentric little railway that helped turn a town that lived mainly by fishing into a genteel holiday resort. This book will delight all those who love Southwold and understand its funny ways.

Read more less

'Top Bins! A personal best, a lap record and a hole in one for when rain has stopped play.' ALAN DAVIESHop, skip and jump into this wonderfully curious grand tour of the world of sports, brought to you by QI Elves James Harkin and Anna Ptaszynski.From sport's weirdest rules to its most unlikely heroes, via comically large cricket bats, pole-vaulting priests, creative football chants and exploding billiard balls, each chapter of Everything to Play For is brimming with surprising facts and intriguing stories.Even if you've never asked yourself what David Attenborough has to do with yellow tennis balls, why Victorian doctors feared the outbreak of 'bicycle face' or what led ancient Egyptian athletes to have their spleens removed, this book will give you the astonishing answers - and plenty more besides.**For more from the team behind QI's hit TV show, check out the QI FACTS series of books, @qikipedia, their weekly podcast at nosuchthingasafish.com or visit qi.com.

Read more less

Norfolk Summer presents the story about the making of a film starring Julie Christie and Alan Bates Joseph Losey's award-winning movie The Go-Between was filmed entirely on location in Norfolk in 1970. The film charts the tragic story of a young boy's loss of innocence during a hot summer and stars Julie Christie and Alan Bates as a pair of lovers crossing class boundaries in late Victorian England. The production brought together the playwright Harold Pinter, who adapted L.P. Hartley's elegant novel for the screen, the acclaimed director Joseph Losey and a cast of international stars for ten weeks' filming in and around Melton Constable Hall in north Norfolk - a time of happy creativity, some tension and a good deal of comedy. But the idyllic summer only came about after years of bitter battling over the rights of the book, and it was to be followed by yet more intrigue and high drama, which culminated in the film's triumph at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the prestigious Palme d'Or.

Read more less

Change is coming, but are the people of Camptounfoot ready for it? For generations, the oldest village in Scotland has remained little changed but now it is 1853 and the railway is coming to Camptounfoot.Shy and beautiful Emma Jane Wylie is determined to fight for the realisation of her father’s dream – the construction of the railway bridge that will carry the new track southwards. Her father’s demise puts Emma in charge. But during the two years of its construction, the project is beset by drama and tragedy: cholera rages, the men down tools, murder and conspiracy are in the air – and then a landslide threatens to destroy all their endeavours. Inspired by her father’s vision, and with a strength of mind and resolve at odds with her Victorian upbringing, Emma Jane takes on the world – and is determined to win. The first book in the A Bridge In Time series, this dramatic and riveting saga of survival is perfect for fans of Anna Jacobs and Tessa Barclay.

Read more less

"As I stand at my kitchen sink and look across at what we optimistically call our herb garden, to one side I see an old wooden sign on which are carved the words 'Arthur's Garden'. Arthur doesn't live here. My wonderful great-uncle died nearly thirty years ago having spent most of his long life in the Victorian terraced house in which his mother had brought up eleven children. The sign had stood in the garden there for decades, a gift to the man who'd always cherished that small patch of Kent, creating a riot of glorious colour which lit up the row of long, narrow strips that tumbled down to a line of back gates from which you could look across the lane to the local coal yard below." In Arthur's Garden, Pam Rhodes collates a heart-warming collection of songs and poems, advice and tit bits about the glorious, very ordinary, English garden - told through the life of her Uncle Arthur. This is a gardening book, with a story.

Read more less

'He was not blind to the fact that murder, like the religions of the Pagan world, requires a victim as well as a priest...'Wilde's supremely witty tale of dandies, anarchists and a murderous prophecy in London high society.Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions.Oscar Wilde (1854-1900). Wilde's works available in Penguin Classics are De Profundis and Other Prison Writings, The Complete Short Fiction, The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays, The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Soul of Man Under Socialism and Selected Critical Prose.

Read more less

The Penguin English Library Edition of The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins'In one moment, every drop of blood in my body was brought to a stop ... There, as if it had that moment sprung out of the earth ... stood the figure of a solitary Woman, dressed from head to foot in white'The Woman in White famously opens with Walter Hartright's eerie encounter on a moonlit London road. Engaged as a drawing master to the beautiful Laura Fairlie, Walter is drawn into the sinister intrigues of Sir Percival Glyde and his 'charming' friend Count Fosco, who has a taste for white mice, vanilla bonbons and poison. Pursuing questions of identity and insanity along the paths and corridors of English country houses and the madhouse, The Woman in White is the first and most influential of the Victorian genre that combined Gothic horror with psychological realism.The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.

Read more less

On a warm summer day, playing at the seashore, Natalie makes a sand lady, dressing her in seashells, Cape May diamonds, and sea grass. When Natalie accidentally adds a magical egret feather as decoration, her sand lady springs to life! So begins an exciting adventure in time, taking Natalie and her sand lady back to Cape May, New Jersey, in 1912! Entertaining and educational for readers of all ages, this story also features a Cape Island map, more than twenty watercolor illustrations of Victorian architecture and landmarks, a glossary, and a timeline. This book is a must for all young people who have visited this beloved shore resort, and for the young-at-heart who hope to spread the joy. Written by a professional educator and textbook writer, it is also an excellent instructional book for the classroom. Additionally, an integrated extension activities guide is available for the classroom. Middle grades–ages 8-12.

Read more less

The story of the Royal Aircraft Factory at Farnborough, forerunner of the World’s premier aeronautical research establishment wherein were designed a diversity of aircraft including many of those that equipped the RFC, RNAS and RAF during the First World War. Originally established to build observation balloons for the Victorian British Army, the Factory later expanded to employ over 3500 people by mid-1916, at which time it became the subject of a political controversy that ended in a judicial enquiry. In 1918 its title was changed to the Royal Aircraft Establishment, not only to avoid a clash of initials with the newly formed Royal Air Force but to better define its changing role. Each of the many designs for airships and aeroplanes that were produced by the Factory between 1908 and 1918 is described in detail, illustrated by photographs, and with three-view drawings provided for the more prominent designs.

Read more less

The Idea of Anglo Saxon England, 1066-1901 presents the first systematic review of the ways in which Anglo-Saxon studies have evolved from their beginnings to the twentieth century Tells the story of how the idea of Anglo-Saxon England evolved from the Anglo-Saxons themselves to the Victorians, serving as a myth of origins for the English people, their language, and some of their most cherished institutions Combines original research with established scholarship to reveal how current conceptions of English identity might be very different if it were not for the discovery – and invention – of the Anglo-Saxon past Reveals how documents dating from the Anglo-Saxon era have greatly influenced modern attitudes toward nationhood, race, religious practice, and constitutional liberties Includes more than fifty images of manuscripts, early printed books, paintings, sculptures, and major historians of the era

Read more less

Joseph J. Capista’s Intrusive Beauty reckons with reluctant ecstasy and the improbable forms that beauty assumes. In this powerful debut, Capista traverses earth and ether to yield poems that elucidate the space between one’s life and one’s livelihood. While its landscapes range from back-alley Baltimore to the Bitterroot Valley, this book remains close to unbidden beauty and its capacity to sway one’s vision of the world. Whether a young father who won’t lower the volume on the radio or a Victorian farm boy tasked with scaring birds from seed-sown furrows, the inhabitants of Intrusive Beauty are witness to the startling ease with which one’s assorted lives come in time to comprise a singular life. Mortality, love, duty, desire, an acute longing for transcendence: here, old themes resound anew as they’re uttered in a multiplicity of forms and means, holding fast always to the heart.

Read more less

Textile artist and instructor Betty Fikes Pillsbury has won hundreds of awards for her homages to the elegance of Victorian crazy quilting. Grounded in traditional methods but crafted with elements of whimsy, each piece stands on its own as a work of art. In this definitive guide, Pillsbury shares her methods for piecing, embroidering, and embellishing. Her instructions equip readers at any level of quilting skill to use those techniques to express their own visions. Encouraging her readers to see functional and artistic possibilities beyond quilts (wall hangings, purses, and pillowcases are just some of the options), Pillsbury shows them how to make each work by hand, the slow cloth way. An inspiring primer for beginning and experienced quilters alike, this meticulously illustrated how-to book is far more expansive than previous guides. Pillsbury—a master of the form—shows us why crazy quilting belongs firmly in the twenty-first century.

Read more less

Samuel Herbert Dougal was intelligent, talented, and the recipient of a military medal. Outwardly, he seemed to embody all that Victorian England valued most. But he was also a career criminal whose appetite for sex and money propelled him through scandal after scandal; through the courts, prisons and asylums; and from woman to vulnerable woman. In 1903, the unexplained disappearance of Dougal’s latest inamorata, a wealthy spinster named Miss Holland, began to excite public speculation. A tireless hunt for the missing lady commenced, but, having been arrested on a sample charge of forgery, Dougal simply decided to wait it out. Meanwhile, on the outside, his real wife, Sarah, who had been the beneficiary of Dougal’s schemes over the course of a decade, had her own plans to escape official scrutiny. Would Miss Holland’s whereabouts be discovered? And who, if anyone, would be held to account for her disappearance?

Read more less

When two spiritist swindlers accidentally summon something horrific from beyond the stars, they must thwart a sinister time-spanning plot, in this first Victorian-era gaslight fantasy set in the world of Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu.London, 1891. Elizabeth Whittle and William Grant enjoy scalping London’s bourgeoisie, taking on the personas of grand spiritist Cerulia Trent and her agent to connect the living and the dead. When a detective arrives, sniffing out fraud with a scientifically minded spiritualist society, the duo decides to take one last job before escaping to the continent. However, their final séance ends horrifically… and soon Lizzie isn’t Lizzie anymore. William, desperate to banish whatever monster they summoned, is soon embroiled in an electrifying eldritch mystery where he makes a deal with the devil to save his friend and stop an even greater evil from transforming the known world.

Read more less

Martin Kingswraith is undergoing transition to a higher level of white wizardry with the help of Penelope Epimeliad, Queen of the London tree Sprites. The date is 1885, in Victorian London, and Kingswraith has come to the attention of the Umbra, the living shadows. He has killed one of them. Without his advanced training he will be destroyed along with everyone he values. To reinforce his power Kingswraith works with Penelope to create a stave, a wizards' staff with a core of pure silver in a sheath of woven wood. Three of the Umbra come to London and establish a base in Barnes. They surround themselves with ape-like were-men called hierodules and the faceless undead, partially eaten people who fall under the thrall of the shadows... Pearson is a Foreword Indies Book Award Finalist in Fantasy with: all three books in his Preacher Spindrift trilogy and Star Weaver in his Soul's Asylum trilogy.

Read more less

Paris, 1968. Nicholas finds himself broke, without papers and on the verge of being deported back to England. Seeking to stay in France, Nicholas takes a three-month contract as an English tutor to the 17-year-old Imperial Highness Natalya. It is the perfect solution; free room and board, his wages saved, and a place to hide from police raids. All that is asked of Nicholas is too obey the lifestyle of the Victorian household and not to leave the house's grounds. It should have solved all his problems...The Spaces In Between details the experience of Nicholas as he finds himself an unwitting prisoner within an aristocratic household, apparently frozen in time, and surrounded by macabre and eccentric personalities who seem determined to drag him to the point of insanity. Much deeper runs a question every reader is left to ponder - if this tale is fact and not fiction, then what motivation could have driven his tormenters ?

Read more less

A spirited look at how funeral homes impacted American consumerism, the built environment, and national identities. Funeral homesthose grand, aging mansions repurposed into spaces for embalming, merchandising, funeral services, and housing for the funeral director and their familyare immediately recognizable features of the American landscape, and yet the history of how these spaces emerged remains largely untold. In Preserved, Dean Lampros uses the history of this uniquely American architectural icon to explore the twentieth century's expanding consumer landscape and reveal how buildings can help construct identities. Across the United States, Lampros traces the funeral industry's early twentieth-century exodus from gloomy downtown undertaking parlors to outmoded Victorian houses in residential districts. As savvy retailers and accidental preservationists, funeral directors refashioned the interiors into sumptuous retail settings that stimulated consumer demand for luxury burial g

Read more less

This book explores porcelain wares produced by the Reinhold Schlegelmilch Porcelain Factory [marked R. S. Prussia], of Suhl, Germany, and sold to America from 1888 through 1900. The wonderfully molded and decorated plates and platters, tea sets, pitchers, clocks, and decorative objects are described with over 760 beautiful color images. An entire chapter is devoted to the company's charming toy china sets. Displayed are wares formed from a variety of molds (including Fleur-de-Lis and Melon) and patterns (outline transfer, King George, and Coraline patterns, to name a few). Newly discovered mold patterns are included, along with a history of the company's early operations, wholesale and trade catalog pages illustrating wares exported to the United States, the manufacturer's marks employed during this early period, a bibliography, and several appendices. This book will guide all collectors of Victorian porcelain to recognize the early pieces marked R. S. Prussia.

Read more less

A Familiar Compound Ghost explores the relationship between allusion and the uncanny in literature. An unexpected echo or quotation in a new text can be compared to the sudden appearance of a ghost or mysterious double, the reanimation of a corpse, or the discovery of an ancient ruin hidden in a modern city. In this scholarly and suggestive study, Brown identifies moments where this affinity between allusion and the uncanny is used by writers to generate a particular textual charge, where uncanny elements are used to flag patterns of allusion and to point to the haunting presence of an earlier work. A Familiar Compound Ghost traces the subtle patterns of connection between texts centuries, even millennia apart, from Greek tragedy and Latin epic, through the plays of Shakespeare and the Victorian novel, to contemporary film, fiction and poetry. Each chapter takes a different uncanny motif as its focus: doubles, ruins, reanimation, ghosts and journeys to the underworld.

Read more less

In Victorian England, Amelia B. Edwards was an iconic cultural figure, admired by Trollope and Browning for her best-selling fiction and by the wider public for her witty, thought-provoking travel writing. In later life, she became a celebrated historian, bringing fresh understanding of the world of Ancient Egypt to a fascinated public and founding the Egyptian Exploration Fund (Society). This new biography uses previously overlooked sources to tell the story of her fascinating and unconventional life - her travels, travails and feminist activism - as well as touching on her occasionally problematic views on race. In appreciation of a figure ahead of her time, it examines her involvement in suffrage and animal rights societies as well as revealing new insights into Edwards’ loving same-sex relationships with Ellen Rice Byrne and Lucy Renshaw. In doing so, it reveals a versatile, creative, witty, independent woman, and a true pioneer of her time.

Read more less

SHORTLISTED FOR THE GOLD DAGGER AWARD'A tale of obsession ... vivid and arresting' The TimesOne summer evening in 2009, twenty-year-old musical prodigy Edwin Rist broke into the Natural History Museum at Tring, home to one of the largest ornithological collections in the world. Once inside, Rist grabbed as many rare bird specimens as he was able to carry before escaping into the darkness. Kirk Wallace Johnson was waist-deep in a river in New Mexico when his fly-fishing guide first told him about the heist. But what would possess a person to steal dead birds? And had Rist paid for his crime? In search of answers, Johnson embarked upon a worldwide investigation, leading him into the fiercely secretive underground community obsessed with the Victorian art of salmon fly-tying. Was Edwin Rist a genius or narcissist? Mastermind or pawn?

Read more less

Part of a series of exciting and luxurious Flame Tree Notebooks. Combining high-quality production with magnificent fine art, the covers are printed on foil in five colours, embossed, then foil stamped. And they're powerfully practical: a pocket at the back for receipts and scraps, two bookmarks and a solid magnetic side flap. These are perfect for personal use and make a dazzling gift. This example features a licensed image from Kew Gardens' Marianne North: Honeyflowers and Honeysuckers. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a world famous centre for botanical and mycological knowledge. Kew has a gallery dedicated to the paintings of the remarkable Victorian artist Marianne North, who had a great eye for botanical detail. She set out in 1871 on a painterly progress through world flora. North’s journey to South Africa was among her last, along with trips to the Seychelles and Chile.

Read more less

La petita Alice Hart, angoixada per un pare violent i desequilibrat, crema el cobert de casa.Òrfena després de l?incident, anirà a viure amb la seva àvia June, fins aleshores una donatotalment desconeguda per a ella, a la granja de flors que regenta i on dona refugi a altresdones que, com l?Alice, necessitaven ajuda. Dones fortes que es tenen les unes a les altres. Elssilencis, les veritats del passat i la protecció i l?ajuda d?aquestes dones que seran les claus de lavida de l?Alice. En la tradició victoriana cada flor té un significat i l?Alice utilitza el llenguatge deles flors per expressar el que més li costa. Les flors, aparentment mudes, acompanyaran l?Aliceen aquest camí cap a l?edat adulta.

Read more less

Drifting on a sailing boat off the Canary Islands, four British gentlemen take turns reading a manuscript that they find inside a copper cylinder discovered floating in the Atlantic Ocean. The manuscript recounts Adam More’s adventures after being lost at sea during an Antarctic voyage in 1844 and his life with the Kosekin, a lost civilization living at the South Pole. The values of the Kosekin are opposed to the civilized norm—they love death, abjection, and poverty. Their society may be well suited to their particular evolution, but it is profoundly disconcerting to the narrator, and it is radically contentious to the Victorian gentlemen who read and debate More’s account.This Broadview edition of James De Mille’s classic recreates the format of the posthumous 1888 Harper’s Weekly serial, including 18 original illustrations by Gilbert Gaul. The appendices allow the novel to be seen in terms of other satirical and scientific romance, Antarctic exploration, and contemporary geology. The introduction and notes tap into recent scholarship to bring to life De Mille’s genre innovations and his use of Orientalist and colonialist discourses.

Read more less