Mostrando resultados por narrador "Peter Joyce" en Todas las categorías

Victorian humour generally doesn't translate well across time. The Wrong Box is one of the exceptions. The plot revolves around the supposed death of Joseph Finsbury who, as a youth, with his brother Masterman joined a tontine - a scheme whereby each entrant pays a fixed amount and the sum total, with interest, is given to the one who lives the longest. At the beginning of the story there are three survivors and then two - the Finsbury brothers.

At the beginning of the story the heroine lives an unfulfilled life in rural France, her nature crushed by a domineering and miserly father. Gallant cousin Charles arrives and acts as a catalyst on Eugénie's personality and emotions. Will her love survive the strong self-opinion of the young man and the selfishness of her father or is Eugénie's reward destined to be in heaven?

Once upon a... time there was a marvellous land of Snergs. Miss Watkyns, a teacher who loved children, lived there. Just over the river lived Golithos, a not so friendly giant, who also loved children – with a lot of salt! He had a friend called Mother Meldrum, the wickedest witch that ever lived. When Sylvia and Joe run away for a big adventure their lives are in deadly peril when they fall into the clutches of these two evil characters.

Cowpunchers, Indians and horses are the heroes and villains of these tales from the early days of Montana and Wyoming, with bear and buffalo also making an appearance. The author's philosophy on such varying topics as marriage, whisky and just staying alive will be of interest to all, cowboy fan or not. Charles M. Russell moved to Montana at the age of 15 and lived there for the rest of his life. 'In the spring I wrangled horses, in the fall I herded beef. I worked for the big outfits and always held my job.'

Erewhon is not only an adventure story but also Butler's satirical inversion of English customs and philosophy in the 19th century. The explorer Higgs discovers a well organised and civilised country - apparently idyllic. However, the body politic has two ruling obsessions, disease is considered a crime and machinery is seen as a threat to the supremacy of man.

Queen Victoria... and Prince Albert were married in 1840. Dickens uses this event as an ingenious ploy to salute and promote domestic felicity, advising young ladies upon several examples of the different types of male available as partners. There follows a section describing various married couples from whom the young ladies could possibly learn a lesson. The author then entertains with a tale of Nicholas Tulrumble, newly appointed Mayor of Mudfog, with ideas above his station.

The hugely successful romantic adventure story which continues to thrill a century after it was written. It has all the classic ingredients - a twisting plot of betrayal and deception, love interest, great swashbuckling action and a most beguiling villain in Rupert of Hentzau, who captured the public’s imagination and had them begging the author for a sequel. Rudolph Rassendyll visits Ruritania, with whose Royal Family he has a connection because of a scandalous sexual indiscretion in the past.

Sex, betrayal, murder and corruption form the basis of this sensational novel by one of the leading French authors of the 19th century. Jacques Lantier is a man with a hereditary homicidal lust. When he sees Roubaud and his wife Severine slit the throat of a wealthy nobleman, it is the catalyst for a string of murders in a convoluted plot full of horror and suspense.

Arthur Morrison... grew up in the East End of London and was familiar with life on the dockside. He tells the story of ‘The Hole in the Wall’ through the eyes of young Stephen Kemp, taken to live with his grandfather after the death of his mother. Nat Kemp is determined to keep his grandson apart from the seamier side of the Docklands but Stephen has a natural inquisitiveness that will not be quelled.

A Child of the Jago is both thriller and condemnation of social conditions in the East End slums at the turn of the century. Boy hero Dicky Perrott is at heart full of humane instinct but his environment ensures his down fall. "It was my fate to encounter a place in Shoreditch where children were born and reared in circumstances which gave them no reasonable chance of living decent lives: where they were born fore-damned to a criminal or semi criminal career.

Lonely Viviette Constantine awaits the return of her husband from a hunting expedition to Africa. She becomes involved with a young astronomer, Swithin St.Cleeve, who observes the night sky from a disused tower on her estate. Despite their differing ages and social backgrounds they soon find their destinies linked - but with fateful consequences.

Puddn’head Wilson is Mark Twain’s novel of satirical wit aimed at the injustices in the southern states of America in the mid-19th century. It tells the story of two children, one born free, the other a slave. When the slaves’ mother, Roxana, switches the infants in their cradles she is not the only one who lives to regret the action. The tale has many facets to it. It is a murder mystery, a social commentary on the manners and beliefs of the time and a detective novel.

Helen Rathbone meets her elderly uncle, James Ollerenshaw, in Bursley Park, after an estrangement of several years. Both are very strong-willed, independent characters. Helen has an extravagant lifestyle and likes to spend money while the old man has lived a thrifty life and intends to continue in the same way. However, they develop a friendship which progresses rapidly, and Helen moves in to James' house to look after him.

The enigmatic Mr Reeder investigates eight cases involving baffling burglary and blackmail, mendacious and merciless murderers, and cruel convicts and convincing cons, using his criminal mind to solve these unusual and peculiar mysteries. A lot of his inquiries involve Margaret Belman, a very pretty and appealing young lady who lives nearby, and the detective finds himself more and more attracted to this femme fatale. Surely these feelings cannot be mutual....

It is 1919 shortly after the termination of the 1st European holocaust. Henry Earlforward, a middle aged North London Bookseller, courts and marries Violet Arb, a widow who has inherited the confectioners shop opposite his own premises in Riceyman Square. Henry and Violet engage the services of Elsie as ‘charwoman’.

A chilling tale of suspense with a puzzling mystery at the heart of the story. Architect Edward Westray is sent by his firm to restore Cullerne Minster. The young man believes that more work is needed to secure the bell tower, but his warnings go unheeded. A fellow lodger, the church organist Sharnall, is investigating the belief of the late Martin Joliffe, the landlady's brother, that he, Joliffe, was the rightful heir to the Blandamer title and estates.

Dr Jekyll creates a potion whereby he can divide the good and evil parts of his personality and thus free the good side to work for the benefit of mankind without the distraction of his baser instincts. Unfortunately, he undertakes the experiment while the depraved side of his nature is in the ascendancy and turns into the repulsive Mr Hyde, whose very presence ‘emanates with foulness and decay’, and who bears the ‘signature of Satan’ on his face.

The phrase 'this book will change your life' has become one of the clichés of the publishing world, but Martin Eden is certainly a novel that merits that observation. Set in turn-of-the-century San Francisco, Jack London's semiautobiographical narrative tells of working class sailor Eden's struggle to elevate himself to a level of society wherein, he believes, reside the intellect and culture he craves. One of the reasons for this endeavour is Ruth Morse, with whom he has fallen in love.

Twenty years have passed since their first adventure in Africa, but Leo assures Holly that Ayesha is alive and imploring him to find her. They search through Asia and eventually arrive in the city of Kaloon, ruled by the mad Khan Rassen and his devious wife, the Khania Atene. The people live under an uneasy truce with the followers of the Priestess of Hes, who dwells on the Mountain, a huge volcano that dominates the region.

As well as penning some of the most popular detective fiction, Conan Doyle also wrote thrilling adventure stories. ‘Rodney Stone’ is a combination of both. Nelson, Beau Brummell, Fox and King George III himself appear in a tale at the heart of which is, as one character says, “a pretty conspiracy - a criminal, an actress and a prize-fighter, all playing their parts”.