Hester appears to have it all - marriage, a nice home, three children and a stimulating job.But it is not enough. For no matter how much she and her husband earn, she spends more.Driven by a desire to be loved by his mother, young Paul starts betting on the horses with the family's gardener.He wins, wins and just keeps winning. But, as quickly as he hands her the money, Hester has splurged it away.Then, as Derby day approaches, the spooky secret of Paul's endless run of luck is revealed.As tragedy beckons, will Paul win his mother's love?This book is perfect for fans of Edgar Allan Poe and Ernest Hemingway.It was made into the 1949 fantasy film 'The Rocking Horse Winner', starring John Howard Davies, Valerie Hobson and John Mills.-

Belsnickel and his reindeer Eikthyrnir never expected to be waylaid while checking off the Naughty and Nice List. When they stumble upon an group of forest folk immersed in their midwinter's festival, the duo realize they're quite a long way from home, but that doesn't stop the pair from crashing the party and continuing their responsibilities.Belsnickel is The Seeker and has just one job to do all year long – check off the Wish-Granter's Naughty and Nice List. He never expects his reindeer to get them lost. Stuck wandering unfamiliar woods, he begins to panic about finishing the job on time. Elder Alba is the wisest of the forest folk. She tries to lead them with a kind hand, but some of the children have gotten unruly in recent years and she's at a loss as to how to turn them around. Everyone is engrossed in the midwinter's Keeper of the Cauldron Festival when The Seeker's unexpected arrival changes the lives of some naughty little children.

Magic, love spells, and an enchanted wood provide the materials for one of Shakespeare’s most delightful comedies. When four young lovers, fleeing the Athenian law and their own mismatched rivalries, take to the forest of Athens, their lives become entangled with a feud between the King and Queen of the Fairies. Some Athenian tradesmen, rehearsing a play for the forthcoming wedding of Duke Theseus and his bride, Hippolyta, unintentionally add to the hilarity. The result is a marvelous mix-up of desire and enchantment, merriment and farce, all touched by Shakespeare’s inimitable vision of the intriguing relationship between art and life, dreams and the waking world. Each Edition Includes: • Comprehensive explanatory notes • Vivid introductions and the most up-to-date scholarship • Clear, modernized spelling and punctuation, enabling contemporary readers to understand the Elizabethan English • Completely updated, detailed bibliographies and performance histories • An interpretive essay on film adaptations of the play, along with an extensive filmography

This eBook is a collection of three short stories by Erika Kocher. The collection focuses on fantasy themes in varying levels and all with strong female characters, whether they are the main character or not.DAY OUT WITH FRIENDS is a story about a young woman named Amelia who speaks with her hallucinations of two men and a young girl and they help her to create street art through having them pose is different positions. But, what will they do when they meet up with some not so nice onlookers?FIRE DANCE starts with our main character completely hidden from everyone as they move through the crowd. The people gather celebrating with their king, queen, and young princess overlooking the festivities. The stage it set for a memorable day for our mysterious figure as they make their way towards the massive stage in front of the royalty.INTERTWINED SOULS has a young demon performing a ritual as people look on. He cries out for the young woman he remembers and puts all of his magical energy into the ritual. Through the ritual he sees her once again, but not in the way that he or she had wanted.

A collection of Oscar Wilde’s children’s stories.

*Homeland and Other Stories* offers comic, often heart-warming but always true to life tales told as only the author can, creating a world of love and possibility that listeners will want to take as their own.

Noel Winters is lonely this Christmas. Lonely, despite being overcrowded by friends and family, which he would prefer to label as associates. This is a tale of a lazy procrastinating youth who is no longer young enough to pull that lifestyle off.Disillusioned with himself as much as the outside world, he draws inspiration from his younger adopted sister, Hannah.Noel Winters is lonely this Christmas. Lonely, despite being overcrowded by friends and family, which he would prefer to label as associates. This is a tale of a lazy procrastinating youth who is no longer young enough to pull that lifestyle off.Disillusioned with himself as much as the outside world, he draws inspiration from his younger adopted sister, Hannah. Hannah is a nine-year-old self-proclaiming Jew, which means little more than a recent pork abstinence. She has a wide-eyed passion for life, a bright optimistic light in the shadow of Noel’s pessimism. The season of joy is full of questions for Noel. Where is life leading me? Do I follow? Are cigarettes really that costly? Am I a drunk? Should I be sober before trying to answer these questions?Amazon reviewers"It is not often that a book has the ability to both make me laugh out loud and bring me to the verge of tears; this book had that capability." "Perfect Christmas gift for those who question the tradition!""Parts read like early Nick Hornby while the protagonist with his disconnection and confusion of modern life felt like someone out of Douglas Coupland novel, yet it still felt fresh and new. It moved easily from serious, to funny ,to touching, all in all I highly recommended it.""I read the book in two days, and found it hard to put down. Absolutely brilliant."

"Marge Piercy is a raw, tough, willfull, magnificent novelist." THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR Set against the early days of the modern feminist movement, SMALL CHANGES tells the story of sensual Miriam Berg, who trades her doctorate for marriage and security, but still hungers for a life of her ow,n and shy, frightened Beth who is running from the life Miriam seeks and into a new world of different ideas and a different kind of love.....

The Empire of Twelve is at war with itself. An army of Xaosian invaders move forward with a plan to take the Empire for their own, targeting the planet Raan. But it is clear that the Xaosians are not working alone; something else is pulling the strings and its army grows every day.When the dust settles, nothing will be the same again.The Empire of Twelve is at war with itself. An army of Xaosian invaders move forward with a plan to take the Empire for their own, targeting the planet Raan. But it is clear that the Xaosians are not working alone; something else is pulling the strings and its army grows every day.The planet Narcsia is dying. Storms and quakes ravage the world, leading to a world-wide evacuation. However, when a few of the Scalimen natives look to the storm, they see strange gas creatures demolishing their world.The pits of Rat'hak are deadly fighting arenas. Accepting that he may never who he used to be, amnesiac Ash must fight in the pits in order to survive.Meanwhile, a survivor of a long-thought dead race clings to the hope that his race is alive, and vows to do anything it takes to find them once again. Even if it means helping the Xaosians build their world-crippling super-weapon.When the dust settles, the Empire will never be the same again.

This Book which has 50 differently titled Poems , is actually volume 4 of the Book titled – Life = Death – Poems on Life , Death ( 1200 pages ) .This enigmatic collection of poems explores and equates the boundless possibilities of life and death and delves into each intricate inexplicability of survival. Parekh's roving philosophical eye brings the unconquerable richness of life to the fore and yet at the same time explicitly highlights the veracity of 'death' as the absolute certainty of every existence. The poet joyously celebrates the occasions of both life and death with equal panache in each poetic stanza sewn with the uncanny mysteries of this Universe. The poems within immortalize both life and death as the ultimate victories and the two most contrastingly amazing and divine sides of creation. Catapulting the reader to the threshold of ultimate ecstasy; they bring about an impromptu twist with the closure of breath and what lies beyond. This charismatically woven collection of poetic verse would equally enamor the narcissist as well as the simple humanitarian to the core.This book is a humble attempt to enlighten the readers with the equality of life and death-and to live in both of them to the most unparalleled fullest. Embracing only the religion of humanity, as the Lord has commanded every living being on earth. You cant die in life and cant live in death-each of these components are irrefutably equal in every respect and should be worshipped with due obeisance.

A fascinatingly diverse anthology of the literature of exile, from the myths of Ancient Egypt to contemporary poetryExile lies at the root of our earliest stories. Charting varied experiences of people forced to leave their homes from the ancient world to the present day, The Heart of a Stranger is an anthology of poetry, fiction and non-fiction that journeys through six continents, with over a hundred contributors drawn from twenty-four languages. Highlights include the wisdom of the 5th century Desert Fathers and Mothers, the Swahili Song of Liyongo, The Flight of the Irish Earls, Emma Goldman's travails in the wake of the First Red Scare, the Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani's ode to the lost world of Andalusia and the work of contemporary Eritrean fabulist Ribka Sibhatu.Edited by poet and translator André Naffis-Sahely, The Heart of a Stranger offers a uniquely varied look at a theme both ancient and urgently contemporary.

With the publication of her first novel, THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER, Carson McCullers, all of twenty-three, became a literary sensation. With its profound sense of moral isolation and its compassionate glimpses into its characters' inner lives, the novel is considered McCullers' finest work, an enduring masterpiece first published by Houghton Mifflin in 1940. At its center is the deaf-mute John Singer, who becomes the confidant for various types of misfits in a Georgia mill town during the 1930s. Each one yearns for escape from small town life. When Singer's mute companion goes insane, Singer moves into the Kelly house, where Mick Kelly, the book's heroine (and loosely based on McCullers), finds solace in her music. Wonderfully attuned to the spiritual isolation that underlies the human condition, and with a deft sense for racial tensions in the South, McCullers spins a haunting, unforgettable story that gives voice to the rejected, the forgotten, and the mistreated -- and, through Mick Kelly, gives voice to the quiet, intensely personal search for beauty. Richard Wright praised Carson McCullers for her ability to rise above the pressures of her environment and embrace white and black humanity in one sweep of apprehension and tenderness. She writes with a sweep and certainty that are overwhelming, said the NEW YORK TIMES. McCullers became an overnight literary sensation, but her novel has endured, just as timely and powerful today as when it was first published. THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER is Carson McCullers at her most compassionate, endearing best.