Showing results by author "ciesse" in All Categories

Flower Fables is Louisa May Alcott's first book, penned at 16 for Ralph Waldo Emerson's daughter, Ellen.(Summary by Clarica)

After the death of his father, Nicholas must provide for his mother and sister. His wealthy uncle provides him with employment at a boys' school, run by the villainous Mr. Squeers. But when Nicholas has seen enough of the brutal manner in which Squeers treats the boys, he attacks him--and is forced to go on the run to avoid the ramifications. - Summary by Brad "Hamlet" Filippone

An review essay of "Diary and Letters of Madame D'Arblay". The Edinburgh Review, January, 1843. Reprinted in vol. iii of Macaulay's Critical and Historical Essays. "Hundreds of remarkable persons had passed in review before her....The account which she has given of the King's [George III] illness contains much excellent narrative and description, and will, we think, be as much valued by the historians of a future age as any equal portion of Pepys's or Evelyn's Diaries..." Her novels were "the precursors" of those of Jane Austen. - Summary by barbara2

The author, who fought as a private in the Army of Northern Virginia during the Civil War, describes the Confederate soldier’s daily struggles with hunger, illness, fear, and the perils of combat; as well as his pride of service, love of comrades, and courage in the face of overwhelming odds (summary by D. Leeson).

This short early twentieth century biography of Robert Louis Stevenson by polymath Chesterton and journalist Nicoll is also sometimes entitled ‘The Characteristics of Robert Louis Stevenson.’ Each author wrote a section of the whole. This recording is of the third edition which differs structurally from the first edition and has some additional material. - Summary by David Wales

While "The Battle of Life" is one of Charles Dickens' Christmas Books - his annual release of a story just before Christmas - this one breaks the tradition by not being concerned with Christmas. Rather, its subtitle, "A Love Story", reveals more of the plot. The major events of this book take place on land that once was a battleground. That is just a backdrop for Dickens' idea of the real battle of life - finding and winning the right partner, so that life will go on to the next generation. The family that lives there is rather confused in its affections and intentions regarding who should end...

Long before he was President and having just started his law practice, 28-year-old Abraham Lincoln delivered (January 27, 1838) a speech on the dangers of mob rule. Seeming to speak to our present time, he warned that mobs, or people who disrespected U.S. laws and courts, could destroy the United States. He went on to say that the Constitution and rule of law in the United States are "the political religion of our nation."Delivered to the Young Men’s Lyceum in Springfield, Illinois, the speech became known as "the Lyceum Address" and was titled, "The Perpetuation of Our Political ...

A collection of nine letters written by the sixth president of the United States, John Quincy Adams, to his teenage son. "Their purpose is the inculcation of love and reverence for the Holy Scriptures, and a delight in their perusal and study." - Summary by Dale Barkley

As a girl, Lady Duff-Gordon was noted both for her beauty and intelligence. As an author, she is most famous for this collection of letters from Egypt. Lady Duff-Gordon had tuberculosis, and went to Egypt for her health. This collection of her personal letters to her mother and her husband. By all accounts everyone loved her, and the letters are very personal in style and content. The letters are as much an introduction to her person as a record of her life on the Upper Nile.

The writer of the following letters is a young woman who lost her husband in a railroad accident and went to Denver to seek support for herself and her two-year-old daughter, Jerrine. Turning her hand to the nearest work, she went out by the day as house-cleaner and laundress. Later, seeking to better herself, she accepted employment as a housekeeper for a well-to-do Scotch cattle-man, Mr. Stewart, who had taken up a quarter-section in Wyoming. The letters, written through several years to a former employer in Denver, tell the story of her new life in the new country. They are genuine letters,...

“THE FARTHER ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON CRUSOE; Being the Second and Last Part OF HIS LIFE, And of the Strange Surprizing Accounts of his Travels Round three Parts of the Globe.” After the death of his wife, Robinson Crusoe is overcome by the old wanderlust, and sets out with his faithful companion Friday to see his island once again. Thus begins a journey which will last ten years and nine months, in which Crusoe travels over the world, along the way facing dangers and discoveries in Madagascar, China, and Siberia. (Summary by D. Leeson)

Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (1749) was the first widely-read English novel in the genre “Erotica.” It was written by John Cleland as he was serving hard time at a debtor’s prison in London. Over the centuries, the novel has been repeatedly banned by authorities, assuring its preeminent role in the history of the ongoing struggle against censorship of free expression.Until Fanny Hill, previous heroines had conducted their amorous liaisons “off-stage.” Any erotic misadventures were described euphemistically. As women who had gone astray, they always repented, which made ...

In one of his later novels, the master storyteller spins a tale of two children switched at infancy. A slave takes on the identity of master and heir while the rightful heir is condemned to live the life of a slave. Twain uses this vehicle to explore themes of nature vs. nurture, racial bigotry and moral relativism. The case of mistaken identity is a theme that Twain explored also in THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER; in THE TRAGEDY OF PUDD'NHEAD WILSON he turns the theme into a well-crafted detective story. It is unfortunate that this is one of Twain's lesser known works as it is one of his most ...

There are certain names which are familiar, as names, to all mankind; and every person who seeks for any degree of mental cultivation, feels desirous of informing himself of the leading outlines of their history, that he may know, in brief, what it was in their characters or their doings which has given them so widely-extended a fame. Consequently, great historical names alone are selected; and it has been the writer's aim to present the prominent and leading traits in their characters, and all the important events in their lives, in a bold and free manner, and yet in the plain and simple ...

The story is about Elinor and Marianne, two daughters of Mr Dashwood by his second wife. They have a younger sister, Margaret, and an older half-brother named John. When their father dies, the family estate passes to John, and the Dashwood women are left in reduced circumstances. The novel follows the Dashwood sisters to their new home, a cottage on a distant relative's property, where they experience both romance and heartbreak. The contrast between the sisters' characters is eventually resolved as they each find love and lasting happiness. Through the events in the novel, Elinor and Marianne...

A fifteenth-century Arabic sex manual and work of erotic literature. The book presents opinions on what qualities men and women should have to be attractive, gives advice on sexual technique, warnings about sexual health, and recipes to remedy sexual maladies. It gives lists of names for the penis and vagina, has a section on the interpretation of dreams, and briefly describes sex among animals. Interspersed with these there are a number of stories which are intended to give context and amusement. (Summary by Wikipedia)

Miriam Winthrop doesn't know what to do when she realizes her beloved husband Claude, the father of her children, has become infatuated with another woman. Her marriage vows were made to be kept, and not just as empty words that now echo from room to room in her lonely home. Is there a way for love to triumph? Miriam determines to fight for him, and she will fight fire with fire! - Summary by LikeManyWaters

"Letters from Hell" is a didactic Christian fantasy novel, with a faint resemblance to C.S. Lewis' "The Screwtape Letters." Otto, the narrator, has died in the prime of life. Through letters, he relates the torments and regrets that are a consequence of the self-centered and dissipated life he led in the world. He also describes the fates of other lost souls who inhabit Hell. (In this work, Hell is not the place of eternal torment, but the "holding area" until the final judgment.)There is also a preface written by George MacDonald. - Summary by TriciaG

A rollicking juvenile adventure tale, this historical fiction book received the Newbery Honor award in 1922. Set in England during the early 1200s, the scion of a Western Marches noble family relates the many encounters and battles that he faces with the Saxon yeoman who becomes his fast friend. This yeoman, great of cross-bow skill and strategy, often saves the day, and after earning knighthood, becomes instrumental in the making of the Magna Carta. - Summary by Lynette Caulkins

This is a sequel to Kidnapped. Many thought Kidnapped ended quite abruptly. The reason is Stevenson planned on writing a sequel. Catriona takes up the story of David Balfour on the same day Kidnapped ends. He must now try to clear his name and the name of James Stewart of the Appin murder. This will not be easy because the Campbells want James Stewart to hang."Catriona: Being Memoirs of the Further Adventures of David Balfour at Home and Abroad, in which are set forth his misfortunes anent the Appin Murder, his troubles with Lord Advocate Grant: captivity on the Bass Rock, Journey into Holland...