La Clique dorée

Émile Gaboriau

Quon naccuse personne. Je meurs volontairement. Je prie Mme Chevassat de porter leur adresse les lettres jointes. Henriette. Une jeune fille du comte de la Ville-Handry, Melle Henriette, vaincue par une vie difficile et dans une misere extreme décide de mourir. Un vieux brocanteur sauve la fille et trouve deux lettres quelle a laissé avant de mourir. Il les récupere discretement et cela va changer la destin tous les deux...

Gobseck

Honoré de Balzac

Originally published in 1830, here we have perhaps Balzacs best short work, named simply Gobseck. Gobseck is a marvelous sketch of a money-lender and miser in Paris during the early part of the nineteenth century who is a font of psychological insight when it comes to humankinds greed, vanity and other dark motives. His philosophy of never helping anyone because adversity is the greatest of all teachers was well known. He also believed that all the peoples of the world were really very much alike because money was the greatest common denominator. It gives us Gobsecks history through the eyes of Derville who later becomes the attorney for Colonel Chabert. Episodic in nature, the story moves rapidly, touching not only on Gobseck but on other characters of The Human Comedy, a collection of over 90 novels and stories in which Balzac attempts to depict all the myriad aspects of French society.

As a Thief in the Night

R. Austin Freeman

R. Austin Freeman was one of the best mystery writers ever and this book is one to prove it. Harold Monkhouse is a very sick man but no one including his doctor seems to know what is wrong with him. When he is found dead of arsenic poisoning, his brother demands an investigation and everyone in the household is a suspect. Who was behind this cruel death; the loving wife, Barbara; her friend, Madeline or Wallingford, the rather eccentric secretary? They all inherit something when Harold Monkhouse dies. Rupert, their loyal friend enlists the help of Dr. Thorndyke who with a lot of twists and turns solves the case. In researching the crime, Thorndyke and his charming assistant Polton do some fascinating analyses with X-rays. And the reader learns a lot about the versatility of arsenic in the hands of a creative murderer.

Goldelse

Eugenie Marlitt

Elisabeth lebt mit ihrem Bruder und ihren Eltern zusammen bis ihr Onkel sie dazu auffordert mit ihrer Familie auf sein Schloss Gnadeck zu ziehen, das seit Jahrhunderten von der adeligen Familie Gnadewitz bewohnt wird. Wird sie dort ihr Glück finden? Elisabeth, liebevoll wegen ihres schönen blonden Haares auch Goldelse genannt, kann sich nicht vorstellen was es bedeutet jemanden leidenschaftlich zu lieben und glaubt es gäbe keine andere Liebe als die zu Eltern und Geschwistern, bis sie sich in Herrn von Walde verliebt, der ihr anfänglich erst böse und dunkel erscheint. Schließlich heiraten sie doch und werden mit einem Kind ins Leben entlassen. Der melodramatische Roman erzählt die Geschichte der kranken Helene von Walde, die noch vor ihrem Tod ihren Bruder mit der Goldelse zusammenbringen möchte...

Dubliners

James Joyce

Life is full of missed opportunities and hard decisions. Sometimes its difficult to know what to actually do. Dubliners creates an image of an ever movie city, of an ever moving exchange of people who experience the reality of life. A collection of 15 short stories by James Joyce all set in Dublin and first published in 1914. They form a naturalistic depiction of Irish Middle class life in around Dublin in the early years of the 20th Century. There are two types of stories in Dubliners. The first, and by far the most effective, are those associated with despair, nihilism and death. The second type deals with more ordinary aspects of modern life, the representation of the city and social exchanges. As a collection they provide an image of dark, murky city struggling to cope with the problems associated with rapid urbanisation.

The Trail to Yesterday

Charles Alden Seltzer

Originally published in 1913, it was one of the earliest works of Western fiction by Charles Alden Seltzer and played a significant role in popularizing that genre. A story of the Old West in which an American girl from the East finds herself confronted with a strange type of man dwelling in the shadow of an ancient grudge. Dakota, the man, first convinces her that he is a brute beyond redemption and then gradually wins her back to the belief in his own essential manliness. Before this happens, however, there has been an attempted bribe, an attempted murder that seems the response to the bribe and a wild ride through the night, that ends at Dakotas shack. Highly recommended for lovers of Western fiction.

Sans dessus dessous

Jules Verne

Dans le roman Sans dessus dessous, les membres du Gun Club veulent changer le climat de la planete pour pouvoir accéder aux minéraux stockés sous la glace polaire. Pour cela, il leur a semblé suffisant de redresser la pente de laxe de la terre, en tirant avec un canon géant. Les conséquences dune erreur dans les calculs sont accablantes: les mers inondent les continents et les montagnes tombent sous la terre...

Shirley

Charlotte Brontë

Shirley, the second published novel by Charlotte Bronte, was released in 1849 amongst high anticipations by readers and critics after super success of Jane Eyre. Probably, it is the most suspenseful novel by Charlotte Bronte. The novel delicately combines classic Gothic motives motives, relatively speaking, are classically the detective. However, under the brilliant pen of Bronte, enthralling story becomes just a brilliant frame for the delicate, perfectly adjusted psychologically history of difficult relations of men and two female relations that are far beyond the traditional love triangle...