The Mischief Maker

E. Phillips Oppenheim

This story takes place before WWI and follows the adventures of a disgraced English politician who hasnt given up on his country in her hour of need. His nemesis is a suave but evil German prince who is plotting the downfall of he British empire. The only thing that stands in his way is our hero... and two beautiful women. The Mischief-Maker presents a fascinating picture of the political mindset of the day to go along with the twists and turns of the story. And so on, and with the material of conspiracies, politics, love and adventure the story is woven around the atmosphere of the early 20th century in London and Paris with that peculiar polish in dialogue and fascinating coloring characteristic of the popular author.

Dziennik Franciszki Krasińskiej

Klementyna Hoffmanowa

Akcja tej powieści historycznej umiejscowiona jest u schyłku panowania Augusta III Sasa. Autorka skupia się na przedstawieniu sylwetki głównej bohaterki Franciszki Krasińskiej. Utwór ma formę listów i pamiętników. Na pierwszy plan wysuwa się emocjonalność i wewnętrzne przeżycia bohaterki, natomiast wydarzenia historyczne i polityczne są tylko tłem dla rozterek kobiecego serca.

The Lighted Way

E. Phillips Oppenheim

A mystery story that involves the revolution in Portugal. Arnold Chetwode never intended to become involved in international intrigue. Arnold, a gently born young man in impecunious circumstances, toils as a lowly, ill-paid clerk in the prosperous London firm run by Mr. Weatherley, he is industrious but common merchant. A surprising invitation puts him at the right time and place to be a witness to a public murder. His employer and employers family are involved in the aftermath. Even Ruth, the poor invalid who befriended him when he was penniless. Full of descriptions of London settings, society, restaurants, country houses, and early motorcars, the novel careens back and forth between politics and romance. The reader is kept in complete mystery until the whole story is explained.

Skin and Bones

Thorne Smith

Thorne Smiths imaginative novel Skin and Bones takes the concept of suffering for ones art to a whole new level. This classic book contains the humorous and fantastical story of Mr. Quintus Bland, the eminent photographer, whose efforts to perfect X-ray film had, one evening, the unfortunate effect of leaving Mr. Bland in the position of an X-ray film himself; in other words, him found himself no more than a walking skeleton. Blands flesh does not merely become invisible but intangible. Can he make a life worth living with this condition? A great read, this book is thoroughly recommended for inclusion on the bookshelf of any home, where it is sure to become a family favorite.

The Sea Lady

Herbert George Wells

This charming, little-known fantasy by the author of The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds is also a sharply satirical look at the mores and moral of Edwardian England. During a family outing at the beach a family sees a young woman struggling further out in the water. Its only when they rescue her that they see that shes a mermaid. They quickly take her into the beach house, still unaware that the mermaid has planned the whole incident in order to meet a young man. Her motives are not quite clear; nor are her intentions of what she plans to do with the young man after she gets him, since she lives beneath the sea. On occasion she drops her guard and lets it be known she is death underwater. Will she be stopped in time from committing this dastardly deed? The Sea Lady takes a pretty good subject mermaid turned siren in proper British society and totally drops the ball.

Hushed Up!. A Mystery of London

William Le Queux

An interesting classic mystery, yes, I guess I could say enjoyable but to a certain extent... At first you are dragged to the edge of your seat wondering whats going to happen next or what the hell does this unusual introduction mean, then youre hit with a bunch of senarios that keep you wanting to just continue to the next chapter to see what will happen, then you realise that some of what you may have suspected in the beginning IS the conclusion to the plot...

Twixt Land & Sea Tales

Joseph Conrad

There are collected 3 stories. One of the stories has a distinctly ironic accent. In Smile of Fortune, the young captain landed his ship on a tropical island. He is met by a trader named Jacobus, whom he regards as luck. Then he falls in love with the girl Jacobus. By luck, the captain arrives on another island, where there is hunger, and he can sell potatoes.

Kiwony

Tadeusz Dołęga-Mostowicz

ózef Domaszko właśnie zdał maturę. Ma romans z córką swej ciotki Natalką. Dewizą życiową tego zdolnego i ambitnego młodzieńca jest ulubione motto jego stryja Cezarego: Trzeba zawsze w życiu stosować się do tego, co jest przyjęte i uznawane przez szanowanych, poważnych i spokojnych ludzi. Stryj, który łożył na naukę Józefa, chce, żeby ten został literatem, ma w sobie wszak krew wieszcza Słowackiego. Powikłane losy naszego bohatera przedstawione są w książce Kiwony na niezwykle interesującym tle wydarzeń rozgrywających się w stołecznych redakcjach prasowych, salonach warszawskiej inteligencji i domach zamożnej burżuazji. Kiwonowatość, czyli lizusostwo przedstawicieli ówczesnych elit, ludzi pozbawionych inicjatywy i bezwolnie poddających się biegowi wydarzeń, to typowe zjawisko tamtych czasów.