A House to Let

Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Elizabeth Gaskell, Adelaide Ann Procter

A House to Let is a novella originally published in 1858 by Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Elizabeth Gaskell and Adelaide Anne Procter. Each of the contributors wrote a chapter (stories within a story, and in the case of Adelaide Anne Procter, as a story in verse) and the whole was edited by Dickens, making it fit together seamlessly as a whole. This novella is a composite tale of mystery and intrigue set amid the dark streets of Victorian London. It is about a house that has remained vacant for several years which as come to the notice of an elderly woman named Sophonisba. She wants to know why the house is vacant, which is what the various chapters set out to explain, through the histories of various tenants. A House of Let is a seriously underrated novella that captures the mystery and humor of a fabulous story of bygone days.

Roping Lions in the Grand Canyon

Zane Grey

Powells Plateau was the most distant, inaccessible corner of the Grand Canyon, when Zane Gray went there with a hunter to the buffalo, camp, a cowboy from Utah and a scout from Navajo State. With the help of ropes and rifles, five men traveled to Mustangs. They were not disappointed. Different paths penetrated through the brush of forest and rocks from all sides.

The Modern Prometheus

E. Phillips Oppenheim

Sir Francis Kernham has returned from 10 years in the colonies where he has made a fortune. He is looking for Marcia, the struggling young actress who shared his misery in a Chelsea boardinghouse. He searches everywhere for her, fearful of what she may have become, only to discover by chance that she has also elevated herself and is now the Princess Hohenmahn, married to an elderly debauched member of royalty. Will they now find love and happiness together, or has time and truth forged bonds of a different sort? The fate of these characters is strictly Victorian. The novella gives an interesting picture of late Victorian society, the role of wealth and art, and the state of society in London just prior to the arrival of the automobile, and struggle for womens rights.

The Beast in the Jungle

Henry James

At the reception in the rich manor there are not the first youth mister and also not a young lady anymore. Both belong to the same circle of birth, but the financial affairs of a man are in somewhat better condition. It all seems to him that he is meant for something great and terrible that will destroy his own life and the lives of loved ones like a sudden fit of madness or, yes, how many anything can be options. It is like seeing yourself as a thicket in which the beast is hiding for the time being.

Komedia omyłek

William Shakespeare

Farsa Szekspirowska oparta na motywie bliźniąt, które ciągle ze sobą mylono. Bliźnięta rozdzielone w dzieciństwie, dwaj identyczni chłopcy, którzy nie wiedzą o sobie nawzajem, a w dodatku nagle pojawiają się w jednym mieście z tego musi zrodzić się prawdziwa komedia omyłek. Utwór pełen humoru sytuacyjnego, który rozbawi do łez największych maruderów.

Pride and Prejudice. A Novel

Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice a novel about Elizabeth Bennet, who is a witty and independent young girl, lives in England with her four sisters, her mother, and her father. When Mr. Bingley, a handsome, rich, young bachelor, arrives to stay briefly in Hartfordshire (where the Bennets live), Mrs. Bennet immediately tries to get one of her daughters to marry him. Bingley is a charming young man and quickly falls in love with the eldest Bennet sister, the beautiful Jane. It is a guarded relationship, so Jane and Bingley dont express outright their mutual feelings for each other, though Bingley obviously shows favor to Jane. Meanwhile, Bingleys proud friend Darcy meets Elizabeth. Elizabeth loathes Mr. Darcy, and avoids him as much as possible. Though Darcy is proud and reserved at first, it becomes obvious of his fondness for Elizabeth.

The Gringos

B.M. Bower

The Gringos recounts the massive clash of cultures that arose when European-American prospectors streamed into California in pursuit of gold and other natural resources. Dade Hunter and Jack Allen are two cowboys who got caught up in the 1849 California Gold Rush, and had a good fortune in the gold fields. They decide to spend a winter in San Francisco, where Jack gets hooked on gambling, while Dade quickly gets tired of it and moves on. Dade meets Andres, a Spanish Don who owns a large ranch, and tries to persuade Jack to move there with him, but Jack is involved way over his head.

Heu-Heu. Or the Monster

H. Rider Haggard

In this story, the already familiar hero, Allan Quatermain, tries to explain the mysteries of Africa. Here Quatermain unearths and destroys the cult of the priest, exploiting the remnants of a dying civilization. Allan proves their fraud. The main character, as always, is rational in his actions.