In Undue Influence , acclaimed novelist Anita Brookner proves once again that even in the most closely circumscribed of lives, hearts can venture into unknown-and potentially explosive-territory. Claire Pitt is nothing if not a practical young woman, living a life in contemporary London that is to all appearances placid, orderly and consciously lacking in surprise. And yet Claire's tangled interior life gives the lie to that illusion. She is prone to vivid speculation about the lives of others, and to fantasies about her own fate that lead her into a courtship so strange that even she wonders at its power to compel her. Martin Gibson and his chronically ill wife Cynthia come to depend on Claire to an extent that is nothing short of baffling, and yet Claire becomes ever bolder in her pursuit of their acquaintance-and, ultimately, of Martin's elusive affections. The result, a potent tale of urban loneliness and the chance intersections that assuage it, constitutes one of Brookner's finest and most psychologically acute achievements.

Title: The Double Coronet. A novel. By the author of "My First Season," [i.e. Elizabeth S. Sheppard], etc. Publisher: British Library, Historical Print Editions The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. It is one of the world's largest research libraries holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats: books, journals, newspapers, sound recordings, patents, maps, stamps, prints and much more. Its collections include around 14 million books, along with substantial additional collections of manuscripts and historical items dating back as far as 300 BC. The FICTION & PROSE LITERATURE collection includes books from the British Library digitised by Microsoft. The collection provides readers with a perspective of the world from some of the 18th and 19th century's most talented writers. Written for a range of audiences, these works are a treasure for any curious reader looking to see the world through the eyes of ages past. Beyond the main body of works the collection also includes song-books, comedy, and works of satire. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++ British Library Sheppard, Elizabeth Sara; 1856. 2 vol. ; 8º. 12631.f.8.

In old age, a political firebrand looks back at a life filled with social and political turmoil. Samuel Lumen has reached the hearts of millions with his fearless advocacy for liberal causes. Now he’s almost ninety years old, and the ideas he espoused as a young man, radical at the time, are woven into the political landscape of America, even as they’ve been warped and diluted by younger generations. His ideological heirs want to honor his contributions with a banquet full of pomp and circumstance, but Lumen’s not so sure he’s ready to honor his heirs in return. Told through Lumen’s diary entries, Celebration recounts his rich life, filled with achievement, disappointment, and an ever-growing awareness of the costs of restless radicalism. Published posthumously, Celebration is a fitting capstone to Swados’ legendary career as a novelist and critic, and is an unforgettable look at the intersection of memory, nostalgia, and histories both personal and political.

While living in exile in Berlin, the formidable literary critic Viktor Shklovsky fell in love with Elsa Triolet. He fell into the habit of sending Elsa several letters a day, a situation she accepted under one condition: he was forbidden to write about love. Zoo, or Letters Not about Love is an epistolary novel born of this constraint, and although the brilliant and playful letters contained here cover everything from observations about contemporary German and Russian life to theories of art and literature, nonetheless every one of them is indirectly dedicated to the one topic they are all required to avoid: their author's own unrequited love.

John has crossed the line from performance to reality, from stage to street, from imagination to visceral breath - and he needs to take control before all is lost. Themes that haunt the Berkoff canon are present in this startling novel: his luxurious verbosity; his counterpoint of crude street patter and elegiac proclamation; sex wars; class wars; dislocation and abandonment of love in a thankless and unyielding world. This is a challenging, brutally honest novel that will inspire, enrage and divide - and live on long after the final word. Sod the Bitches! is testament to the power of words. It will shock, amaze, inspire and horrify. This is a book for the brave - a novel to expand your mind and challenge your moral compass and beliefs.

“The sly courage, the deft intelligence, and the fierceness of vision that we, his fans, have come to expect from a Rafael Yglesias novel all blaze brightly forth--and cast very dark shadows--inThe Wisdom of Perversity.” —Michael Chabon, author of Telegraph Avenue Brian and Jeff were best friends, growing up together in New York City in the late 1960s. Then something unspeakable happened that ended both their friendship and their childhoods. For forty years, their shared secret lay buried, but new circumstances have forced them to face the consequences of their silence. The predator who sexually abused them, as well as Jeff’s cousin, Julie, and countless others, has been exposed by more recent victims, but his wealth and privilege may protect him from punishment. Brian, Jeff, and Julie must weigh devastating choices: to tell all and risk their carefully constructed lives or face the likelihood that others will be victimized. Rafael Yglesias, critically acclaimed bestselling novelist and screenwriter, unmasks the headlines, giving voice to what has been left unsaid and light to what has been hidden.The Wisdom of Perversity is a startling, engrossing, unsettling, and moving story of surviving an insidious evil and of a triumphant struggle to heal its wounds. “Here is the antithesis of Nabokov’s Lolita . . . Set beside the grim literalness ofThe Wisdom of Perversity, as beside any case history of sexual abuse, Lolita is a lark, an extravagance, a phantasm of romance, a tour de force, a jubilant metaphor. Yglesias has known the real thing, and has chosen not to refashion it into anything other than itself.” —Joyce Carol Oates, The New York Times Book Review “An affecting novel that is big-screen lurid without being superficial or too slick . . . [with] a touch of Agatha Christie-like mystery.”—Kirkus Reviews “Yglesias delivers a powerful message about victimization, healing, and empowerment in a novel that is as timely as it is poignant.”—Booklist

This moving novel from Peretz Markish is a beautiful exploration of love and loss. Focusing on the character of Stam, readers will follow his journey as he navigates the tumultuous world of early twentieth-century Russia. A must-read for lovers of literary fiction and those interested in Eastern European history. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

- The author's most recent novel, What Remains (Warner, 2000, 0-446-52416-6), received rave reviews and was selected as a New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice. His previous novels for Warner include Old Scores (1997) and In the Name of Mercy (1995). - Nicholas Delbanco is the Robert Frost Collegiate Professor of English Literature and Language at the University of Michigan. He is the award-winning author of 20 fiction and nonfiction books and has taught at Columbia and Iowa Universities, as well as at Bennington, Skidmore, Trinity, and Williams Colleges. - Delbanco is the co-founder, with the late John Gardner, of the Bennington Writing Workshops, and currently administers the prestigious Hopwood Awards at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

A "shamelessly funny" ( Kirkus ) and utterly original new novel from Mark Leyner about a father and his intense and devout relationship with his daughter and with alcohol. An anthropologist and his daughter travel to Kermunkachunk, the capital of Chalazia, to conduct research for an ethnography on the Chalazian Mafia Faction (a splinter group of the Chalazian Children's Theater). The book takes place over the course of a night at the Bar Pulpo, Kermunkachunk's #1 spoken-word karaoke bar. Moreover, it's Thursday, "Father/Daughter Nite," when the bar is frequented by actual fathers and daughters as well as couples cosplaying fathers and daughters. Somehow emanating from the letters on an optometrist's eye chart, from karaoke screens in the bar, and from posters on a piazza that's the scene of phantasmagorical and unending mob wars, Last Orgy of the Divine Hermit relentlessly pulls the rug out from under itself, leaving you suspended in a state of perpetual exhilaration. Leyner, one of the most blazingly imaginative and influential writers of the last thirty years, has not only written his funniest novel, he's broken through to something entirely unprecedented. Imagine tripping on a hallucinogen made by an alien intelligence and then wanting to immediately call your dad (in this world or the next) and tell him that you love him--that's what reading Last Orgy of the Divine Hermit is like. It's a novel about the deep pleasures of reading and drinking, the tumultuous reign of a cabal of mystic mobsters, and, of course, the transcendent love of a father for his daughter. Last Orgy of the Divine Hermit is like nothing else you've ever read before.

“Cynthia†is a poignant novel by Leonard Merrick, showcasing his talent for crafting compelling narratives and memorable characters. Set against the backdrop of early 20th-century London, the story follows the intertwined lives of individuals navigating love, loss, and societal expectations. Merrick's elegant prose and keen observations create a rich tapestry of human experience, inviting readers to reflect on the complexities of relationships and the enduring power of the human spirit. This edition of “Cynthia†offers readers a chance to rediscover a classic work of British literature, celebrated for its insightful portrayal of human emotions and its timeless themes. Leonard Merrick's ability to capture the nuances of human interaction makes “Cynthia†a rewarding read for those who appreciate finely crafted literary fiction. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Explore the intricate dance of love and deception in Leonard Merrick's "The Man Who Was Good," a compelling psychological drama set in the early 20th century. This meticulously prepared edition, featuring an insightful introduction by J.K. Prothero, delves into the complexities of man-woman relationships, laying bare the subtle nuances of marriage and the devastating consequences of betrayal. Merrick masterfully crafts a story that resonates with timeless themes of trust, identity, and the fragile nature of domestic life. Navigate the psychological landscape of a relationship tested to its limits, as "The Man Who Was Good" explores the hidden depths of human connection and the enduring power of the past. A classic of literary fiction, this novel offers a poignant and thought-provoking exploration of love, loss, and the enduring search for meaning within the bonds of matrimony. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Israel Zangwill was born in London on 21st January 1864, to a family of Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire. Zangwill was initially educated in Plymouth and Bristol. At age 9 he was enrolled in the Jews' Free School in Spitalfields in east London. Zangwill excelled here. He began to teach part-time at the school and eventually full time. Whilst teaching he also studied with the University of London and by 1884 had earned his BA with triple honours in philosophy, history, and the sciences. His writing earned him the sobriquet "the Dickens of the Ghetto" primarily based on his much lauded novel 'Children of the Ghetto: A Study of a Peculiar People' in 1892 and its glimpse of the poverty-stricken life in London's Jewish quarter. As a writer he was keen to reflect on his political and social outlooks. His simulation of Yiddish sentence structure in English aroused great interest. His mystery work, 'The Big Bow Mystery' (1892) was the first locked room mystery novel. Zangwill was also involved with narrowly focused Jewish issues as an assimilationist, an early Zionist, and later a territorialist. In the early 1890s he had joined the Lovers of Zion movement in England. In 1897 he joined Theodor Herzl (considered the father of modern political Zionism) in founding the World Zionist Organization. Zangwill quit the established philosophy of Zionism when his plan for a homeland in Uganda was rejected and founded his own organisation; the Jewish Territorialist Organization. Its stated goal was to create a Jewish homeland in whatever territory in the world could be found for them. Amongst the challenges in his life he found time to write poetry. He had translated a medieval Jewish poet in 1903 and his volume 'Blind Children' in 1908 shows his promise in this new endeavour. 'The Melting Pot' in 1909 made Zangwill's name as an admired playwright. When the play opened in Washington D.C., former President Theodore Roosevelt leaned over the edge of his box and shouted, "That's a great play, Mr. Zangwill, that's a great play." Israel Zangwill died on 1st August 1926 in Midhurst, West Sussex.

The first book in Bromley House Editions, reprinting important Nottinghamshire writers from the past. A gritty historical novel set in the lace industry. Mr Penny, who works on the factory floor, hates the mill masters, so much so that he learns the trade and sets up on his own outside of Nottingham, outside of the reach of trade unions. He undercuts the old fashioned bosses, becoming a rich man and marrying his old boss's daughter.Hilda Lewis is well known from her OUP children's classic, The Ship that Flew. Several of her other historical fiction books are now available from The History Press/NPI

“I am Sonya Vronsky, professor of mathematics at Tel Aviv University, and this is the story of a day in late August. On this remarkable day I kissed a student, pursued a lover, found my father, and left my brother.” So begins A Wall of Light , a novel which chronicles a single day in the life of Sonya, a thirty-two-year-old deaf woman about to break out of her predictable routine. Sonya lives in Tel Aviv with her protective half-brother, Kostya; their household has dwindled from five to two. Anna, their mother, is now in a nursing home and Noah, Kostya’s son, is living in Berlin. Kostya, wracked with guilt for the tragedies that have befallen Sonya, also grapples with the memory of his wife, Iris, a lawyer murdered in the course of a dangerous investigation seventeen years earlier. As we move through Sonya’s day, Noah and Anna narrate their stories as well. Noah’s journal entries cover the years 1980-1993, and Anna’s letters to Andrei, her married lover in Russia, are written in 1957, after Anna has emigrated to Israel to build a new life for herself and her son, Kostya. While Sonya’s story moves rapidly through the events of a single day, Noah and Anna’s voices take the reader back in time, filling in the circumstances that have led Sonya to this pivotal moment. We learn that Sonya has already endured two catastrophes. At age twelve, a medical mishap leaves her deaf, and at eighteen, while studying at university in Beersheba, Sonya is assaulted by two hoodlums. Throughout the novel, Sonya’s experiences, instigated by both human error and human evil, are echoed by the larger, political violence that haunts modern Israel. While Noah’s and Anna’s voices shed light on Sonya’s journey, they also provide insights into the political and cultural fabric of Israel from the mid 1950s to the present. Noah’s journal entries, starting with his tenth birthday and ending shortly after his army service, map his coming of age. We see him wrestling with his sexual identity and first sexual encounters, the fallout from his mother’s leftist politics, and his own conscription to the army. Anna’s secret letters to Andrei offer an outsider’s perspective on the new Israeli state. The remarkable events of Sonya’s day are set in motion when her brother gives her an antihistamine. Overcome with sleepiness, she dismisses her morning class early, asking only one student, Matar, to stay behind. She wants to understand what lies behind his unusual expression. He answers that he has been involved in war crimes, and surprises Sonya by kissing her. Sonya feels that she has been roused from a long slumber and as the novel progresses we see the ways in which her awakened desire shapes her choices. She decides to take a taxi home from the university and impulsively invites the taxi driver inside and seduces him. He complies, but when she tells him she’s deaf, he flees in confusion. Sonya is convinced that she has fallen in love with him, and decides to pursue him. She solicits her brother’s help and sets out to find her lover. Sonya’s search gains in intensity and purpose as she travels to East Jerusalem. There she encounters the walls that prevent Palestinians from moving freely through the West Bank. After an Alice in Wonderland -like journey past numerous obstacles, Sonya finally makes it to her lover’s house. This second encounter leads Sonya to a central revelation: the identity of her father. As this day of awakened desire and dispelled secrets closes, Sonya is able to step out from under the protective wing of her brother into a life that reflects both the ambiguity and uncertainty of contemporary Israel and her own personal possibilities.

This award-winning novel is "a delightful, inventive tale" about the pursuit of love and literary fame from "a compassionate and witty satirist" ( Kirkus Reviews ). It's the opportunity of a lifetime for middle-aged Ezra Shultish--a chance to the meet his literary hero, Nobel Laureate Bar Nun, a writer Ezra has worshipped for most of his career as a teacher and translator. Hoping to get a recording of the author reading his story, The Yemenite Girl , Shultish travels to Israel, where he finds himself pursuing his own Yemenite girl, as well as the elusive author. But will Ezra get the girl--or his own glimpse of literary fame? Winner of the Edward Lewis Wallant Book Award, The Yemenite Girl is Curt Leviant's comic novel on the nature of celebrity and the relationship between life and art. "Shultish is a man with a life of his own. . . . And the celebrity, too, is remarkably drawn. . . . [The book] is done with great tact, feeling, and skill." --Saul Bellow, Pulitzer Prize- and Nobel Prize for Literature-winning author "A passionate story . . . The charm of the text and the intensity of the subtext is what keeps the pages turning." -- The New York Times Book Review "Good comic writing and satire on the Hebrew literary scene with its jealous politicking for literary prizes." -- The Washington Post

The Rise of Iskander is a novel written by Benjamin Disraeli, a British politician and novelist. The book is set in the fictional country of Vraibleusia, which is a thinly veiled representation of Greece. The story follows the rise of Iskander, a young and ambitious Greek man who seeks to restore his country to its former glory.Iskander is a charismatic and brilliant leader who quickly gains a following among the people of Vraibleusia. He is aided in his quest by a group of loyal followers, including the beautiful and cunning Princess Ida, who becomes his lover and confidante.As Iskander's power grows, he faces opposition from the ruling class, who fear his radical ideas and populist appeal. He also must navigate the treacherous waters of international politics, as other countries seek to exploit Vraibleusia's resources and influence.The novel is a political thriller that explores themes of power, ambition, and the struggle for freedom and independence. Disraeli was known for his interest in Eastern cultures and his sympathy for the struggles of oppressed peoples, and these themes are evident throughout the book.Overall, The Rise of Iskander is a gripping and thought-provoking novel that offers a fascinating glimpse into the world of 19th-century politics and society. It is a must-read for anyone interested in history, politics, or literature.At length he was on the centre of the centre arch, an eminent position, which allowed him for a moment to keep them at bay, and gave him breathing time. Suddenly he made a desperate charge, clove the head of the leader of the band in two, and beat them back several yards; then swiftly returning to his former position, be summoned all his supernatural strength, and stamping on the mighty, but mouldering keystone, he forced it from its form, and broke the masonry of a thousand years. Amid a loud and awful shriek, horses and horsemen, and the dissolving fragments of the scene for a moment mingled as it were in airy chaos, and then plunged with a horrible plash into the fatal depths below.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

New edition of B. H. Friedman's critically-acclaimed 1964 serio-comic novel. Yarborough is the story of well-to-do bridge prodigy Arthur Skelton and his futile search for some system to give his life meaning. The novel takes its title from the game of bridge. A "yarborough" is a "nothing hand," a hand that contains no card above a nine.

A novel based on the life of Hannah Arendt.

The White Man in the Tree is a comedy of cultural misunderstandings set in the Caribbean, New York, and Paris, a novella and eight stories about people who, because of their differences, misjudge each other. Whether it is a sophisticated European filmmaker, an ambitious young black Haitian woman, a promising politician obsessed with women's feet, or a fish-out-of-water rabbi in search of a kosher chicken in Curaçao, each of Kurlansky's characters engages us with impulses and interactions that are by turns comic, insightful, and poignant. The White Man in the Tree is an affectionate portrait of a unique society, where Europe, America, Africa, and Asia meet Latin America.

Konrad Bercovici (1881-1961) was born in Romania, then emigrated to the United States via Paris. He wrote articles for Harper's Magazine, as well as novels, biographies, and travel books.