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Books > Fiction > Special features > Classic fiction
A Room of One's Own (1929) has become a classic feminist essay and
perhaps Virginia Woolf's best known work; The Voyage Out (1915) is
highly significant as her first novel. Both focus on the place of
women within the power structures of modern society. The essay lays
bare the woman artist's struggle for a voice, since throughout
history she has been denied the social and economic independence
assumed by men. Woolf's prescription is clear: if a woman is to
find creative expression equal to a man's, she must have an
independent income, and a room of her own. This is both an acute
analysis and a spirited rallying cry; it remains surprisingly
resonant and relevant in the 21st century. The novel explores these
issues more personally, through the character of Rachel Vinrace, a
young woman whose 'voyage out' to South America opens up powerful
encounters with her fellow-travellers, men and women. As she begins
to understand her place in the world, she finds the happiness of
love, but also sees its brute power. Woolf has a sharp eye for the
comedy of English manners in a foreign milieu; but the final
undertow of the novel is tragic as, in some of her finest writing,
she calls up the essential isolation of the human spirit.
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Pride and Prejudice
(Paperback)
Jane Austen; Introduction by Ian Littlewood; Notes by Ian Littlewood; Series edited by Keith Carabine
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R131
Discovery Miles 1 310
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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Pride and Prejudice, which opens with one of the most famous sentences in English Literature, is an ironic novel of manners. In it the garrulous and empty-headed Mrs Bennet has only one aim - that of finding a good match for each of her five daughters. In this she is mocked by her cynical and indolent husband.
With its wit, its social precision and, above all, its irresistible heroine, Pride and Prejudice has proved one of the most enduringly popular novels in the English language.
"Curiously enough," said Dr. Manners, "I know a story in which the
detection of a murder turned on the behaviour of a bird: in this
instance a jackdaw." Since the dawn of the crime fiction genre,
animals of all kinds have played a memorable part in countless
mysteries, and in a variety of roles: the perpetrator, the key
witness, the sleuth's trusted companion. This collection of
fourteen stories corrals plots centred around cats, dogs and
insects alongside more exotic incidents involving gorillas,
parakeets and serpents - complete with a customary shoal of red
herrings. From the animal mysteries of Arthur Conan Doyle and F.
Tennyson Jesse through to more modern masterpieces of the sub-genre
from Christianna Brand and Penelope Wallace, this anthology
celebrates one of the liveliest and most imaginative species of
classic crime fiction.
Once you're in, there's only one way out...Tired of always doing
the dirty work with little reward, Danny McKay wants out of the
gangland life. But his boss, Freddie Smith, has other ideas... As
the current Top Dog of the East End, Freddie knows he must protect
his reign at all costs and if that means disposing of his much
younger, much stronger, number two, then so be it. Now, with a
price on his head, Danny must use all of his wits and connections
to stay one step ahead of Freddie - he knows his old boss won't
give up without a fight to the death. But with a turf war looming,
the question is who will survive and who will be crowned Top Dog.
Don't miss the exciting sequel to Under Dog by Kerry Kaya! Perfect
for fans of Kimberley Chambers, Heather Atkinson and Caz Finlay.
Please note this is a re-release of Top Dog, previously published
by Kerry Kaya.
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The Red and the Black
(Hardcover)
Stendhal; Translated by Horace B. Samuel; Illustrated by Henri J Dubouchet
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R724
Discovery Miles 7 240
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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War and Peace
(Paperback, New edition)
Leo Tolstoy; Introduction by Henry Claridge; Notes by Henry Claridge; Introduction by Olga Claridge; Notes by Olga Claridge; Translated by …
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R167
Discovery Miles 1 670
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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War and Peace is a vast epic centred on Napoleon's war with Russia.
While it expresses Tolstoy's view that history is an inexorable
process which man cannot influence, he peoples his great novel with
a cast of over five hundred characters. Three of these, the artless
and delightful Natasha Rostov, the world-weary Prince Andrew
Bolkonsky and the idealistic Pierre Bezukhov illustrate Tolstoy's
philosophy in this novel of unquestioned mastery. This translation
is one which received Tolstoy's approval.
A Leopard-Skin Hat may be Anne Serre’s most moving novel yet. A
masterpiece of simplicity, emotion and elegance, it is the story of an
intense friendship between the Narrator and his close childhood friend,
Fanny, who suffers from profound psychological disorders.
A series of short scenes paints the portrait of a strong-willed and
tormented young woman battling many demons, and of the Narrator’s
loving and anguished attachment to her. Serre poignantly depicts the
bewildering back and forth between hope and despair involved in such a
relationship, while playfully calling into question the very form of
the novel. Written in the aftermath of the death of the author’s little
sister, A Leopard-Skin Hat is both the celebration of a tragically
foreshortened life and a valedictory farewell.
Translated from French by Mark Hutchinson.
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