New York lawyer William Hardt has left for a South Sea island paradise, intent on winning reparations for its people from the US government for the damage done while it was a military base. But what he finds, and who he meets, slowly changes his notions of love, life, and even death.
A sinister Gothic tale in the tradition of The Woman in Black and The Fall of the House of Usher
A gripping, sinister Gothic tale inspired by and in the tradition of Henry James's The Turn of the Screw In 1891, in a remote and crumbling New England mansion, 12-year-old orphan Florence and her younger brother are neglected by her guardian uncle. Banned from reading, Florence devours books in secret and talks to herself?and narrates her story?in a unique language of her own invention. By night, she sleepwalks the corridors and is troubled by a recurrent dream in which a mysterious woman appears to threaten her younger brother Giles. After the sudden violent death of the children's first governess, a second teacher, Miss Taylor, arrives, and immediately strange phenomena begin to occur. Florence becomes convinced that the new governess is a malevolent spirit who means to do Giles harm. Against this powerful enemy, Florence must use all her intelligence and ingenuity to protect her little brother and preserve her private world. This gothic page-turner in the tradition of The Woman in Black and The Fall of the House of Usher is told in a startlingly different and wonderfully captivating narrative voice.
About to hit 50, obsessed with sex, cocaine-fueled, and gripped by a crippling fear of death, Professor Michael Cole is finding life a bit of a struggle. He knows the time has come to act his age—the question is how. It's when he's caught in the act of adultery by his grandmother that Michael truly begins to see the writing on the wall. After all, she's been dead for 25 years.
The book traces the lineage of the Rounds and Pfeffer families, encompassing several related families such as Ballard, Cooper, and Whitaker. It highlights the Pfeffer ancestry, which extends back an impressive 39 generations to Duke Bernard Nase Narbonne, who was born in 795 AD in Jutland, Denmark. This extensive genealogical exploration provides a detailed account of familial connections and historical roots.
Exploring the influence of an Anglican parson, the book delves into the origins of Welsh Methodism and its impact on contemporary Evangelicalism. It highlights the parson's contributions to revitalizing the Welsh language, emphasizing its significance in both spoken and written forms. The narrative underscores the cultural and religious transformations that shaped Welsh identity and resilience through faith and language.
New England, 1891. È notte fonda ormai. Nell'antica dimora di Blithe House regnano il silenzio e l'oscurità. Per Florence, giovane orfana di dodici anni, è finalmente giunto il momento che ogni giorno aspetta con ansia. Attenta a non far rumore, sale le scale ed entra nella vecchia biblioteca. Nella grande stanza abitata dalla polvere e dall'abbandono ci sono gli unici amici che le tengano davvero compagnia, i libri. Libri proibiti per Florence. Non potrebbe nemmeno toccarli: da sempre le è vietato leggere. Così le ha imposto lo zio che l'ha allevata con il fratellino Giles. Un uomo misterioso, che l'ha condannata a vivere confinata in casa insieme alla servitù. Ma Florence è furba e determinata e ha imparato a leggere da sola. Ha intuito che nei libri è racchiusa la strada per la libertà. Perché proprio in quella biblioteca, tra i vecchi volumi di Sir Walter Scott, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, George Eliot e Shakespeare, si nasconde un segreto legato a doppio filo alla morte dei suoi genitori. Una terribile verità che, notte dopo notte, getta ombre sempre più inquietanti sulla vita di tutti. Strani episodi iniziano a sconvolgere la dimora. Prima la morte violenta e inspiegabile di una delle governanti, poi l'arrivo della nuova istitutrice del fratellino, che odia Florence con tutta sé stessa. Per la ragazza camminare per i corridoi della casa è sempre più pericoloso.
