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"Phineas Redux" is the fourth book in Trollopes Palliser series and continues the story begun in the second book, "Phineas Finn".After the death of his Irish wife, Phineas Finn returns to London and to the House of Commons. But though drawn back apparently irresistibly, he never approaches politics with the zest of earlier days.What Trollope describes, in some of his most powerful writing, is a sad, at times almost sombre, progress towards maturity and self-wisdom.Novels in the Palliser series:1- Can You Forgive Her? (1864)2- Phineas Finn (1869)3- The Eustace Diamonds (1873)4- Phineas Redux (1874)5- The Prime Minister (1876)6- The Dukes Children (1879)The series overlaps with Trollopes Chronicles of Barsetshire, also a series of six novels, which deal with life in the fictional county where the Palliser family is politically important.

Fourth in the Chronicles of Barsetshire (AKA Barchester series), "Framley Parsonage" was published in 1860. In it the values of a Victorian gentleman, the young clergyman Mark Robarts, are put to the test.Like much fiction of 19th century England, "Framley Parsonage" concerns property, status, family and the conventions. In it Trollope captures the essence of Victorian England.Clergyman Mark Robarts benefits from his close friendship with Oxford classmate Lord Lufton. Luftons mother bestows upon him the position of vicar of Framley Parsonage. Living among the upper class, but without their wealth, Robarts gets himself into financial difficulty, foolishly allowing himself to be talked into cosigning for a Mr. Sowerbys substantial borrowing.Meanwhile, Lord Lufton and Marks sister Lucy fall in love. However, Lady Lufton opposes the match, as Lucy has no money or social position, and Lucy refuses to marry Lord Lufton without his mothers approval. Lady Lufton would much rather her son marry Griselda Grantley, daughter of Archdeacon Grantley.There are other subplots as well, for it would be impossible to have a Trollope novel without them. The rich, eccentric Miss Dunstable (introduced in "Doctor Thorne") is pursued by Sowerby as a means out of his financial dilemma.In the end, Lord Lufton overcomes the resistance of both his mother and Lucy, and saves his future brother-in-law from financial ruin to boot. Miss Dunstable finds happiness as the wife of Doctor Thorne (from the previous novel bearing his name).Novels in the Barchester series:1-The Warden2-Barchester Towers3-Doctor Thorne4-Framley Parsonage5-The Small House at Allington6-The Last Chronicle of Barset

"The Small House at Allington" is the fifth book in Anthony Trollopes Barchester series (AKA Chronicles of Barsetshire). As with all of Trollope, it is beautifully written and draws the reader into its many interwoven tales."The Small House at Allington" is largely focused on the Small Houses inhabitants, Mrs. Dale and her two marriageable daughters, Lily and Bell. The two girls, of course, have suitors: their cousin, Bernard Dale, his friend Adolphus Crosbie, and the local boy, Johnny Eames, whose career in London is to mark him as far more than the "hobbledehoy" that he has earlier been considered. Crosbie is a social climber, and his connection with the dysfunctional de Courcys of Barsetshire give the author a chance for a splendid portrayal of an aristocratic family in decline. As with many of Anthony Trollopes novels, there are subplots as well, and many pictures of rural life standing in contrast to that of London. Some critics have seen in the portrayal of Johnny Eames something of an autobiographical exercise on Trollopes part.Former Prime Minister John Major declared this particular novel to be his favourite book of all time, and in doing so, he was joining the good company of the countless Trollope fans who have ensured this works lasting fame, and helped to enshrine its place as a literary classic.Novels in the Barchester series:1-The Warden2-Barchester Towers3-Doctor Thorne4-Framley Parsonage5-The Small House at Allington6-The Last Chronicle of Barset

"Nightmare Abbey", like "Frankenstein", appeared in 1818. Strangely, it was also inspired by Shelley, who was friends with Peacock. His satire, however, was lighthearted and whimsical and a kind of in-joke. Theres no way of knowing if Peacock had actually read Mary Shelleys novel, but "Nightmare Abbey" makes a nice counterpoint, and speaks of the importance of a new audience.In Peacocks best-known work, "Nightmare Abbey", romantic melancholy is satirised. The novel is set in a former abbey whose owner, Christopher Glowry, is host to visitors who enjoy his hospitality and engage in endless debate. Among these guests are figures recognisable to Peacocks contemporaries, including characters based on Lord Byron and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Mr. Glowrys son Scythrop (also modelled on a famous Romantic, Peacocks friend Percy Bysshe Shelley) locks himself up in a tower where he reads German tragedies and transcendental philosophy and develops a "passion for reforming the world." Disappointed in love, a sorrowful Scythrop decides the only thing to do is to commit suicide, but circumstances persuade him to instead follow his father in a love of misanthropy and Madeira. In addition to satire and comic romance, "Nightmare Abbey" presents a biting critique of the texts we view as central to British romanticism.The great pleasure of "Nightmare Abbey", lies in the delight the author takes in poking fun at the romantic movement.

Margaret Oliphant is one of the great Victorian novelists and "Hester" is a masterpiece of psychological realism published in 1883. In exploring the difficulty of understanding human nature, it is also a compulsive story of financial and sexual risk-taking that inevitably results in a searing climax."Hester" tells the story of the ageing but powerful Catherine Vernon, and her conflict with the young and determined Hester, whose growing attachment to Edward, Catherines favourite, spells disaster for all concerned.Catherine Vernon, jilted in her youth, has risen to power in a mans world as head of the family bank. She thinks she sees through everyone and rules over a family of dependants with knowing cynicism. But there are two people in Redborough who resist her. One is Hester, a young relation with a personality as strong as Catherines, and as determined to find a role for herself. The other is Edward, who Catherine treats like a son. Conflict between the young and the old is inevitable, and in its depiction of the complex relationships that develop between the three principal characters.

Written between 1873 and 1884 and published posthumously in 1903, "The Way of All Flesh" is regarded by some as the first twentieth-century novel. Samuel Butlers autobiographical account of a harsh upbringing and troubled adulthood shines an iconoclastic light on the hypocrisy of a Victorian clerical familys domestic life. It also foreshadows the crumbling of nineteenth-century bourgeois ideals in the aftermath of the First World War, as well as the ways in which succeeding generations have questioned conventional values.Beginning with the life of John Pontifex, a carpenter, the novel traces four generations of the Pontifex family, each of which perpetuates the frustration and unhappiness of its predecessor largely as a result of parental repression. Only Ernest Pontifex, the great-grandson of John, is able to break the cycle. After being ordained a minister, serving a prison term because of a naive misunderstanding, and unwittingly entering into a bigamous marriage with the familys sluttish servant girl, Ernest providentially inherits enough money from a favourite aunt to change his life and become a writer.

Thomas Love Peacock considered his novels to be comic romances. "Headlong Hall", published in 1816, the first of his seven novels, already sets the pattern for his other novels of talk: characters seated at table, eating and drinking, and embarking on learned and philosophical discussions in which many common opinions of the day are criticised.The novel features a country-house, the titular Headlong Hall, populated by a diverse set of characters, each embodying a particular intellectual obsession and each tirelessly advocating his or her ideas in the frequent debates on which the novel turns debates that are often learned, sometimes absurd, but always spirited. Plot is rudimentary, frequently depending on slapstick relieved by a love interest or two, with marriage providing a comic resolution. While highly eclectic intellectually, the typical Peacock novel is unified by some idea that runs through the novels debates.

"The House of the Whispering Pines" is a classic mystery novel by American author Anna Katharine Green first published in 1910.The country club house The Whispering Pines was closed for the winter, but only one day after he locked the place personally, the narrator sees smoke come out of the chimney. He decides to investigate and enters the house. Hidden in the dark, he sees the sister of his fiance, the girl he secretly loves, run out of the house with tears in her eyes. Upstairs then, he discovers the dead body of his betrothed...

Mike Silvestro, regista televisivo, ha un metodo tutto suo di fare fiction: recluta un vero salumiere per il ruolo del salumiere, un avvocato di professione per interpretare lavvocato sullo schermo... niente piu attori, solo gente comune, che non viene pagata e anzi ringrazia dellopportunita di apparire in TV. Uno stile che piace ai produttori, amanti dei budget bassi, e agli spettatori, che amano sognare a ogni lieto fine. Anche la festa che la Rete ha dato per celebrare il suo ultimo successo e andata per il meglio; ma, quando torna a casa, Mike trova ad aspettarlo la piu terribile delle sorprese: suo figlio Filippo, di tredici anni, non ce piu. Al suo posto, un biglietto che recita: Non chiamare la polizia. Ci facciamo vivi noi.Quando si e disperati ci si aggrappa a qualsiasi possibilita. E se fosse vero che ogni storia narrata non e altro che il ricordo di cio che e gia successo a qualcuno, in qualche luogo e in qualche tempo? Se fosse davvero possibile scoprire dove e stato portato suo figlio, provando a ricordare quello che e successo a casa sua, quella notte? Tra doppiogiochisti e delatori, strategie investigative e interpretazioni della meccanica quantistica, un thriller girato in 24 ore che pone di fronte a unineludibile domanda: se tutti i sogni possono avverarsi anche gli incubi possono farlo?

"The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy" is a novel published between 1759 and 1767 by English novelist Laurence Sterne. Ostensibly a biography of its fictional eponymous character, the book features many digressions from its plot and is, therefore, viewed by many scholars as an early forerunner of post-modern literature.The novel has more to do with Shandy family members and their foibles and history than it seemingly does with Tristram himself. However, it is through Tristrams relating the actions, beliefs, and opinions of his family members primarily his father, Walter Shandy, and his paternal Uncle Toby that the reader gets a clearer picture of Tristrams character.Though dismissed by contemporary critics, "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy"s popularity has enduredinitially due to its bawdy humour and later as a major influence on modernist and post-modernist writers such as James Joyce, owing to its highly digressive narrative and absurdity.

"The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz" is a very odd little book published in 1616 in what is today Germany. Its anonymous authorship is attributed to Johann Valentin Andreae.The narrator, Christian Rosencreutz, told the tale of his bizarre and otherworldly foray into a secret society. It featured angels, automata, and ancient, arcane wisdom. Some readers viewed it as a religious allegory, some as an alchemical one. Somein light of two manifestos published in the years preceding itthought this book a revelation of a true secret society: the Rosicrucian order, a group of hermetic, Christian alchemists that were poised to change the world. "The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz" is an allegoric romance (story) divided into Seven Days, or Seven Journeys, like Genesis, and recounts how Christian Rosenkreuz was invited to go to a wonderful castle full of miracles, in order to assist the Chymical Wedding of the king and the queen, that is, the husband and the bride.

Leseproben-Medley, das Leseproben aus den folgenden drei Romanen enthalt:"Schattenherrscher - Die Suche" von Kati WepnerDie 17-jahrige Kate versucht taglich die Fassade eines normalen Teenagerlebens aufrechtzuerhalten. Das gelingt auch gut, denn niemand ahnt, dass sie alleine lebt, grausame Albtraume hat und wochentlich zum Psychiater muss.Ihre Fassade beginnt jedoch gefahrlich zu brockeln, als durch einen dummen Zufall der gutaussehende Jake in ihr Leben tritt und anfangt unangenehme Fragen zu stellen. Aber auch Jake birgt ein dusteres Geheimnis. Als ihr Psychiater dann auch noch versucht sie umzubringen, steht Kates Leben auf einmal Kopf. Und auch Jake droht von seiner Vergangenheit eingeholt zu werden.Und dann ist da noch dieser seltsam vertraute Fremde, mit den faszinierend grunen Augen, der unheimlicher Weise immer da auftaucht, wo Kate gerade ist..."Rabenfluch" von Bettina Auer"Sieben Federn und einen Fluchstein benotigt Ihr, um wieder der zu sein, der Ihr vorher wart. Ansonsten musst Ihr Euer Leben in den Federn des Rabenkleides verbringen."Seit Jahrhunderten lastet ein Fluch auf der Familie Estare, der jeden ersten mannlichen Nachkommen in einen Raben verwandelt, sobald dieser sein 17. Lebensjahr vollendet.Liyon, der auch unter diesem Fluch leidet, will sein restliches Leben auf keinen Fall als Rabe verbringen. Deshalb zieht er los, den Fluch zu brechen. Zusammen mit seiner Schwester Nymeria und ihrem Lehrling Tyron begibt er sich auf die Suche nach dem letzten Fluchstein. Den besitzt allerdings der dunkle Magier Ican, der bereits das Land der Elfen unterworfen hat und weitere dunkle Plane verfolgt.Die Gefahrten sturzen sich in ein unerwartetes Abenteuer, ohne zu wissen, dass Ican ihnen bereits einen Schritt voraus ist. Denn er schickt seinen treusten Krieger Felerion"Die Bucherwelt-Saga: Verliebt." von Stefanie StraburgerWenn es dein Leben als Buch gabe wurdest du es lesen?Plotzlich ist da dieses Buch in Tildas Tasche. Alt und doch irgendwie neu. Ohne Titel oder Autor. Ihre Lebensgeschichte. Ehe sie sich versieht, entfuhrt sie Titus, das Bucherwesen, in eine fantastische Welt, voller Magie und Zeitreisen. Und dann ist da auch noch die Liebe

Anita Gambino e convinta di non avere un disturbo ossessivo compulsivo. Le piace leggere e comprare libri, che male ce? Non le piace il Natale, qual e il problema? La sua famiglia, invece, crede che lei abbia bisogno di una terapia.Il dottor Miller Harris riuscira a farle vedere le cose da unaltra prospettiva? Anita sara collaborativa, o rischiera di innamorarsi del diavolo in persona? Una New York scintillante e addobbata a festa fara da sfondo a questa breve storia romantica e ironica. Un racconto che vi fara sentire la magia del Natale.

First published in 1926, "The Secrets of Dr. Taverner" is an essential and fun read for anyone interested in the Western Mystery Tradition, a work of supernatural fiction by acclaimed spiritualist and occult writer Dion Fortune.The adventures of Dr. Taverner and Dr. Rhodes take readers across the marshy moonlit fields of nightfall, hunting spirits and keeping watch over souls. Suffering from vampirism? Being stalked by a death hound? Haunted by past life debts? Family under a suicidal curse? From across the countryside patients and their desperate families come to seek treatment for unconventional diseases from an unconventional doctor. His secret? Treating the diseases of the occult.Though Fortune wrote "The Secrets of Dr. Taverner" as her first novel, she maintained that all the events were based on true occurrences. Many believe Taverner to be Fortunes own spiritual teacher, Dr. Moriarty, and Rhodes to be based on Fortune herself.

The simplest, and perhaps most prosaic, way to describe "The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner", written in 1824 by James Hogg, is to refer to it as a psychological tale of a young man, Robert Wringhim, whose religious conviction justifies committing murder. Set in early eighteenth-century Scotland, the novel recounts the corruption of Robert Wringhim (a boy of strict Calvinist parentage) by a mysterious stranger under whose influence he commits a series of murders. The stranger assures the boy that no sin can affect the salvation of an elect person. The reader, while recognising the stranger as Satan, is prevented by the subtlety of the novels structure from finally deciding whether, for all his vividness and wit, he is more than a figment of the boys imagination.

"The Eustace Diamonds", published in 1872, is the third novel in Anthony Trollopes Palliser Series. A huge book with lots of characters and multiple plot threads has at its centre the impressive literary creation of Lizzie Eustace. Though in some ways similar to other Trollope novels, this work is much more cynical and dark when compared to the authors other efforts."The Eustace Diamonds" is a satirical study of the influence of money on marital and sexual relations. The story follows two contrasting women and their courtships. Lizzie Eustace and Lucy Morris are both hampered in their love affairs by their lack of money. Lizzies trickery and deceit, however, contrast with Lucys constancy. Trollope was understood to be commenting on the malaise in Victorian England that allowed a character like Lizzie, who marries for money, steals the family diamonds, and behaves despicably throughout, to rise unscathed in society.Novels in the Palliser series:1- Can You Forgive Her? (1864)2- Phineas Finn (1869)3- The Eustace Diamonds (1873)4- Phineas Redux (1874)5- The Prime Minister (1876)6- The Dukes Children (1879)The series overlaps with Trollopes Chronicles of Barsetshire, also a series of six novels, which deal with life in the fictional county where the Palliser family is politically important.

Like Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell had a favourite book she had written. For Gaskell, this book was "Cranford", published in 1853. "Cranford" is a book that Gaskell called it the only one of her books that she rereads, and the book that she reads if she needs to laugh. Its a hilarious and wonderful look at a small town and the people who live there."Cranford" is one of those novels that really has no plot. There is no mystery. There is no real tension that keeps a reader engaged and absorbed. Rather, it is a series of vignettes about life in this little English village, focusing on a small group of friends and their adventures as they meander through life. While it may not be the most exciting of novels, there is something about these glimpses into genteel life that is utterly charming. Therein lies its power."Cranford" grew out of a short story (now the first two chapters) and it reads like a series of episodes in the fictional town of Cranford. The central characters are Mary Smith and her friends, the spinster sisters Miss Matty and Miss Deborah. It is a quaint, comedic ode to small town life, and remains Gaskells most famous work.

Mefistofele (detto anche Mefisto, Mephistophilis, Mephistophilus, Mephistopheles) e il nome che ricorrente principalmente nella cultura folkloristica tedesca per indicare un diavolo. È anche il nome con cui viene chiamato il demonio nel mito di Faust. In questo breve saggio Arturo Graf rappresenta la persona di Mefistofele. E una copia digitale dellopera di Graf del 1901.

"Mary Barton" (AKA "Mary Barton: A Tale of Manchester"), the 1848 debut novel of Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell tells of the Victorian working class in Manchester, a city in England, from 1839 to 1842. "Mary Barton" focuses on political and domestic issues. The title character serves as the first person narrative voice. There are differing views as to whether or not the narrator is the alter ego of the author. Gaskell instils social class and time period realism by using working class dialect and colloquial speech and also with literary references. A good portion of the novel is devoted to comparisons between classes on the opposite ends of the economic spectrum."Mary Barton" is a widely acclaimed work based on the actual murder, in 1831, of a progressive mill owner.The novel follows Mary Barton, daughter of a man implicated in the murder, through her adolescence, when she suffers the advances of the mill owner, and later through love and marriage.

"Curious, if True" (Strange Tales) is a collection of five dark Victorian tales of suspense, horror, mood and mystery by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, published variously between 1852 and 1861. Gaskell unleashes her fascination with the macabre and uncanny through these short fictions that provide outlets for a strange and powerful imagination."Curious, if True" includes "The Old Nurses Story,""The Poor Clare,""Lois The Witch,""The Grey Woman," and "Curious, If True."