The gossip columns can talk of nothing else, and even the Regent is intrigued. The murder of Lord Beazley at Gopshall Manor has caused a sensation, and the fact that two sweet governesses could have done it has further tickled the nations bloodthirsty soul. Lucy Anne Trotter, who stands accused, steals a horse and hurtles off to convince the only man in the country who can save her bacon- the national hero and the most handsome man in England, Lord William Hartell Adair. With him by her side, she sets out to discover the Gopshall family's secrets and the murderer.In true Anya Wylde style, plenty of madness, kisses and burning breeches make an appearance. It's a carriage ride not to be missed.
A murder and a theft have been committed at Rudhall Manor. A box of jewels has vanished and Lord Sedley, a lusty old aristocrat, has been stabbed six times in the chest.It is all very mysterious, and the Sedley family and the servants have decided that Miss Lucy Anne Trotter, a recently employed governess, is to blame for the unfortunate events.The legendary and wickedly handsome Marquis, Lord William Adair, learns of the matter and decides to uncover the truth.Lucy, however, has little faith in blue-blooded creatures-even if they possess dashing good looks- and, accompanied by two naughty pugs and a moody raven, decides to investigate and unmask the killer herself.But the hunt for the killer turns out to be far more complicated than she anticipates-what with snooty servants, warts in odd places, mixed up love affairs, agitated chickens and dreadful disguises ruining her plans.Soon she begins to wonder if, for once, she is in over her head....
Peopled with literary figures such as Tennyson, Trollope, Browning, George Eliot, Henry James and Virginia Woolf, this book provides Anne Thackeray Ritchie's complete journals written in 1864-65 and 1878, an ample selection of her most interesting letters and a number of significant letters written to her. Because only a third of each journal has been previously published, this collection presents a valuable document of Ritchie's inner life, especially the account of her response to her father's death.
Leaving behind the rural charms of Finnshire, Miss Penelope Fairweather arrives in London with hope in her heart and a dream in her eye. The dowager, no less, has invited her for a season in London, where she will attempt to catch a husband.Thus begins our heroine's tale as she attempts to tackle the London season with all her rustic finesse. Unfortunately, her rustic finesse turns out to be as delicate as a fat bear trying to rip apart a honeycomb infested with buzzing bees.What follows is a series of misadventures, love affairs, moonlit balls, fancy clothes, fake moustaches, highwaymen, sneering beauties, pickpockets, and the wrath of a devilishly handsome duke.
A woman from Scotland recounts her travels in the U.S., focusing particularly issues relating to women (education, employment, etc.), also discussing more general cultural matters.
This book is part of the series but can be read independently. A new Fairweather sister, Jane, is of age, but woe betides, she does not want to marry. She is a brilliant artist and determined to make a name for herself in the male-dominated field. Enter Mrs Fairweather, a determined mother who will go to any length to get her daughter married off. Alas, through trickery, Jane finds herself taking her wedding vows wrapped in a quilt and wearing only a chemise. Poor Jane is yanked from her dull life in Finnshire and thrust into a world full of strange in-laws, meddling sisters and a devilishly handsome husband, whose kisses begin to make her waver in her resolve to keep her heart locked against love. The madcap world of a Fairweather Sister is ready to take you on a well-sprung carriage ride once again...
Thomas Mann predicted that no manner or mode in literature would be so typical or so pervasive in the twentieth century as the grotesque. Assuredly he was correct. The subjects and methods of our comic literature (and much of our other literature) are regularly disturbing and often repulsive—no laughing matter. In this ambitious study, John R. Clark seeks to elucidate the major tactics and topics deployed in modern literary dark humor. In Part I he explores the satiric strategies of authors of the grotesque, strategies that undercut conventional usage and form: the de-basement of heroes, the denigration of language and style, the disruption of normative narrative technique, and even the debunking of authors themselves. Part II surveys major recurrent themes of grotesquerie: tedium, scatology, cannibalism, dystopia, and Armageddon or the end of the world. Clearly the literature of the grotesque is obtrusive and ugly, its effect morbid and disquieting—and deliberately meant to be so. Grotesque literature may be unpleasant, but it is patently insightful. Indeed, as Clark shows, all of the strategies and topics employed by this literature stem from age-old and spirited traditions. Critics have complained about this grim satiric literature, asserting that it is dank, cheerless, unsavory, and negative. But such an interpretation is far too simplistic. On the contrary, as Clark demonstrates, such grotesque writing, in its power and its prevalence in the past and present, is in fact conventional, controlled, imaginative, and vigorous—no mean achievements for any body of art.
