This is a Gothic novel about an orphan named Julie de Rubine. She agrees and marries Marchese de Montferrat. The Marchese confines her in a hunting villa in the woods, telling her that the marriage was a sham and that she is simply his mistress. Unbeknownst to the Marchese, Paoli, whom he asked to procure a fake priest, produced a real one. Will the Marchese de Montferrat recognize the validity of his marriage?
A gripping novel of romance, suspense, and the supernatural, The Orphan of the Rhine follows young Julie de Rubine as she unravels the haunting secrets of her past. Making a fateful promise to her dying mother, Julie resigns herself to marrying a Catholic man. Yet, as she enters the fashionable world of her aunt, her new guardian, she soon discovers that her life is not her own. Refusing multiple marriage proposals, Julie fights to control her own destiny and remain faithful to her mother’s wishes. This volume is part of the Mothers of the Macabre series, celebrating the gothic horror masterpieces of pioneering women writers who played a pivotal role in shaping and advancing the genre. First published in 1798, The Orphan of the Rhine is referenced in Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey (1817) as an exemplary macabre novel. From gloomy castle chambers to picturesque ramparts, Eleanor Sleath weaves a tale of romance and sensibility in this classic gothic horror.
After modern science turns every human into a genetic time bomb with men dying at age twenty-five and women dying at age twenty, girls are kidnapped and married off in order to repopulate the world.
The Castle of Wolfenbach (1793) is the most famous novel written by the English Gothic novelist Eliza Parsons. First published in two volumes during 1793, it was one of the seven "horrid novels" recommended by the character Isabella Thorpe to Catherine Morland in Jane Austens novelNorthanger Abbey and was an important early work in the genre, predating both Ann Radcliffes The Mysteries of Udolpho and Monk Lewiss The Monk.
It portrays the existential struggles and downfall of an entire people, the Burgundians, in a military conflict with the Huns and their king."--Jacket.
The good old Count Renaud is dead, and his will makes the degenerate Rhodophil his heir, disinheriting his other son Ferdinand, who has married against his father's wishes. Rhodophil promises to share his new riches with his younger brother and his wife Claudina, but Ferdinand hears a mysterious voice from beyond the grave, warning him to flee his brother and his wife to save himself from sin and death! Ferdinand obeys the supernatural warning and sets out to find fortune and adventure. In the course of his quest he will encounter a recluse in a ruined castle with a horrible secret, find himself captured and imprisoned by the Turkish army, and encounter one of Gothic literature's most depraved female characters, the monstrous Fatima. And if he survives all these dangers, Ferdinand must return to Renaud Castle to solve the mystery of the ghostly voice and uncover the terrible truth about his wife and his brother! This edition includes the unabridged text of the four volume 1796 edition, with a new introduction and notes by Karen Morton, and reproductions of illustrations from the 1796 and 1824 editions.
Born in Taiwan, raised in the scholarly traditions of ancient China but forced into the Japanese educational system, Hu Taiming, the protagonist of Orphan of Asia, ultimately finds himself estranged from all three cultures. Taiming eventually makes his mark in the colonial Japanese educational system and graduates from a prestigious college. However, he finds that his Japanese education and his adoption of modern ways have alienated him from his family and native village. He becomes a teacher in the Japanese colonial system but soon quits his post and finds that, having repudiated his roots, he doesn't seem to belong anywhere. Thus begins the long journey for Taiming to find his rightful place, during which he is accused of spying for both China and Japan and witnesses the effects of Japanese imperial expansion, the horrors of war, and the sense of anger and powerlessness felt by those living under colonial rule. Zhuoliu Wu's autobiographical novel is widely regarded as a classic of modern Asian literature and a groundbreaking expression of the postwar Taiwanese national consciousness.
Madman, tyrant, animal—history has given Adolf Hitler many names. In Mein Kampf (My Struggle), often called the Nazi bible, Hitler describes his life, frustrations, ideals, and dreams. Born to an impoverished couple in a small town in Austria, the young Adolf grew up with the fervent desire to become a painter. The death of his parents and outright rejection from art schools in Vienna forced him into underpaid work as a laborer. During the First World War, Hitler served in the infantry and was decorated for bravery. After the war, he became actively involved with socialist political groups and quickly rose to power, establishing himself as Chairman of the National Socialist German Worker's party. In 1924, Hitler led a coalition of nationalist groups in a bid to overthrow the Bavarian government in Munich. The infamous Munich "Beer-hall putsch" was unsuccessful, and Hitler was arrested. During the nine months he was in prison, an embittered and frustrated Hitler dictated a personal manifesto to his loyal follower Rudolph Hess. He vented his sentiments against communism and the Jewish people in this document, which was to become Mein Kampf, the controversial book that is seen as the blue-print for Hitler's political and military campaign. In Mein Kampf, Hitler describes his strategy for rebuilding Germany and conquering Europe. It is a glimpse into the mind of a man who destabilized world peace and pursued the genocide now known as the Holocaust.
