Showing results by narrator "Peter Joyce" in All Categories

Queen Victoria... and Prince Albert were married in 1840. Dickens uses this event as an ingenious ploy to salute and promote domestic felicity, advising young ladies upon several examples of the different types of male available as partners. There follows a section describing various married couples from whom the young ladies could possibly learn a lesson. The author then entertains with a tale of Nicholas Tulrumble, newly appointed Mayor of Mudfog, with ideas above his station.

A man of conscience, duty and tradition, an immature, impressionable girl of supreme virtue and perhaps the greatest cad in English Literature are the chief protagonists of this tale. Tragedy falls upon the House of Humblethwaite. Sir Harry Hotspur's son dies at 21 years of age. There is no other male heir save a second cousin, a scapegrace seemingly beyond redemption.

Cowpunchers, Indians and horses are the heroes and villains of these tales from the early days of Montana and Wyoming, with bear and buffalo also making an appearance. The author's philosophy on such varying topics as marriage, whisky and just staying alive will be of interest to all, cowboy fan or not. Charles M. Russell moved to Montana at the age of 15 and lived there for the rest of his life. 'In the spring I wrangled horses, in the fall I herded beef. I worked for the big outfits and always held my job.'

It is 1919 shortly after the termination of the 1st European holocaust. Henry Earlforward, a middle aged North London Bookseller, courts and marries Violet Arb, a widow who has inherited the confectioners shop opposite his own premises in Riceyman Square. Henry and Violet engage the services of Elsie as ‘charwoman’.

Anthony Hope was constrained to return to the fictional land of Ruritania by an appreciative public who wanted more swashbuckling and derring-do from the hero Rudolph and more Machiavellian moustache twirling from the suave villain Rupert. The author came up with a literary construction which ensured he would never again have to visit fictional Ruritania - but nothing he subsequently wrote appealed as much as the two Zenda stories.

Over 100 years since it was first published Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow addresses subjects which are still relevant today – perhaps more so! Being hard up, being in the blues and being in love are just some aspects of the human condition on which Jerome K. Jerome reflects in his unique whimsical fashion. These insights are not given for the benefit of our education however, for as he says in his introduction, “This book would not elevate a cow.'

At the beginning of the story the heroine lives an unfulfilled life in rural France, her nature crushed by a domineering and miserly father. Gallant cousin Charles arrives and acts as a catalyst on Eugénie's personality and emotions. Will her love survive the strong self-opinion of the young man and the selfishness of her father or is Eugénie's reward destined to be in heaven?

Bobby, a sparky, silver-haired Skye terrier, adopts Auld Jock, a worn-out simple shepherd, as his master. Jock is let go by the farmer and dies in poverty, having suffered one winter too many. The farmer tries to reclaim Bobby as a pet for his daughter, but the dog owes allegiance only to Auld Jock, guarding his grave in Greyfriars Kirkyard. His devotion changes the lives of those around him and ultimately the conditions of the poor in Edinburgh. Bobby's loyalty is eventually rewarded, and he becomes a famous dog indeed!

'You will conceive a bunch of grapes,' said he, 'which are covered by some infinitesimal but noxious bacillus. The gardener passes it through a disinfecting medium. It may be that he desires his grapes to be cleaner. It may be that he needs space to breed some fresh bacillus less noxious than the last.'

The hugely successful romantic adventure story which continues to thrill a century after it was written. It has all the classic ingredients - a twisting plot of betrayal and deception, love interest, great swashbuckling action and a most beguiling villain in Rupert of Hentzau, who captured the public’s imagination and had them begging the author for a sequel. Rudolph Rassendyll visits Ruritania, with whose Royal Family he has a connection because of a scandalous sexual indiscretion in the past.

Recent events have devastated the Conclave of Shadows; the discovery of the Demon horde on the heels of the taredhel invasion of Midkemia, the threat of the star elves themselves, and the terrible personal cost paid by Pug and his family. But grieving must wait. At a deserted fortress in the Valley of Lost Men, the Conclave's agents witness horror beyond their imagination, orchestrated by a familiar enemy. But Belasco's motives are as yet unclear.

Victorian humour generally doesn't translate well across time. The Wrong Box is one of the exceptions. The plot revolves around the supposed death of Joseph Finsbury who, as a youth, with his brother Masterman joined a tontine - a scheme whereby each entrant pays a fixed amount and the sum total, with interest, is given to the one who lives the longest. At the beginning of the story there are three survivors and then two - the Finsbury brothers.

The second of Richard Hannays’ adventures takes him from the trenches of the First World War on a mission of vital importance to the British campaign in the East. In an attempt to manipulate their Turkish allies the Germans have created a religious figurehead, a prophet of a new order to unify the disparate tribes of Asia and crush the allied offensive.

The resurrected Raffles has his final innings in these whimsical adventurous reminiscences recounted by his accomplice and friend Bunny Manders. The author skillfully manages to tie up a few loose ends from preceding plots and the final revelation is a moving tribute to his fictional hero, the finest slow bowler of his generation and best known gentleman thief in literary history.

The demon has been defeated and the Kingdom rejoices as the threat to the existence of every living thing on Midkemia has passed, but out of the ashes of war new problems arise, in the brilliant sequel to Rage of a Demon King…The demon is no more…The enemy has been routed, yet peace still eludes the Kingdom. Midkemia lies in smouldering ruins following the Demon King's siege. Many lives have been lost, including that of the brave James, Duke of Krondor.

Harvey Cheyne, the pampered son of an American millionaire, is swept overboard from the deck of a liner and picked up by a small fishing boat, one of several trawling the Grand Banks. He is rapidly confronted by the harsh realities of life and comes to terms with himself amid the hard labour and morality of the redoubtable New England fishermen.

The second book in Raymond E. Feist's super-selling quartet: The Serpentwar Saga. Triumphant but overconfident after his defeat of the reptilian Sauur army, Roo must resist a beguiling seductress who threatens to undo him and all of Midkemia. Recently returned from a harrowing brush with the armies of the Emerald Queen, Roo is now free to choose his own destiny and his ultimate ambition is to become one of the richest and most powerful merchants in Midkemia.

Mr Sleuth is a good guest, pays handsomely and in advance, needs very little looking after and seems to be a harmless gentleman. But when the murderous exploits of a serial killer known only as 'The Avenger' start occurring closer to home, Mrs Bunting begins to worry about her guest, his curious experiments and nocturnal habits.

The second instalment of the Conclave of Shadows. The conclave demands its membership price from their new protégé: Tal must gather information on the sinister magician Laso Varen. But to do this means service with the sorcerer's master, Duke Kaspar of Olasko--the very man he suspects of killing his family. A powerful new epic fantasy series from one of the great masters of the genre.

A compelling drama and a merciless scrutiny of a newly monied upper-middle-class family at the turn of the 20th century, The Forsyte Saga has a sumptuous range of characters. If you have enjoyed The Forsyte Saga on television in the past, you will be familiar with this engrossing story; if not, prepare to be completely captivated and engaged by one of the best tales ever told.