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Clearly frustrated at the refusal of his contemporaries to recognise the iniquity of society, Tressell's cast of hypocritical Christians, exploitative capitalists and corrupt councillors provide a backdrop for his main target — the workers who think that a better life is not for the likes of them. Hence the title of the book; Tressell paints the workers as philanthropists who throw themselves into back-breaking work for poverty wages in order to generate profit for their masters. The hero of the book, Frank Owen, is a socialist who believes that the capitalist system is the real source of the poverty he sees all around him. In vain he tries to convince his fellow workers of his world view, but finds that their education has trained them to distrust their own thoughts and to rely on those of their betters. Much of the book consists of conversations between Owen and the others, or more often of lectures by Owen in the face of their jeering; this was presumably based on Tressell's own experiences.(Summary by Tadhg)...

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Fiction

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Miriam Henderson is one of what novelist Dolf Wyllarde (in her great work, The Pathway of the Pioneer ) termed nous autres, i.e., young gentlewomen who must venture forth and earn their living after their fathers have been financially ruined. Also, she has read Villette; she thus applies for and is offered a job teaching conversational English at a girls' school, albeit in Germany rather than France. Pointed Roofs describes her year abroad, as she endeavors to make her way in the hotbed of seething female personalities that populate the school, overseen by her employer, the formidable Fraulein. Richardson is adroit at conveying nuances of human perception through acutely observed physical and emotional detail. She was unfortunately labeled the inventor of stream of consciousness, and her later novels suffered when she started believing her own press; but her early ones (the first half-dozen are pre-1923) are free from stylistic excess, and are poignant -- or in this case -- pointed explorations of the workings of the human mind. (Introduction by Grant Hurlock)...

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Fiction

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Pemberton, a young American with an Oxford education and out of money, takes a job tutoring Morgan Moreen, the 12-year old son of an American couple living in Europe in a style not quite matched by their income. Mr. and Mrs. Moreen's main purpose in life, it appears, is to win acceptance in the higher circles of French and Italian society, partly in the hope that Morgan's two elder sisters will be taken off their hands. Morgan, who is highly intelligent, is also precocious and perceptive enough to come to understand his parents' ambitious aimlessness. Something of a crisis develops when the Moreens fail to make good on the salary they've promised Pemberton, and he leaves, needing a steady income. By then, however, the tutor has become sufficiently interested in and attached to his charge to be unwilling to leave Morgan for long, and comes back to join the family when when Morgan's mother tells him the boy has fallen ill. There, however, he finds the family shipwreck that he has feared is now taking place, and he is in time to witness it.(Summary by Nicholas Clifford)...

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Fiction

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The story is set in 13th century England and concerns the fictitious outlaw Norman of Torn, who purportedly harried the country during the power struggle between King Henry III and Simon de Montfort. Norman is the supposed son of the Frenchman de Vac, once the king's fencing master, who has a grudge against his former employer and raises the boy to be a simple, brutal killing machine with a hatred of all things English. His intentions are partially subverted by a priest who befriends Norman and teaches him his letters and chivalry towards women. Otherwise, all goes according to plan. By 17, Norman is the best swordsman in all of England; by the age of 18, he has a large bounty on his head, and by the age of 19, he leads the largest band of thieves in all of England. None can catch or best him. In his hatred for the king he even becomes involved in the civil war, which turns the tide in favor of de Montfort. In another guise, that of Roger de Conde, he becomes involved with de Montfort's daughter Bertrade, defending her against her and her father's enemies. She notes in him a curious resemblance to the king's son and heir Prince Edwa...

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Adventure, Fiction, Historical Fiction

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In 1959, in the state of New Essex, a witch was on trial. Or so she seemed to many of the jurors who would ultimately decide her fate, and to the people who thronged the crowded courtroom, many of them friends of the murdered woman. On trial for poisoning her former lover's wife, she would--if found guilty--be executed. Callista Blake is nineteen years old at the time of her trial. She has a very slight physical deformity, and the much greater mental ones of apparent aloofness, fierce independence of mind, a laconic and sometimes sarcastic wit, marked but unconventional artistic talent, avowed atheism, and a complete inability to compromise. Added to all this, although she is not beautiful by any of the usual criteria, men find her overwhelmingly attractive. No wonder the good people of Winchester and Shanesville dislike her, fear her, and, subconsciously, at least, think she is a witch. No wonder they do not believe Callista's story that she had mixed the deadly potion of Monkshood and brandy for herself at a moment of suicidal depression, and had been prevented by a miscarriage from saving Nancy Doherty, who had drunk the stuff ac...

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Fiction, Mystery

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He’s expendable, vulnerable and flat-broke; the ideal candidate for his employer of last resort, the U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service. But his part-time employment opportunity at McDonald’s is a pretty close runner-up. That’s because retired special agent Avery Dick takes on the dangerous, difficult assignments for his Uncle Sam that others shun because they’re just too damn life threatening and not career enhancing in the slightest. Avery doesn’t have a career anymore and his dissolute lifestyle doesn’t count for much anyway. That’s often the case for those who served and protected their country for many years. Otherwise, his career prospects and personal circumstances are just hunky-dory. But despite his unorthodox investigative style and bumbling mannerisms, Avery’s often called to active duty to solve the tough cases---and maintain plausible denial for the big suits in the State Department....

Description Details
He’s expendable, vulnerable and flat-broke; the ideal candidate for his employer of last resort, the U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service. But his part-time employment opportunity at McDonald’s is a pretty close runner-up. That’s because retired special agent Avery Dick takes on the dangerous, difficult assignments for his Uncle Sam that others shun because they’re just too damn life threatening and not career enhancing in the slightest. Avery doesn’t have a career anymore and his dissolute lifestyle doesn’t count for much anyway. That’s often the case for those who served and protected their country for many years. Otherwise, his career prospects and personal circumstances are just hunky-dory. But despite his unorthodox investigative style and bumbling mannerisms, Avery’s often called to active duty to solve the tough cases---and maintain plausible denial for the big suits in the State Department....

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Synopsis Madhu and his mistress Mala were poisoned and Pravar, Mala’s brother, implicates Madhu’s wife Radha in the double murder. Radha seeks Dhruva’s help even as Kavya, rescued by him, takes to her kidnapper Pravar. The series of death by poisoning that follow puzzle Dhruva no end....

Excerpt Details
That June evening, the crimson sun gave in to the dark monsoon clouds to let them end its long summer reign over the Deccan skies. What with the thickening clouds thundering in triumph, Dhruva woke up from his siesta, and by the time he moved into the portico of his palatial bungalow at 9, Castle Hills, the skies had opened up to shower its sprawling lawns. It was as if the eagerness of the rainfall matched the longing of the parched soil to receive its fertile mate in an aroma of embrace, and in the ensuing echoes of that seasonal union, the roots of the garden plants devoured every raindrop, that is, even as their leaves shed the overburden to accommodate the new arrivals....

Table of Contents Details
Agenda for Revenge 1. Prey on the Prowl 2. Shakeel’s Fixation 3. Ranjit’s Predicament 4. Rags to Riches 5. Dhruva’s Dilemma 6. The Gatecrasher 7. Operation Checkmate 8. Foul on Pravar 9. Stockholm Syndrome 10. An Aborted Affair 11. Psyche of Revenge 12. Victim of Trust 13. Backyard of Life 14. Cuckoo’s Nest 15. ‘Untried’ Crime 16. Kavya’s Quagmire 17. Murders to Mislead 18. The Other Woman 19. Shakeel’s Demise 20. A Perfect Murder 21. Deaths in Spandan 22. Arraigned in Remand 23. Depressing Discovery 24. The Red Herring 25. Wages of Abuse 26. Decoding the Crime 27. A Poignant End ...

Description Details
He’s expendable, vulnerable and flat-broke; the ideal candidate for his employer of last resort, the U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service. But his part-time employment opportunity at McDonald’s is a pretty close runner-up. That’s because retired special agent Avery Dick takes on the dangerous, difficult assignments for his Uncle Sam that others shun because they’re just too damn life threatening and not career enhancing in the slightest. Avery doesn’t have a career anymore and his dissolute lifestyle doesn’t count for much anyway. That’s often the case for those who served and protected their country for many years. Otherwise, his career prospects and personal circumstances are just hunky-dory. But despite his unorthodox investigative style and bumbling mannerisms, Avery’s often called to active duty to solve the tough cases---and maintain plausible denial for the big suits in the State Department....

Description Details
He’s expendable, vulnerable and flat-broke; the ideal candidate for his employer of last resort, the U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service. But his part-time employment opportunity at McDonald’s is a pretty close runner-up. That’s because retired special agent Avery Dick takes on the dangerous, difficult assignments for his Uncle Sam that others shun because they’re just too damn life threatening and not career enhancing in the slightest. Avery doesn’t have a career anymore and his dissolute lifestyle doesn’t count for much anyway. That’s often the case for those who served and protected their country for many years. Otherwise, his career prospects and personal circumstances are just hunky-dory. But despite his unorthodox investigative style and bumbling mannerisms, Avery’s often called to active duty to solve the tough cases---and maintain plausible denial for the big suits in the State Department....