Dublin, Ireland, in the early years of the twentieth century. It is a poor city, and there is hard drinking, dishonesty, and violence just beneath the surface everywhere you look. Glance inside a f…
Flies are a nuisance. They are annoying when they buzz around you, but you can brush them away with your hand. After all, a fly is only about half the size of your fingernail. But suppose it wasn't…
After a wild, drunken party, Paul Pennyfeather is forced to leave Oxford and begin a new life out in the wide world. His experiences take him from a boys' private school in Wales, where he meets so…
When did you last meet a polar bear, or go to a magician for help? These stories offer many different experiences. Some are strange, some are scary, some are sad, some are blackly funny. A few are …
Please, Mr Murdstone! Don't beat me! I've tried to learn my lessons, really I have, sir!' sobs David. Although he is only eight years old, Mr Murdstone does beat him, and David is so frightened tha…
Bathsheba Everdene is young, proud, and beautiful. She is an independent woman and can marry any man she chooses - if she chooses. In fact, she likes her independence, and she likes fighting her ow…
The Greek island of Corfu lies like a jewel, green and gold, in the Ionian sea, where dolphins swim in the sparkling blue water. What better place for an out-ofwork actress to relax for a few weeks…
San Francisco lies under a cloud of radioactive dust. People live in half-deserted buildings, and keep electric animals as pets because many real animals have died. Most people emigrate to Mars - u…
The wind is strong on the Yorkshire moors. There are few trees, and fewer houses, to block its path. There is one house, however, that does not hide from the wind. It stands out from the hill and c…
Heat and dust -- these simple, terrible words describe the Indian summer. Year after year, endlessly, it is the same. And everyone who experiences this heat and dust is changed for ever.We often sa…
Calling all cars, calling all cars. Here's the story on the Smoke Rise kidnapping. The missing boy is eight years old, fair hair, wearing a red sweater. His name is Jeffry Reynolds, son of Charles …
V. I. Warshawski, private investigator, Chicago, USA. People imagine private detectives to be tiredlooking men in raincoats, but Vic is female. She's tough, beautiful, carries a gun - and goes on a…
What would Bertie Wooster do without Jeeves, his valet? Jeeves is calm, tactful, resourceful, and has the answer to every problem. Bertie, a pleasant young man but a bit short of brains, turns to J…
Sometimes the Dashwood girls do not seem like sisters. Elinor is all calmness and reason, and can be relied upon for practical, common sense opinions. Marianne, on the other hand, is all sensibilit…
After dinner we turned the lights out and played 'hideand- seek'. In the dark, I touched a hand, a very cold hand. Now, because of the game, I had to hide in the dark with... with this cold person …
At home we started with an innocent life. Walking home from village dances across pale wet fields, looking at birds on the moonlit lake, playing a tune across the water in the early morning with no…
Everyday life in Baltimore, USA, is full of problems - getting the washing done, buying groceries and dog food, avoiding the neighbours... After the death of his son and the departure of his wife, …
When Carruthers joins his friend Arthur Davies on his yacht Dulcibella, he is expecting a pleasant sailing holiday in the Baltic Sea. But the holiday turns into an adventure of a different kind. He…
In sixteenth-century Venice - a city of wealthy merchants and bankers - money is all-important. Bassanio is penniless, but his great friend Antonio offers to help him by borrowing the money that he…
Gatsby's mansion on Long Island blazes with light, and the beautiful, the wealthy, and the famous drive out from New York to drink Gatsby's champagne and to party all night long. But Jay Gatsby, th…