National Identity and the British Musical: From Blood Brothers to Cinderella examines the myths associated with national identity which are reproduced by the British musical and asks why the genre continues to uphold, instead of challenging, outdated ideals. All too often, UK musicals reinforce national identity clichés and caricatures, conflate 'England' with 'Britain' and depict a mono-cultural nation viewed through a nostalgic lens.Through case studies and analysis of B...

Audiences for musical theater are predominantly women, yet shows are frequently created and produced by men. Onstage, female characters are depicted as victims or sex objects and lack the complexity of their male counterparts. Offstage, women are under-represented among writers, directors, composers and choreographers.While other areas of the arts rally behind gender equality, musical theater demonstrates a disregard for women and an authentic female voice.If musical theate...

“While athletes carry the persona of being big, strong, competitive, and fierce, the burn of mental illness does not exclude them.”Approximately 35 percent of all athletes struggle with mental health issues and the stigmas that surround mental health. Olivia Grace Barnes’ Overlapping Worlds explores nature’s role in strengthening, reinforcing, and maintaining strong mental health in elite athletes.After experiencing mental health struggles as a competitive...

"While athletes carry the persona of being big, strong, competitive, and fierce, the burn of mental illness does not exclude them."Approximately 35 percent of all athletes struggle with mental health issues and the stigmas that surround mental health. Olivia Grace Barnes' Overlapping Worlds explores nature's role in strengthening, reinforcing, and maintaining strong mental health in elite athletes.After experiencing mental health struggles as a competitive...

We rely on your support to help us keep producing beautiful, free, and unrestricted editions of literature for the digital age. Will you support our efforts with a donation ? Young Jane Ward is the young daughter of an upper middle class family living in Chicago at the end of the 19th century. She enjoys a comfortable Victorian upbringing, thoroughly inculcated with the morals and values of the age. Years of Grace follows Jane as she grows up, falls in love, attends university, and eventua...

Have you experienced betrayal and now feel trapped, exhausted, or emotionally paralyzed by thoughts that won’t leave you alone?Betrayal shakes your world, making everything you once believed feel uncertain. Suddenly, the person you trusted most feels like a stranger. You're caught in cycles of anxiety, self-doubt, and questions that keep you awake at night:“Why did this happen?”“How can I ever trust again?”“Will this pain ever end?”

What if destiny bound you to a king who swore never to love again?Isla Montgomery has always been different—a wolf without her wolf, rejected by her family and driven into exile. She thought she had lost everything, until fate brought her to the Obsidian Hold…and to him.Xander Blackthorn. The Lycan King. Cold, commanding, untouchable. His kingdom fears him, his enemies hate him, and his past haunts him. To Xander, bonds are chains. To Isla, they are salvati...

Can love truly heal the deepest scars?Grace never thought she would find love—at least not with Roman, the man whose past haunts her. But fate, as it often does, had other plans. Now, bound to him by an unbreakable mate connection, Grace must face the truth of her emotions and her future. Roman’s love is a force she never expected but desperately needs. As they fight to protect their packs and their future, Grace discovers that the power of love is greater...

Lovers of classical fiction will enjoy viewing life through the lens of Jane Ward as she grapples with the meaning of love in this 1931 Pulitzer Prize–winning novel.Generational pressures are on full display over the course of four decades, as we see her struggle with her upbringing by Victorian parents, yet strain to understand her own children’s life choices, as the Roaring 20’s boasts dramatic changes in societal norms.Jane consistently reflects on her life choices; just...

When wealthy businessman Max Barnes takes in two orphans to rear as his own, he has no idea that the governess he hires to care for them will change his life.Grace Martin has spent years protecting her country. Now she's ready for a quiet, normal life as governess to a pair of young orphans. What she doesn't count on is the children's charming father stealing her heart and a vengeful assassin from her past targeting her through Max and his children.Max and Grace must reveal...

A girl’s obsession with all things horses carried her on some epic adventures and landed her in precarious situations. When her first horse came with the same name as the hero of her favorite book, Misty of Chincoteague, it seemed like a match made in Heaven. However, it didn’t take long for Sarah to learn that there is no such thing as a good fairy tale without a little trouble. It turns out that horses cause a lot of trouble. From first rides and crashes to making road-...

¿Y si el destino te uniera a un rey que juró no volver a amar jamás?Isla Montgomery siempre ha sido diferente: una loba sin su lobo, rechazada por su familia y condenada al exilio. Creía que lo había perdido todo, hasta que el destino la llevó a Obsidian Hold... y a él.Xander Blackthorn. El rey licántropo. Frío, autoritario, intocable. Su reino le teme, sus enemigos le odian y su pasado le persigue. Para Xander, los lazos son cadenas. Para Isla, son la salvación.Cua...