A mysterious and disorienting tale of deception and adventure, set against the background of eighteenth-century Venice One of Germany's greatest writers, Schiller is best known for his influential dramatic works. The Man Who Sees Ghosts, his only novel, was first published in 1789 and proved to be his most popular work, mainly owing to its masterful treatment of the then fashionable theme of the occult. While in Venice, a young prince of Protestant faith becomes embroiled in a diabolical n...

With a mixture of hope and melancholy, young Victor leaves the home of his foster mother to begin his working life. His journey takes him to a remote island, where he visits his only relative - an uncle he has never met. The old man, a lifelong bachelor, lives in a barricaded mansion, enveloped by an atmosphere of decay.The two men are immediately at odds. With his uncle hardly speaking to him, Victor finds himself a virtual prisoner on this mysterious island. As the frost between ...

'Tell me, please - is this a dream?'The night before he leads his troops into battle, the prince of Homburg strips off his uniform and goes sleepwalking. Moonstruck, his mind races with a young man's fantasies - love, ambition and victory. But when the morning comes, a single reckless act of disobediance sets in motion a chain of events that leads inexorable to the one thing he never dreamt would happen; his own death.Heinrich von Kleist is one of the most enigmatic figures i...

'Magical escapism' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐**'A true classic' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Oh, you want to read this one--it makes me want to book a flight to Corfu this minute!' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐**Lucy Waring, a young, out-of-work actress from London, leaps at the chance to visit her sister for a summer on the island paradise of Corfu, and what's more, a famous but reclusive actor is staying in a villa nearby.But Lucy's hopes for rest ...

Casanova, the Venetian who lived most of his life in exile from his beloved city and created his own myth which in turn is a reflection of the nature of the city itself is the subject of this masterly biographical essay by Stefan Zweig. As Zweig describes in this volume: Imaginative writers rarely have a biography, and men who have biographies are only in exceptional circumstances able to write them ... Casanova is a splendid, almost unique exception. Stefan Zweig (1881-1942) was born in V...

Lily Mortimer is left in a London park in 1850, a nameless child carrying a secret she does not yet understand.Raised in the Foundling Hospital, Lily grows up under strict discipline and constant uncertainty, learning early that survival depends on resilience rather than kindness. After years of suffering brutal hardship, Lily is released into the world of Victorian London and the truth about her past begins to surface.What begins as a search for belonging ...

� A brief but sparkling bon-bon from the French writer Jacques Cazotte, who was guillotined in 1792. A young captain, stationed in Naples, is tempted into summoning up Beelzebub, who appears first in the guise of a hideous camel, then as a cute spaniel, and lastly - and most dangerously - as a gorgeous, pouting nymphette who declares herself enamoured of the young man and follows him everywhere. This is an amusing study of temptation, with sinister undertones." Anne Billson in Time Out "...

The second novel in Lewis’s science fiction trilogy tells of Dr Ransom’s voyage to the planet of Perelandra (Venus).In the second novel in C.S. Lewis's classic science fiction trilogy, Dr Ransom is called to the paradise planet of Perelandra, or Venus, which turns out to be a beautiful Eden-like world. He is horrified to find that his old enemy, Dr Weston, has also arrived and is putting him in grave peril once more. As the mad Weston's body is taken over by the forces of evil, Ran...

Romola is a novel by George Eliot, first published in 1863.Romola is a historical novel set in the fifteenth century, and is "a deep study of life in the city of Florence from an intellectual, artistic, religious, and social point of view".The story takes place amidst actual historical events during the Italian Renaissance, and includes in its plot several notable figures from Florentine history.George Eliot's own favorite among her novels, this nov...

Decadence, demonic, macabre, Milan, sensual. Visconti's film of Senso captured the life of Boito's depraved female heroine

MEET two unusual detectives. Ludovico - a young man who has had his testicles cut off for the sake of opera. And Monsieur Arouet - a fraudster, or just possibly the philosopher Voltaire.VISIT the setting. Carnival time in mid-18th century Venice, a city of winter mists, and the season of masquerade and decadence.ENCOUNTER a Venetian underworld of pimps, harlots, gamblers, forgers and charlatans.BEWARE of a mysterious coterie of aristocrats, Jesuits, Freemasons and m...

The “utterly captivating” (People) sequel to the beloved classic Watership Down, which introduced millions of readers to an extraordinary world of rabbits. • “It’s grand to see Mr. Adams’s characters again.” —The New York Times Book ReviewTales From Watership Down returns to the unforgettable characters of Fiver, Hazel, Bigwig, Dandelion, and the legendary hero El-ahrairah, and also presents new heroes as they struggle to survive...