Résultats lu par "Cathy Dobson" dans Toutes les catégories

Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (1842-circa 1914) was an American author, journalist, short story writer and satirist who disappeared in 1913 under mysterious circumstances and was never seen again. "The Moonlit Road" is a brilliant and eerie ghost story which recounts a terrible murder of a woman from three different viewpoints.

Sophie Chattel-Monkheim was a socialist by conviction and a Chattel-Monkheim by marriage. When the Duke of Serbia does her the honour of joining her house party, despite her left-wing leanings, Sophie is determined to make a good impression. So she hires an emergency chef who is an expert in making Byzantine omelettes. Within a very short time the entire household is thrown into disarray....

Hector Hugh Munro (1870-1916) is better known by the pen name Saki. He remains hugely popular as a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirised Edwardian society and culture. 'The Disappearance of Crispina Umberleigh' is a tale recounted by a traveller on a train to a fellow passenger. It concerns the bizarre circumstances of the mysterious disappearance...and reappearance after eight years...of his formidable and tyrannical aunt.

Timothy Shay Arthur (1809 - 1885), who wrote as T. S. Arthur, was a popular 19th-century American author. 'An Angel in Disguise' is an uplifting story of a childless couple who reluctantly take in a disabled child and discover what joy and fulfilment it brings them.

O. Henry was the pen name of William Sydney Porter (1862-1910), an American writer of outstanding short stories known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization, and surprise endings. 'A Newspaper Story' is an ingenious tale about a lost newspaper blowing through the streets of New York. Each passer-by who comes into contact with any part of it is personally impacted by one of the stories in the paper - but not in the way one would expect.

'The Goldfish' is a strange tale set in the murky underworld of the London docklands. Dor, a raffish petty criminal in London, has a treasured goldfish in a bowl, which his lover, Rosa, reluctantly takes care of, although she is secretly insanely jealous of the attention he lavishes on the fish. The goldfish was given to Dor by a Chinese man who conducted a strange ceremony over the two of them and declared that Dor cannot die while the goldfish still lives.

O. Henry was the pen name of William Sydney Porter (1862-1910), an American writer of outstanding short stories, known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization and surprise endings. 'The Robe of Peace' is a story which explains the mysterious disappearance of New York's leading swell, the fashion king Johnny Bellchambers.

'A Comedy of Capricorn' is a humorous romantic tale. When Gwendolen invites the supremely eligible animal lover Lord Bampton to meet her parents so that he can ask permission to court her, she warns her family of the visitor's fondness for pets. Even the butler is warned to allow any strange or exotic animal which might accompany his Lordship into the drawing room without batting an eyelid. So when a stray goat turns up by chance at the same time as Lord Bampton, chaos, confusion and hilarity are predestined.

'Ways of Escape' is a mystery story. The strange Mrs. Trevarrian lives in a lonely cottage on the moors with her elderly housemaid. The villagers are beginning to suspect that there is something rather odd about the lady. In particular, she has a studio photograph of a maidservant on her mantelpiece and tells all visitors that she hopes to get this maid to return to her house again in the future.

Mrs. Scarr is a tense and mysterious ghost story set in Mauritius, a place where local mythology and European morals sit uneasily alongside one another. Mrs. Scarr is a beautiful woman of French origin who defies local cultural norms. She goes out alone at night and wears white rather than the traditional black. And her husband, who is a debauched sea captain, is mysteriously plagued by a single white moth wherever he goes.

Bats in the Belfry is a humorous short story in the tradition of the Victorian bedroom farce. Percy Biffin, an awkward house-guest at the summer residence of Sir Borwick Trout, is unexpectedly called on in the middle of the night to remove a bat from the beautiful young Julia Trout's bedroom. His presence in the young lady's bedroom is misinterpreted by every person who learns of it...and the more Biffin tries to extricate himself, the worse the situation becomes.

Hector Hugh Munro (1870-1916) is better known by the pen name Saki. He remains hugely popular as a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirized Edwardian society and culture. The Lost Sanjak' is the last-minute account by a condemned man, speaking to the prison chaplain, telling the astounding story of how he came to be condemned to hang for the murder of...himself!

'The Pursuing Shadow' is the story of Spatz, an unscrupulous and self-absorbed businessman who has left a trail of devastation behind him in the form of destroyed business partners, one of whom lost an arm as a result of a suicide attempt when cheated by Spatz. But karma catches up with everyone, and the amputee finally returns to find Spatz at the precise moment of his own downfall.

Stella Benson (1892-1933) was an English feminist, novelist, poet, and short story and travel writer. The Man Who Fell in Love with the Cooperative Stores is an amusing allegorical story about mercenary love, the gullibility of those men who keep a mistress and the cynicism of those women who accept this kind of relationship.

'The Brazen Serpent' is an unusual crime story in that it is told from the perspective of the criminal. Danby, a young engineer and hobby metalsmith has just escaped from prison and is in search of a way to make a living while on the run. His friend Parmenter, a collector of antiquities and owner of a rare and valuable medallion which is his most prized possession, offers him a position running an antiques business he has just acquired.

A Skinful of Trouble is the humorous tale of Mr. Dowdall, a gentleman who has invested as shareholder in a circus of dubious repute. All attempts to pursue the circus and recoup his investment are frustrated, until the circus manager agrees to send property of the circus to the value of the sum demanded. A circus tiger is then deposited on the street outside the Dowdall house in London.

A fascinating collection of classic short stories featuring unusual ways of making a living, including 'The Umbrella-Mender' by Beatrice Harraden, 'The Triumphs of a Taxidermist' by H. G. Wells, 'A Pair of Silk Stockings' by Kate Chopin, 'A Skinful of Trouble' by Arthur Morrison, 'White Magic' by Ella d'Arcy, 'A Deal in Ostriches' by H. G. Wells, and many more.

The Leather Case is an adventure story about a young man who has just reached Paris after five years working in India as an engineer. While in Paris, he is startled by seeing a young woman whose face seems remarkably familiar, although it is impossible that he can have ever met her before. Moreover, the companion of the girl - apparently an uncle - seems to be going out of his way to engage the young engineer in a mysterious project in Silesia.

The Penance is an edgy and at times horrifying tale about a normally amiable man who has killed the cat belonging to his neighbour's children, on the grounds that he suspected it of attacking his chickens. His efforts to make up for this awful deed are met with hostility, and the children take the opportunity to plan a dire revenge.

Mary Postgate is a horrifying story, and like much of Kipling's work it can be interpreted in different ways. It was written as propaganda in 1915 during World War I against the background of German atrocities and massacres in France, and just after German aircraft had engaged in bombing raids on English towns. Mary Postgate was intended to inspire English readers with just such cold-blooded courage and ruthlessness as Mary herself displays.