Letters Literature

Letters to a Savage follows the epic tale of Spanish conquistador, Rodrigo Diaz, during the fall of the Aztec Empire. Rodrigo becomes disillusioned with the Spanish cause and falls in love with Atzi, a beautiful young Aztec woman.

It is 1890. In the twilight of his years, Carl Brooke records his reminiscences as a member of the Agora Society. Each letter describes the society's involvement in solving a crime, often coming to the aid of Captain Barnwell of the Boston police.

In this book's introduction, an autobiographical account of the author's years as an American Custom House official, Hawthorne describes how he came across a parchment from which fell a fraying piece of fabric, fantastically embroidered and inscribed with the scarlet letter A. He found himself compelled to tell the story of its owner, Hester Prynne, a young English woman who had lived in 17th-century Boston at the time when Puritan extremism - that which led to the infamous witch trials of Salem - was at its height.

Fifteen years ago, Berta fled from Madrid to London to escape the controlling mother who made her childhood a living nightmare. Now, following her mother’s death, she is forced to return and face the ghosts of her unhappy past. But it is not long before she discovers that her own bleak memories are nothing compared to the dark deception lurking in her family. How did her sister’s loveless marriage really end? And is the loyal housekeeper really hiding the truth about the strange disappearance of Berta’s father?

After surviving the accident that took her mother's life, Claire Broussard worked hard to escape her small Louisiana hometown. But these days, she feels something lacking. Abruptly leaving her lucrative job in Chicago, Claire returns home to care for her ailing grandmother. There, she unearths a beautiful sculpture that her great-grandfather sent home from Paris after World War II. At her grandmother's urging, Claire travels to Paris to track down the centuries old mask-making atelier where the sculpture was created.

Still reeling from the suicide of his best friend Tess, seventeen-year old Brendan struggles to overcome addiction and identity issues. Walking the ledge outside his Manhattan apartment has become its own sort of drug, as he stands night after night with his arms outstretched, ready to fly away. Sarah can see him from her window, and begins journaling about a boy on a ledge. Paige and Nate, a young couple in another building, can see both teens from their fire escape.

In 1875, 18-year-old would-be poet Jack Brennan runs away from home to avoid being pushed into the priesthood. Life soon looks rosy for Jack when he lands the teaching job he's always dreamed of and meets the love of his life, Eliza Hewlett. But his world is shattered when Mary Ellen, his landlord's daughter, falsely accuses him of fathering the child she is expecting. Jack and Eliza decide to escape to America. As they are about to sail, Jack is arrested and dragged from the ship, leaving Eliza alone en route to New York with only a few shillings in her pocket.

Everything is going according to story for CeCi (Cinderella), Bianca (Snow White), and Rory (Sleeping Beauty) - until the day that Zell (Rapunzel) decides to leave Grimmland and pursue her life. Now, Zell's best friends are left to wonder whether their own passions are worth risking their predetermined "happily ever afters", regardless of the consequences.

Diggett Monroe's gang of outlaws wants to take over the town of Endurance, Idaho. To this end, they ambush Sheriff Pelham Birdsall, leaving him for dead. But Birdsall, thanks to his young wife Delight, doesn't die, and as she strives to get him back on his feet in time for the inevitable showdown, more and more of the sheriff's duties fall on her shoulders. In this, she is assisted by an unlikely deputy and a three-legged dog, but in the end, it takes all of them to vanquish the outlaws.

The pretty little streets of Montmartre are abuzz with a rumour. Apparently a mystery matchmaker, known only as ‘Paris Cupid’, has somehow helped the city’s most famous bachelor find love. But old-fashioned romantic Lilou is staying very quiet. She’d just wanted to set up her best friend, and to get on with her life selling whimsical old love letters, in Paris’s famous St. Ouen market. She hadn’t imagined her little Paris Cupid project could ever have attracted so many people looking for true, heartfelt romance.

Growing up in Singapore, Simran always knew what was expected of her: to learn how to be a good mother and wife. The only problem? Simran has no interest in any of this. After a close escape (almost at the altar!), Simran earns a reprieve to attend the University of Calgary in Canada. Letters exchanged back home to her mother, sister, and friends reveal that no matter which path women take, traditional or independent, life is fraught with conflict, hilarity, and peril.

Hester Prynne commits adultery in a Puritan settlement and, as a result, is "branded" for the rest of her life by having to wear a scarlet letter "A" on her breast. Throughout the story, a complex relationship develops between Hester, her lover, her husband, and her daughter.

The Scarlet Letter, published in 1850, is an American romance written by Nathaniel Hawthorne and is generally considered to be his masterpiece. Set in Puritanical Boston in the 17th century, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who gives birth after committing adultery, refuses to name the father, and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. Throughout the novel, Hawthorne explores the issues of grace, legalism, sin, and guilt.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s magnum opus exploring the themes of legalism, sin and guilt.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is a masterpiece of American literature. It is a fascinating moral and philosophical study of Puritan New England that details the life and trials of the long-suffering protagonist Hester Prynne who is forced to wear a scarlet A as a sign of her adultery as she navigates life with her impish daughter Pearl, her estranged husband Roger Chillingworth, and the "saintly" minister Arthur Dimmesdale.

Abounding with good-natured fun, A Case of Crooked Letters celebrates the pure, Christian values of small-town America. Trouble is brewing in the sleepy hamlet of Morning Shade. Multiple chain letters are circulating throughout town, and a local resident is to blame. Little old ladies are being victimized by empty promises of vast riches and rejuvenated health. Fortunately, the plucky Stella Diamond is on the case.

Robert enjoys his life in Japan, but the dark tides of war are rising, and it won't be long before foreigners are forced to leave Japan. Torn from the people he has come to think of as family, he stays in contact by exchanging letters with Makiko, letters that soon show their relationship is blossoming into something much more than friendship. The outbreak of total war sweeps all before it, and when correspondence ends with no explanation, Robert fears the worst. He will do anything to find Makiko, even launch himself headfirst into a conflict that is consuming the world.

Letters discovered in a tin box hidden in the foundation of a small cottage in Normandy reveal a terrible secret, a desperate whisper between the lines. Antoine's world was collapsing. His beautiful Marianne, his precious daughter Ariéle, missing. The lives of hundreds - perhaps thousands - of allied soldiers preparing to storm Juno Beach on D-Day literally are in his hands.

Viscount Horatio Nelson (1758-1805), known as ‘The Hero’ during his own lifetime was both an inspiring commander and an innovative tactician, becoming a rear admiral after defeating the Spanish fleet at the Battle of Cape St Vincent. He was also responsible for the great victories of the Nile (1798) and Copenhagen (1801). Revered by his officers and men, he was renowned for both his arrogance and his scandalous love affair with the beautiful Emma Hamilton.

It’s 1971, and Joan Dumann fears her former business partner wants her dead—but her anxiety is less about dying than it is about feeling disrespected and invalidated. As she constructs a letter about her predicament, she revisits her past. Born into a prominent Philadelphia Quaker family in 1915 and raised with privilege and opportunity, Joan wrestles with her turbulent thoughts and unfulfilled desires—an internal battle that often results in self-destructive tendencies.