In this hilarious sequel to The Secret Life of Nuns, courtesan Nanna reveals to her confidante, Antonia, what really goes on in the lives of married women. A woman can only be saved from a life-threatening craving and utter damnation by a well-endowed priest; an over-devout matron releases the devil within her when she meets an attractive hermit; an insatiable wife is redressed by her husband in a most barbarous manner - these are merely some of the 'truths' that Aretino exposes behind the respectable mask of marriage. And in describing the subterfuges, machinations and diabolical ruses wives resort to - unbeknownst to their poor husbands - in order to secure the secret object of their desires, Aretino adds another titillating page to his immense catalogue of human characters.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 100

Publication Date: 09-11-2012

Two boys from two different walks of life change places and alter their paths forever in this American classic from Mark TwainLondon, 1547. Two boys meet by chance and strike up a conversation at the gates of a palace. Tom Canty is a poor young boy with few prospects in life; his new friend happens to be Prince Edward VI, the Prince of Wales. The prince and the pauper could not be more different from one another, except for the small fact that they look identical. When Tom admires the prince's fine garments, he and Prince Edward decide on the spur of the moment to swap clothes. But with cruel irony the prince is mistaken for a poor beggar in Tom's rags and kicked out of his own palace while Tom is taken to be the prince by everyone he meets. Suddenly the prince and the pauper have swapped not only clothes but also their homes, families, lives, and their very identities. While the boys are eager to learn about life in someone else's shoes, they ultimately want to return to their own homes and families. But this proves to be a tall order when nobody believes the prince's claims that he is really a prince despite being clothed in rags. This gripping tale of mistaken identity sees Mark Twain venturing into historical fiction for children while displaying his typical flair for witty dialogue and incisive satire.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 280

Publication Date: 26-05-2014

Ralph, Jack and Peterkin find themselves the sole survivors of a shipwreck on a deserted coral island in the South Pacific. Although fate has led them to temporary safety, the three marooned lads are forced to carve out a life for themselves from what nature provides. They rapidly learn which fruit to eat, which animals to hunt, and which lagoons are best for bathing.

Resourceful as they are, their desert island idyll is often disturbed and they face numerous terrifying threats – pirates, sharks, cannibalism and local tribes among them. Amidst all the chaos, the trio still face the riddle of how to engineer their rescue from their tropical exile.

Following in Robinson Crusoe’s footsteps, and yet with added adventure, Ballantyne’s writing is a classic adored by previous generations of children and which deserves to be discovered all over again by a modern audience.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 232

Publication Date: 25-10-2013

Perfect for fans of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and J.K. Rowling, The Princess and the Goblin is a magical adventure story full of princesses and monsters, secret towers, dungeons and magic.
Eight-year-old Princess Irene lives a lonely life in a wild, desolate, mountainous kingdom, with only her nursemaid, Lootie for company. She is protected from the outside world and oblivious to the existence of goblins, hideous creatures that live underground and only come out at night.
One day, while out walking, Irene and Lootie get lost. As night falls, strange shadows creep out from under boulders and around corners, closing in on them. Terrified, they try to run but the goblins give chase. It is then they run into Curdie, the brave miner’s son who isn’t afraid of the goblins and knows how to scare them away.
While working late one night in the mines Curdie overhears a diabolical plan the goblins are plotting. The terrible goblin Queen plans to kidnap the princess and force her to marry her son. That way she believes humans will be forced to accept goblins as their rulers. Can they be stopped and the kingdom be saved before it is too late?

Bind: paperback

Pages: 240

Publication Date: 25-10-2013

A classic tale of adventure at sea, The Sea-Wolf tells the story of the naive young Humphrey van Weyden, whose ship is wrecked in a terrible storm. He is rescued by the mysterious Captain Wolf Larsen of the ship Ghost. Humphrey's new life aboard Ghost will test him to the limits of his endurance but also bring him the greatest happiness he has ever known. Captain Wolf Larsen is a powerful, brutal man with a razor sharp intelligence. When there is an attempted mutiny on board he shows no mercy to the would-be mutineers, and when his brother Death Larsen attempts to take over the Ghost by force, there is no love lost between them in their vicious battle. Wolf's cruel manner is thrown into sharp relief by the gentle spirit of the beautiful poetess also rescued, Maud Brewster, who charms both Wolf and Humphrey. As Humphrey falls in love with Maud, he must contend not only with the dangers of being at sea but with competition from his cruel and scheming captain. The Sea-Wolf is a dramatic tale of mutiny and shipwreck, but at its heart is the story of a love that flourishes in the unlikeliest of places. Jack London's thrilling narrative of the seven seas remains just as gripping today as it was a hundred years ago.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 320

Publication Date: 01-08-2013

First published in 1920, The Mad Toy is set in Buenos Aires in the early twentieth century. Feeling the alienation of youth, Silvio Astier’s gang tours neighbourhoods, inflicting waves of petty crime, stealing from homes and shops until the police are forced to intervene. Drifting then from one career and subsequent crime to another, Silvio’s main difficulty is his own intelligence, with which he grapples.

Writing in the language of the streets and basing his writings in part on his own experience, with his characters wandering in a modern world, Arlt creates a book that combines realism, humour and anger with detective story.
Trailblazing for Boom writers who were to follow him such as Gabriel García Márquez and Isabel Allende, Roberto Arlt is rated as one of the greatest Argentinean writers. Although astronomically famous in South America, Roberto Arlt’s name is still relatively unknown in Anglophone circles, but the rising wave of appreciation of South American literature is bringing him to the fore.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 160

Publication Date: 26-05-2013

The special thing that Merrick could do, and which no one else seems to have done, is to reproduce the atmosphere of low-class theatrical life: the smell of greasepaint and fish and chips, the sordid rivalries, the comfortless Sunday journeys, the lugging of suitcases through the back streets of unfamiliar towns and the trudging up and down the Strand on worn-out boot-soles, the agents' offices where women in dyed frocks sit waiting their turn, the forlorn collection of press cuttings, the manager who bolts in the middle of the tour with all the takings. – George Orwell

Set in British theatre-land in the very early twentieth century, The Position of Peggy Harper tells of Christopher Tatham’s quest as an actor for a secure wage and fame. Tatham lurches from bit part to bit part, always hoping for the longed-for leading-man role, relying on the kindness of relations to keep him housed and clothed. A chance encounter with the enchanting Peggy Harper seems to pre-empt a change of fortune. Will they both attain the success they crave?

Toasting engagements with ginger-beer, living hand-to-mouth, Merrick’s seedy world makes for grim reading and when Peggy turns out to be as fame-hungry, vain and vacant as she first appears, Christopher’s lot looks unlikely to improve.

In an age in which fame and celebrity are widely courted and craved, The Position of Peggy Harper still makes for an intriguing and, potentially, cautionary tale.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 240

Publication Date: 26-04-2013

William Shakespeare and John Milton are the two most important poets in English. Shakespeare’s achievements are unchallengeable and secure. Milton can make a far more controversial claim to eminence. He wrote the only poem in English recognized as an epic, Paradise Lost, a poem which challenged the beliefs and presuppositions of all of its readers. As a literary writer, his political and historical significance is unique; he was at the centre of the most traumatic period of modern British history, and this left an imprint on his writings.
Richard Bradford addresses two key topics in this short account of Milton’s life and work: the parallels between Paradise Lost and the events in England of the mid-to-late-seventeenth century; and the question of whether Milton’s writings reflect his sense of despair at man’s apparent failure to make the best of our world after the Fall and is thus the first testimony of his religious doubt.

Fascinating for both the general reader and for academics, Richard Bradford brings new understanding to the life, times and works of one of Britain’s most significant writers.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 120

Publication Date: 22-02-2013

The last book in Baum’s Oz series sees Princess Ozma and Dorothy travel to an obscure corner of the Land of Oz in order to prevent a war between the Skeezers and the Flatheads. The leaders of the two tribes are determined and Dorothy and Ozma find themselves imprisoned on the Skeezers' glass-covered island, which has been magically submerged to the bottom of its lake. Ozma and Dorothy summon Glinda, the most powerful sorceress of Oz, who, with help from several magicians and magical assistants, must find a way to raise the island and liberate its trapped inhabitants.

This timely publication ties in with the international release of the film Oz: The Great and Powerful. Directed by Sam Raimi and featuring James Franco, Michelle Williams (as Glinda), Rachel Weisz and Zach Braff.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 120

Publication Date: 25-01-2013

Pages: 528

Dimensions: 126 x 198 x 26 mm

Publication Date: 07-01-1994