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The Works of the Gawain Poet: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, Cleanness, Patience
by Ad Putter Myra StokesA new volume of the works of the Gawain poet, destined to become the definitive edition for students and scholars.This volume brings together four works of the unknown fourteenth-century poet famous for the Arthurian romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, in their original Middle English. In one of the great tales of medieval literature, Gawain, the noblest knight of King Arthur's court, must keep a deadly bargain with a monstrous knight and resist the advances of his host's beautiful wife. The dream vision of Pearl depicts a bereaved father whose lost child leads him to glimpse heaven. And in moral poems based on stories from the Bible, Cleanness warns against sins of the flesh and of desecration, while Patience encourages readers to endure suffering as God's will.Little is known about the so-called 'Gawain poet', who wrote during the late fourteenth century. It is believed that he came from south-east Cheshire, an important cultural and economic centre at the time, and he was clearly well-read in Latin, French and English. Although he is not named as the author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, Patience, Cleanness, the four works have been attributed to him based on a careful comparison of their language, date and themes.Myra Stokes was formerly Senior Lecturer in the Department of English at Bristol University. Her books include Justice and Mercy in Piers Plowman and The Language of Jane Austen.Ad Putter teaches at the English Department and the Centre for Medieval Studies of the University of Bristol, where is Professor of Medieval English Literature. His monographs include Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and French Arthurian Romance and An Introduction to the Gawain Poet, and he is also co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to the Arthurian Legend.
Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands
by Mary SeacoleWritten in 1857, this is the autobiography of a Jamaican woman whose fame rivalled Florence Nightingale's during the Crimean War. Seacole's offer to volunteer as a nurse in the war met with racism and refusal. Undaunted, Seacole set out independently to the Crimea where she acted as doctor and 'mother' to wounded soldiers while running her business, the 'British Hotel'. A witness to key battles, she gives vivid accounts of how she coped with disease, bombardment and other hardships at the Crimean battlefront."In her introduction to the very welcome Penguin edition, Sara Salih expertly analyses the rhetorical complexities of Seacole's book to explore the richness of her story. Traveller, entrepreneur, healer and woman of colour, Mary Seacole is a singular and fascinating figure, overstepping all conventional boundaries." Jan Marsh, Independent"It's hard to believe that this amazing adventure story is the true-life experience of a Jamaican woman - it would make a great film." Andrea Levy, Sunday Times
Works and Days
by Hesiod'Stallings's new translation of Hesiod's Works and Days - witty, gritty, and unsettlingly relevant - is not to be missed' TLS, Books of the YearA new verse translation of one of the foundational ancient Greek works by the award-winning poet Alicia Stallings.Hesiod was the first self-styled 'poet' in western literature, revered by the ancient Greeks. Ostensibly written to chide and educate his lazy brother, Works and Days tells the story of Pandora's jar and humanity's place in a fallen world. Blending the cosmic and the earthy, and mixing myth, lyrical description, personal asides, astronomy, proverbs and down-to-earth advice on rural tasks and rituals, it is also a hymn to honest toil as man's salvation. This vibrant new verse translation by award-winning poet A. E. Stallings conveys the clarity and unexpected humour of a founding work of classical literature.
Wuthering Heights
by Emily BronteRediscover Emily Bronte's powerful tale of love, violence and obsession. 'May you not rest, as long as I am living. You said I killed you - haunt me, then'Wuthering Heights is the tale of two families both joined and riven by love and hate. Cathy is a beautiful and wilful young woman torn between her soft-hearted husband and Heathcliff, the passionate and resentful man who has loved her since childhood. The power of their bond creates a maelstrom of cruelty and violence which will leave one of them dead and cast a shadow over the lives of their children. Emily Brontë's novel remains a stunningly original and shocking exploration of obsessive passion.
The Wonderful Adventure of Nils Holgersson
by Selma LagerlöfScandinavia's best-loved children's classic - the enchanting story of a naughty little boy who learns to love nature 'Never before had Nils travelled around at such good speed, and he had always liked riding fast and wild. And he had never thought that it could feel as fresh as it did up in the air, and that such a good smell of topsoil and resin rose up from the earth. It was like flying away from worries and sorrows and annoyances of any sort that could be imagined.'
Wuthering Heights (Puffin Classics)
by Emily BrontëHeathcliff, an orphan, is raised by Mr Earnshaw as one of his own children. Hindley despises him but wild Cathy becomes his constant companion, and he falls deeply in love with her. When she will not marry him, Heathcliff's terrible vengeance ruins them all - but still his and Cathy's love will not die . . .A story of doomed love and revenge with a brilliant introduction from the author of The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton.
Wonder Tales: Six Stories of Enchantment
by Marina WarnerMarina Warner has gathered together a magical collection of fairy tales by the great women storytellers of the 17th and 18th centuries. These are passionate, extraordinary, and occasionally proto-feminist retellings of classic fairy stories by women who ingeniously used the fairy tale genre to comment on their own times and experiences. The stories are all in superb new translations by celebrated writers, including A. S. Byatt, Gilbert Adair and John Ashbery. With a brilliant intorduction by Marina Warner, recognised as one of our greatest experts on myth and fairy tale.
Working On My Novel
by Cory ArcangelWhat does it feel like to try and create something new? How is it possible to find a space for the demands of writing a novel in a world of instant communication?Working on My Novel is about the act of creation and the gap between the different ways we express ourselves today. Exploring the extremes of making art, from satisfaction and even euphoria to those days or nights when nothing will come, it's the story of what it means to be a creative person, and why we keep on trying.
Workhouse Orphans
by Holly GreenA gritty, heartwarming family saga for fans of Dilly Court, Sheila Newberry and Maggie Hope.All they have left is each other...Life has always been tough for May and Gus Lavender. Their father went away to sea never to return, and then their mother falls victim to the typhus sweeping through Liverpool. Regarded as orphans by the authorities, May and Gus are sent to the Brownlow Hill Workhouse. Like all workhouses, Brownlow is the last resort for the poor and the destitute. May and Gus will have to rely on each other more than ever if they are to survive the hardships to come...________________________________Make sure you've read all the books in the Workhouse series:1. Workhouse Orphans2. Workhouse Angel3. Workhouse Nightingale4. Workhouse GirlAnd don't miss Holly Green's new series about wartime nurses:1. Frontline Nurses2. Frontline Nurses On Duty3. Secrets of the Frontline Nurses
Wrong Time, Wrong Place (Quick Reads 2013 #1)
by Simon KernickA gripping Quick Read from the master of the race against time thriller.Have you ever been in the wrong place at the wrong time?You are hiking in the Scottish highlands with three friends when you come across a girl.She is half-naked, has been badly beaten, and she can’t speak English.She is clearly running away from someone.Do you stop to help her? Even if it means putting your friends’ lives – and your own - in terrible danger?
The Wonder of Whiffling: And Other Extraordinary Words In The English Language
by Adam Jacot de BoinodThe Wonder of Whiffling is a hugely enjoyable, surprising and rewarding tour of English around the globe (with fine coinages from our English-speaking cousins across the pond, Down Under and elsewhere).Discover all sorts of words you've always wished existed but never knew, such as fornale, to spend one's money before it has been earned; cagg, a solemn vow or resolution not to get drunk for a certain time; and petrichor, the pleasant smell that accompanies the first rain after a dry spell. Delving passionately into the English language, Adam Jacot de Boinod also discovers why it is you wouldn't want to have dinner with a vice admiral of the narrow seas, why Jacobites toasted the little gentleman in black velvet, and why a Nottingham Goodnight is better than one from anywhere else.
Wrong Pong: Troll's Treasure (The Wrong Pong)
by Steven ButlerNeville's adventures continue when he is faced with a band of troll pirates! As if that isn't rotsome enough, the evil troll Jaundice is back...oh dungle droppings!The third book in Steven Butler's troll-tastic series will delight and disgust parents and children alike.
Workhouse Nightingale
by Holly GreenCan this orphan ever fulfil her nursing dreams...?After her mother's death, Dora is sent to live with her father and his other family. But the fact that Dora is mixed race and illegitimate see her treated as little more than a servant by her step-mother and half siblings. This doesn't stop the son of the house abusing his position and Dora finds herself on the streets and pregnant...Sent to the local workhouse, Dora's future looks bleak but she still dreams of a better life where she can help others as her late mother did with her herbal remedies. But can a girl from a workhouse ever achieve anything, let alone become one of Florence Nightingale's nurses?________________________________Make sure you've read all the books in the Workhouse series:1. Workhouse Orphans2. Workhouse Angel3. Workhouse Nightingale4. Workhouse GirlAnd don't miss Holly Green's new series about wartime nurses:1. Frontline Nurses2. Frontline Nurses On Duty3. Secrets of the Frontline Nurses
The Wrong Pong: Singin' in the Drain (The Wrong Pong)
by Steven ButlerAnother hilarious ebook from Steven Butler, author of The Wrong Pong, The Wrong Pong: Holiday Hullabaloo and The Wrong Pong: Troll's Treasure.Rubella, grotsome and moodsie troll big sister, wants to be on the stage. Can Neville help his disgustingly rambunkin troll family get Rubella squeezed into a ballet tutu and tights and into the starring role?The fourth book in Steven Butler's troll-tastic series, brilliantly illustrated by Chris Fisher, will delight and disgust parents and children alike, especially fans of Roald Dahl or Andy Stanton's Mr Gum.As well as being a successful children's author, Steven Butler is a talented actor and dancer who has appeared alongside Ralph Fiennes in a recent production of The Tempest as well as in Horrid Henry and The Wizard of Oz on the West End stage. His books are loved and praised by comic talents such as Jeremy Strong, author of The Hundred Mile an Hour Dog, and by Francesca Simon, author of Horrid Henry.
The Women's War
by Alexandre DumasThe Baron des Canolles is a man torn apart by the civil war that dominates mid-seventeenth century France. For while the naïve Gascon soldier cares little for the politics behind the battles, he is torn apart by a deep passion for two powerful women on opposing sides of the war: Nanon de Lartigues, a keen supporter of the Queen Regent Anne of Austria, and the Victomtesse de Cambes, who supports the rebellious forces of the Princess de Condé. Set around Bordeaux during the first turbulent years of the reign of Louis XIV, The Women's War sees two women taking central stage in a battle for all France. Humorous, dramatic and romantic, it offers a compelling exploration of political intrigue, the power of redemption, the force of love and the futility of war.
The Wrong Pong: Holiday Hullabaloo (The Wrong Pong)
by Steven ButlerHullo, My Brandyburp!Neville's Grandma Joan is the grumpiest, most horrible old woman there's ever been. He'd rather eat left-sock stew than see her, and now she's coming to stay for a WHOLE weekend. Oh dungle droppings! Even worse, a whole family of stinky, swampy trolls will be visiting Neville at the SAME TIME!Can Neville hide his friends from nosy Grandma Joan or will she get the FRIGHT of her life?
Women Who Did: Stories by Men and Women, 1890-1914
by Angelique Richardson"A lady? decidedly. Fast? perhaps. Original? undoubtedly. Worth knowing? rather." Daring and dynamic, the 'new woman' came to represent the very spirit of the age. The stories in this anthology take up this phenomenon and examine society throughthe eyes of the new woman, as she encountered new choices in marriage, motherhood, work and love.Women Who Did charts a rebellion that was social, sexual and literary. It tells the stories of competing voices - of the men and women who entered into the fray of the fin de siècle, and were not afraid to confront, challenge or delight in the irrepressible New, in an irrepressibly new form, the short story.
The Wrong Pong (The Wrong Pong)
by Steven ButlerThe Wrong Pong by Steven Butler is a laugh-out-loud, stinky story for 5+ girls and boys.One night, Neville Brisket wakes up from a strange dream - a dream that there is a horrible, stumpy finger stuck up his nose. Then he finds his room in a mess, and his dog in the laundry basket.Neville's investigations end sposhily, when he is whooshed down the toilet to the land of Under! In a case of mistaken troll-dentity, he finds himself part of a disgusting new family. Will anybody help Neville get back to Over, or will he be stuck eating rat patties and left sock stew forever?This hilariously delivered tale will delight and disgust parents and children alike. Perfect for fans of Roald Dahl and Horrid Henry.'Horrid Henry's favourite book!' - Francesca Simon, author of Horrid Henry 'A triumphant debut which will have children clutching the loo-seat in apprehension and laughter' - Amanda Craig, The TimesSteven Butler is an actor, dancer and trained circus performer as well as a keen observer of trolls and their disgusting habits. He has starred in Peter Pan, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and as Henry in Horrid Henry Live and Horrid! His primary school headmaster was fantastically funny author Jeremy Strong.
Women in Love
by D H Lawrence‘What beauties the book contains! There are many pages in it so saturated with warm and lovely intimacies that one reads absorbed’ GuardianWomen in Love begins one blossoming spring day in England and ends with a terrible catastrophe in the snow of the Alps. Ursula and Gudrun are very different sisters who become entangled with two friends, Rupert and Gerald, who live in their hometown. The bonds between the couples quickly become intense and passionate but whether this passion is creative or destructive is unclear.In this astonishing novel, widely considered to be D.H. Lawrence's best work, he explores what it means to be human in an age of conflict and confusion.WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY HOWARD JACOBSON
The Wrong Move
by Jennifer SavinYOU THOUGHT IT WAS THE PERFECT FLAT...When Jessie moves into a flatshare at Maver Place, she’s finally found a decent place to live.And when she’s befriended by fellow tenants Lauren and Sofie, she’s got great flatmates to share it with.You think she’s safe. You think she can trust these people. You’re wrong.When you flatshare, how well do you really know the people that you're living with?A dark, twisty domestic thriller about the perfect flatshare gone wrong for fans of Shari Lapena's The Couple Next Door and Louise Candlish's Our House.
A Woman's Place
by Maggie FordEveline’s father believes a woman’s place is in the home...But when she is accidentally caught up in a suffragette march, it changes her life forever. She finds friendships, and even the possibility of love too in the form of the gentlemanly Laurence Jones-Fairbrook. But will she be forced to choose between her family and friends... between duty and love?(Note: previously published as Give Me Tomorrow by Elizabeth Lord)
The Wrong Hand
by Jane JagoWe all make mistakes. Moments that change us and the path we are on irrevocably.For Rachel Allen it was the moment that she let her son's hand slip from hers. For Danny Simpson and Graham Harris it was the moment one of them took it.Seven years ago Danny and Graham were just children themselves, angry, marginalized and unguided. That was, until they committed a crime so heinous that three families were left devastated. They were no longer just boys. They were monsters.Released from juvenile detention, it is time for the boys, now men, to start again; new names, new people. But they can never escape who they are or what they did. And their own families, now notorious; the Allens, destroyed with grief; and the country at large have never been able to forget.They will always be running. They will always be hiding. But are some mistakes too large, the ripples to far reaching, to outrun forever?
Woman's Hour: Words from Wise, Witty and Wonderful Women
by Alison MaloneyFor the last 70 years, the guests of Woman’s Hour have been entertaining listeners with their compelling combination of wit, warmth, insight and humour. Woman’s Hour has interviewed many of the biggest female names from entertainment, politics, the arts and beyond.Words from Wise, Witty and Wonderful Women is a collection of quotes and extracts from 70 years of the Woman’s Hour archive, featuring some of the most memorable guests to appear on the programme, from Doris Lessing to Nora Ephron, Hilary Clinton to J.K. Rowling, and Bette Davis to Meryl Streep. Charting the social and political revolution that has taken place in women’s lives over the past 70 years, as well as the perennial aspects of female life, such as love, family, relationships, the workplace, sex, ageing, and food, this delightful book shares fascinating insights and sage advice from the wise and wonderful women that have graced the Woman’s Hour airwaves over the decades.
Written in Blood
by Mike Silverman Tony ThompsonAs one of the UK’s leading forensic scientists, Mike Silverman has helped to identify and convict dozens of murderers, rapists, armed robbers, burglars and muggers, thanks to the evidence they – or their victims – unwittingly left behind at the scenes of their crimes. Mike Silverman started his career in the days when fingerprints were still kept on card files and DNA profiling was just a pipe dream, so Written in Blood is more than just a casebook – it is also a definitive history of the development of forensic science over the course of the past thirty-five years.From collecting blood samples at gangland executions to investigating forensic science failings, including in the murders of Rachel Nickell and Damilola Taylor, Mike Silverman’s unique career provides a fascinating insight into the ways forensic science is used to help solve real-life crimes. Packed with genuine crime scene photographs and original sketches, Written in Blood is the ultimate insider’s account of the fascinating world of forensic science.
Written From the Heart
by Trisha Ashley-- Previously published in 2008 as 'Happy Endings' --The witty, weird and wonderful abound in this early romantic comedy by Sunday Times bestselling author Trisha Ashley.Tina Devino makes more money teaching people to write than writing herself. A middling romance novelist who dreams of penning a bestseller, she’s increasingly forced to compete with younger, blonder debut authors for her publisher and agent’s attention. Feeling forgotten, Tina realises the only way up is to take her career and destiny in hand and build her own happy ending; which is perfect because, for a romance writer, Tina isn’t the most traditional of women… Although she does see her long term partner lover friend, Sergei, once a week which is ‘quite enough, thank you very much’. But her uncomplicated love life might soon need some unravelling when a mysterious Tube Man, unwelcome ex-husband and a shadowy figure in a butterfly mask waltz into the picture. Only Tina can work through the drama and claim the life she’s always wanted… but will she succeed? Hilariously warm, quirky and feel-good, Trisha Ashley's writing is perfect for fans of romantic comedies by Milly Johnson and Jill Mansell.