The old, abandoned manor of La Grande Bretèche stands between the trees like a secret. Uncovered one day by Dr. Horace Bianchon whilst visiting the nearby town of Vendôme, the ruin ...

Spoiling a child is not just about letting them have a few extra sweets. In some cases, years of doting really do spoil them.Victurien d'Esgrignon was raised by his doting aunt and ...

It begins with the undignified scene of two young men on a Parisian stagecoach, boasting about their love affairs with older, married women.Hubris turns to tragedy when the coach o ...

Once bitten, twice shy sometimes rings true. Madame de Beauseant must have been bitten very hard, for she became a hermit in her Normandy castle due to humiliation after being cast ...

When Milanese nobleman Count Andrea Marcosini sees Marianna in the crowd at the Palais-Royal in Paris, he immediately decides that she will be his. After all, this wealthy man with ...

Veronique Graslin is a woman of strength.Despite being scarred by smallpox at 11, and then railroaded into a miserable marriage with a man who resembles an 'antique satyr', she bui ...

You know that feeling when you have just sent a text or an email to the wrong person? Well, in the 19th century the equivalent was a wrongly-directed letter - and there is no 'dele ...

Felix was rejected as a child by his mother and those scars never fully heal.In a book with great emotional depth, Honore de Balzac explores Felix' two major adult relationships wi ...

'Vive la counter-revolution!'In 'Sons of the Soil', Balzac tells an extraordinary story of gentry and peasants, complacency and corruption, jealousy and revenge. And it has a conte ...

There are dilemmas - and then there are dilemmas. Juanito Leganes faces the sort of choice that is beyond our worst nightmares.It comes after his father, Marquis of the Spanish tow ...

Fans of 'The Godfather' trilogy and 'The Sopranos' will know a thing or two about vendettas.In Honore de Balzac's ´The Vendetta´, tragic consequences are laid bare. What begins as ...

Set during the war between Austria and Prussia in 1866, ‘The Prussian Terror´ is a gritty, historical adventure novel. While the story graphically describes the horrors and effects ...

The last story from the "Mirgorod" cycle, here Gogol presents two landowners deadlocked in an argument over a Turkish rifle, a brown pig, and a goose insult. What results is a play ...

Set against the backdrop of the Paris Uprising of 1832, ‘The She-Wolves of Machecoul’ is dripping with political intrigue, sinister plots, and knuckle-cracking villains. However, a ...

Although written after ‘The Companions of Jehu,’ ‘The Whites and the Blues’ details events leading up to the first book.It follows the fortunes of young Charles Nodier, who arrives ...

In ‘The Sire de Maletroit's Door’ we follow young Denis de Beaulieu, a veteran in the raging ‘Hundred Years War’ as he creeps through the streets of Burgundy trying to avoid patrol ...

If you only know Robert Louis Stevenson as the author of "Treasure Island", "Underwoods" will surprise and delight. It collects over 50 of his poems, written in both English and Sc ...

Off the windswept coast of Iceland, there’s a ship with a mysterious passenger on board. Her name is Thorgunna, and soon she’ll be dead. But that won’t be the end of her story. Ins ...

´The Monk´ is a frightening, erotic, horror story about Ambrosio, a monk torn between his vows to God and the temptations of the Devil. This is a gripping, gothic tale about greed, ...

The final story in Joyce’s ‘Dubliners’ collection, ‘The Dead’ tells the story of Gabriel Conroy and his wife, Gretta. While at a Christmas party hosted by his aunts, Gretta tells t ...

"Du är så jävla fet och gammal, du äcklar mig", avslutade han inte förklaringen med, men jag vet att det var det han tänkte. Istället sa han: "Jag har tröttnat på att vara gift." L ...

Kulturtant möter hipster. Upphör möjligheten till transformering, bara för att man passerat en viss ålder? Är det okej att sikta högt? Och är allt som gnistrar stjärnor? I Hornstul ...

Livet är inte enkelt för Eva Leijon 55+. Hon är ständigt utsatt för själslig vånda, vallningar, östrogendepåer och caffelattemorsor som knuffar ut henne på gatan. Plötsligt sviker ...

Birgit Johansson går i samma fotspår dag ut och dag in. Livet är grått, hon är grå och hon börjar alltmer resignera och acceptera den påtvingade ensamheten. Det är enbart romantisk ...

Dagen efter studenten lämnade Marcus barndomshemmet i utkanten av den lilla orten Västerby i Dalarna – med avsikt att aldrig mer återvända. Nu, efter 16 år på olika platser runtom ...