Download or read book The Crooked Maid written by Dan Vyleta and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2013-08-06 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Vienna, 1948. The war is over, and as the initial phase of denazification winds down, the citizens of Vienna struggle to rebuild their lives amidst the rubble. Anna Beer returns to the city she fled nine years earlier upon discovering her husband's infidelity. She has come back to find him and, perhaps, to forgive him. Traveling on the same train from Switzerland is eighteen-year-old Robert Seidel, a schoolboy summoned home to his stepfather's sickbed and the secrets of his family's past. As Anna and Robert navigate a damaged, unrecognizable city, they cross paths with a war-widowed American journalist, a hunchbacked young girl, and a former POW whose primary purpose is to survive, by any means. Meanwhile, in the shells of burned-out houses and beneath the bombed-out ruins, a ghost of a man, his head wrapped in a red scarf, battles demons from his past and hides from a future deeply uncertain for all. In The Crooked Maid, Dan Vyleta returns to the shadows of a war-darkened Vienna, in a thrilling and atmospheric story of blame, guilt, and restitution.
Download or read book The Crooked Line written by Ismat Chughtai and published by The Feminist Press at CUNY. This book was released on 2015-09-15 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A young Indian woman searches for her own identity as her country fights for independence in this novel from the award-winning Urdu Indian author. The Crooked Line is the story of Shamman, a spirited young woman who rebels against the traditional Indian life of purdah, or female seclusion, that she and her sisters are raised in. Shipped off to boarding school by her family, Shamman grows into a woman of education and independence just as India itself is fighting to throw off the shackles of colonialism. Shamman’s search for her own path leads her into the fray of political unrest, where her passion for her country’s independence becomes entangled with her passion for an Irish journalist. In this semi-autobiographical novel, Ismat Chughtai explores the complex relationships between women caught in a changing culture, and exposes the intellectual and emotional conflicts at the heart of India’s battle for an uncertain future of independence from the British Raj and ultimately Partition.
Download or read book The Quiet Twin written by Dan Vyleta and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2012-02-02 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Vienna, 1939. Professor Speckstein's dog has been brutally killed and he wants to know why. But these are uncharitable times and one must be careful where one probes... When an unexpected house call leads Doctor Beer to Speckstein's apartment, he finds himself in the bedroom of Zuzka, the professor's niece. Wide-eyed, flirtatious, and not detectably ill, Zuzka leads the young doctor to her window and opens up a view of their apartment block that Beer has never known. Across the shared courtyard there is nine-year-old Anneliese, the lonely daughter of an alcoholic. Five windows to the left lives a secretive mime who comes home late at night and keeps something - or someone - precious hidden from view. From the garret drifts the mournful sound of an Oriental's trumpet, and a basement door swings closed behind the building's inscrutable janitor. Does one of these enigmatic neighbours have blood on their hands? Doctor Beer, who has his own reasons for keeping his private life hidden from public scrutiny, reluctantly becomes embroiled in an enquiry that forces him to face the dark realities of Nazi rule.
Download or read book The Crooked Branch written by Jeanine Cummins and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2013-03-05 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the national bestselling author of American Dirt and A Rip in Heaven comes the deeply moving story of two mothers from two very different times. After the birth of her daughter Emma, the usually resilient Majella finds herself feeling isolated and exhausted. Then, at her childhood home in Queens, Majella discovers the diary of her maternal ancestor Ginny—and is shocked to read a story of murder in her family history. With the famine upon her, Ginny Doyle fled from Ireland to America, but not all of her family made it. What happened during those harrowing years, and why does Ginny call herself a killer? Is Majella genetically fated to be a bad mother, despite the fierce tenderness she feels for her baby? Determined to uncover the truth of her heritage and her own identity, Majella sets out to explore Ginny’s past—and discovers surprising truths about her family and ultimately, herself.
Download or read book The Wife the Maid and the Mistress written by Ariel Lawhon and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2014-10-07 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the New York Times bestselling author of I Was Anastasia and The Frozen River comes a “genuinely surprising whodunit” (USA Today) that tantalizingly reimagines a scandalous murder mystery that rocked the nation. One summer night in 1930, Judge Joseph Crater steps into a New York City cab and is never heard from again. Behind this great man are three women, each with her own tale to tell: Stella, his fashionable wife, the picture of propriety; Maria, their steadfast maid, indebted to the judge; and Ritzi, his showgirl mistress, willing to seize any chance to break out of the chorus line. As the twisted truth emerges, Ariel Lawhon’s wickedly entertaining debut mystery transports us into the smoky jazz clubs, the seedy backstage dressing rooms, and the shadowy streets beneath the Art Deco skyline. Don't miss Ariel Lawhon's new book, The Frozen River!
Download or read book Smoke written by Dan Vyleta and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2016-05-24 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Readers of the Harry Potter series and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell are sure to be mesmerized by Dan Vyleta’s thrilling blend of historical fiction and fantasy, as three young friends scratch the surface of the grown-up world to discover startling wonders—and dangerous secrets. “Dan Vyleta writes with intricacy and imagination and skillful pacing; never once would I have considered putting his book down. In the manner of both a Dickens novel and the best young adult adventure stories (the Harry Potter series among them). . .his ending, which I wouldn’t dare reveal here, is a real firecracker.”—Jennifer Senior, The New York Times Welcome to a Victorian England unlike any other you have experienced before. Here, wicked thoughts (both harmless and hate-filled) appear in the air as telltale wisps of Smoke. Young Thomas Argyle, a son of aristocracy, has been sent to an elite boarding school. Here he will be purged of Wickedness, for the wealthy do not Smoke. When he resists a sadistic headboy's temptations to Smoke, a much larger struggle beyond the school walls is revealed. Shortly thereafter, on a trip to London, Thomas and his best friend witness events that make them begin to question everything they have been taught about Smoke. And thus the adventure begins... You will travel by coach to a grand estate where secrets lurk in attic rooms and hidden laboratories; where young love blossoms; and where a tumultuous relationship between a mother and her children is the crucible in which powerful passions are kindled, and dangerous deeds must be snuffed out in a desperate race against time.
Download or read book The Crooked Maid written by Dan Vyleta and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2014-07-08 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Returning to Vienna after World War II to reunite with her unfaithful husband, Anna bonds with young student Robert, who tends to a sick stepfather while navigating his unrecognizable city and interacting with equally haunted locals.
Download or read book The Way of a Man with a Maid written by Anonymous and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2017-01-15 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ""The Way of a Man with a Maid"" is a classic erotic novel, published in 1908. It contains graphic sexual descriptions and themes. ""The Way of a Man with a Maid"" is one of the most popular erotic masterpieces. Jack, the narrator, converts a room into a veritable torture chamber, named 'The Snuggery', equipped with beds to which women can be strapped and held helpless and which is soundproofed to make their screams unheard. ""The Way of a Man with a Maid"" consists of 4 volumes. This book contains: Volume I: The Tragedy Volume II: The Comedy
Download or read book The Crooked Hinge written by John Dickson Carr and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2019-10-01 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An inheritance hangs in the balance in a case of stolen identities, imposters, and murder Banished from the idyllic English countryside he once called home and en route to live with his cousin in America, Sir John Farnleigh, black sheep of the wealthy Farnleigh clan, nearly perished in the sinking of the Titanic. Though he survived the catastrophe, his ties with his family did not, and he never returned to England—not even for the funerals of his mother, his father, or, most recently, his older brother Dudley. Now, nearly 25 years since he was first sent away, Sir John has finally returned home to claim his inheritance. But another “Sir John” soon follows, an unexpected man who insists he has absolute proof of his identity and of his claim to the estate. Before the case can be settled, however, one of the two men is murdered, and Dr. Gideon Fell, who happens to be passing through the village, finds himself facing one of the most challenging cases of his career. To solve it, he’ll have to confront a series of bizarre and chilling phenomena, diving deep into the realm of the occult and brushing up against witchcraft, magic, and a sinister automaton to explain a seemingly impossible crime. Selected by a panel of twelve mystery luminaries as one of the ten best locked-room mysteries of all time, The Crooked Hinge is a creepy and atmospheric puzzle inspired by a real life case. It is the ninth installment in the Dr. Gideon Fell series, which may be read in any order.
Download or read book Crooked Letter Crooked Letter written by Tom Franklin and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2010-10-05 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “The classic trifecta of talent, heart, and a bone-deep sense of storytelling….A masterful performance, deftly rendered and deeply satisfying. For days on end, I woke with this story on my mind.” —David Wroblewski A powerful and resonant novel from the critically acclaimed author of Smonk and Hell at the Breech, Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter tells the riveting story of two boyhood friends, torn apart by circumstance, who are brought together again by a terrible crime in a small Mississippi town. An extraordinary novel that seamlessly blends elements of crime and Southern literary fiction, Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter is a must for readers of Larry Brown, Pete Dexter, Ron Rash, and Dennis Lehane. In the late 1970s, Larry Ott and Silas "32" Jones were boyhood pals. Their worlds were as different as night and day: Larry, the child of lower-middle-class white parents, and Silas, the son of a poor, single black mother. Yet for a few months the boys stepped outside of their circumstances and shared a special bond. But then tragedy struck: Larry took a girl on a date to a drive-in movie, and she was never heard from again. She was never found and Larry never confessed, but all eyes rested on him as the culprit. The incident shook the county—and perhaps Silas most of all. His friendship with Larry was broken, and then Silas left town. More than twenty years have passed. Larry, a mechanic, lives a solitary existence, never able to rise above the whispers of suspicion. Silas has returned as a constable. He and Larry have no reason to cross paths until another girl disappears and Larry is blamed again. And now the two men who once called each other friend are forced to confront the past they've buried and ignored for decades.
Download or read book Crooked Maid written by Dan Vyleta and published by HarperCollins Canada. This book was released on 2013-10-28 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Anna returns to postwar Vienna to confront her husband. Meanwhile, on the same train, is Robert a schoolboy summoned to his stepfather's sickbed and the secrets of his family. Together, they navigate the war torn city and cross paths with various characters.
Download or read book Crooked House written by Agatha Christie and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2010-02-10 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Writing Crooked House was pure pleasure and I feel justified in my belief that it is one of my best.” --Agatha Christie Described by the queen of mystery herself as one of her favorites of her published work, Crooked House is a classic Agatha Christie thriller revolving around a devastating family mystery. The Leonides are one big happy family living in a sprawling, ramshackle mansion. That is until the head of the household, Aristide, is murdered with a fatal barbiturate injection. Suspicion naturally falls on the old man’s young widow, fifty years his junior. But the murderer has reckoned without the tenacity of Charles Hayward, fiancé of the late millionaire’s granddaughter.
Download or read book Crooked written by Laura McNeal and published by Knopf Books for Young Readers. This book was released on 2007-12-18 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age A California Book Award Winner for Juvenile Literature An ALA-YALSA Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults A Booklist Top Ten Youth Romance Clara Wilson and Amos MacKenzie are finding their lives turned upside down: by each other, by fickle friendships, by failing families, and by the two meanest brothers in town. As the pressures of high school and home life collide, Clara and Amos struggle to maintain their identities amid the chaos. Honesty may be the answer...but it can be awfully hard to find.
Download or read book Death on the Sapphire written by R. J. Koreto and published by Crooked Lane Books. This book was released on 2016-06-14 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An extraordinary woman living in extraordinary times, Lady Frances Ffolkes is an Edwardian-era suffragette who has an uncanny ability to attract danger and romance. When Major Colcombe, a family friend and war veteran, dies under mysterious circumstances, the good Lady Frances discovers that he was working on a manuscript about South Africa’s bloody Boer War, which reportedly revealed a scandalous mistake that cost many innocent lives. Now, it’s up to Frances and her loyal lady's maid, June Mallow, to track down the missing manuscript and bring the killer to justice. Despite clashes with Scotland Yard and the British Secret Service, Frances never backs down and finds herself in several very unfortunate positions--and one very fortunate love triangle. Death on the Sapphire, R. J. Koreto's witty and winsome series debut, is sure to delight fans of historical mysteries for years to come.
Download or read book Crooked Pieces written by Sarah Grazebrook and published by Allison & Busby. This book was released on 2013-07-29 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Maggie seems to be going up in the world. Compared to living with her large and impoverished East London family and watching her mother being worn down by life and childbearing, working as a maid is a big improvement. Meeting very different people like the Pankhursts, Maggie is introduced to a completely different world, one in which people talk about women getting the vote and organise impressive rallies and demonstrate at Parliament. Then when she meets and begins 'walking out' with a handsome police officer, it seems like a whole new horizon has opened up for her. Drawn into the workings of the suffragette movement, Maggie is soon caught up in a darker side of the increasingly militant cause. The brutal treatment she and her fellows suffer might make them all more determined to achieve their goal, but just how much is Maggie prepared to sacrifice?
Download or read book Fingersmith written by Sarah Waters and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2002-10-01 with total page 596 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Oliver Twist with a twist…Waters spins an absorbing tale that withholds as much as it discloses. A pulsating story.”—The New York Times Book Review The Handmaiden, a film adaptation of Fingersmith, directed by Park Chan-wook and starring Kim Tae-Ri, is now available. Sue Trinder is an orphan, left as an infant in the care of Mrs. Sucksby, a "baby farmer," who raised her with unusual tenderness, as if Sue were her own. Mrs. Sucksby’s household, with its fussy babies calmed with doses of gin, also hosts a transient family of petty thieves—fingersmiths—for whom this house in the heart of a mean London slum is home. One day, the most beloved thief of all arrives—Gentleman, an elegant con man, who carries with him an enticing proposition for Sue: If she wins a position as the maid to Maud Lilly, a naïve gentlewoman, and aids Gentleman in her seduction, then they will all share in Maud’s vast inheritance. Once the inheritance is secured, Maud will be disposed of—passed off as mad, and made to live out the rest of her days in a lunatic asylum. With dreams of paying back the kindness of her adopted family, Sue agrees to the plan. Once in, however, Sue begins to pity her helpless mark and care for Maud Lilly in unexpected ways...But no one and nothing is as it seems in this Dickensian novel of thrills and reversals.
Download or read book Crooked River written by Valerie Geary and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2014-10-14 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Full of emotion and suspense, Crooked River is an inventive and atmospheric story about family and friendship, good and evil, secrets and lies, grief and forgiveness Where should I start? With Mom's funeral? Or a week earlier on the Fourth of July, the day she died? Or should I skip all that stuff and get straight to the part where Ollie and I just wanted to go swimming and pretend our lives were ordinary again, but when we got down to the river we found another dead woman instead? Still grieving over the sudden death of their mother, fifteen-year-old Sam McAlister and her ten-year-old sister, Ollie, move from the comforts of Eugene to rural Oregon to live in a meadow in a teepee under the stars with Bear, their reclusive beekeeper father. But soon after they arrive in Terrebone, a young woman is found dead floating in Crooked River and the police arrest their eccentric father for the murder. He is not evil. I am not good. We are the same: broken and put back together again. Sam knows that Bear is not a killer, even though the evidence points to his guilt—including information that she and Ollie have uncovered. Filled with remorse and refusing to accept that her father could have hurt anyone, Sam embarks on a desperate hunt to save him and keep her damaged family together. They had mysteriously lost Bear once before and Sam is terrified they will lose him again. Only this time they won't ever get him back. She needs Ollie to help her, but Ollie has not spoken a word since their mother's death. I see things no one else does. I see them there and wish I didn't. I want to tell and I can't. Ollie, too, knows that Bear is innocent. The Shimmering have told her so. One followed her home from her mom's funeral and continues to hover, a spectrum of colors—pink and rose red, sky blue and honey gold. Now another, coiled and hissing, is following Sam. Both spirits warn Ollie: the real killer is out there, waiting. Somehow, she must warn her sister. But Ollie worries that if she tries to speak—even to write—the Shimmering will slip inside her, take control, and never leave. Sam and Ollie must find the truth quickly—a search that will lead them to unexpected secrets and terrible lies—because the danger is closer to them than either girl knows. Told in Sam's and Ollie's vibrant voices, Crooked River is a family story, a coming-of-age story, a ghost story, and a psychological mystery as haunting as the best Southern gothic fiction that will touch your heart and grip you until the final page.
