Download or read book The Life and Loves of E Nesbit written by Eleanor Fitzsimons and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2019-10-08 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Sunday Times Best Book of the Year: The “informative and entertaining” first major biography of the trailblazing, controversial children’s author (The Washington Post). Born in 1858, Edith Nesbit is today considered the first modern writer for children and the inventor of the children’s adventure story. In The Life and Loves of E. Nesbit, award-winning biographer Eleanor Fitzsimons uncovers the little-known details of her life, introducing readers to the Fabian Society cofounder and fabulous socialite who hosted legendary parties and had admirers by the dozen, including George Bernard Shaw. Through Nesbit’s letters and archival research, Fitzsimons reveals “E.” to have been a prolific lecturer and writer on socialism and shows how Nesbit incorporated these ideas into her writing, thereby influencing a generation of children—an aspect of her literary legacy never before examined. Fitzsimons’s riveting biography brings new light to the life and works of this remarkable writer and woman. “Meticulous and invaluable...exceptionally illuminating and detailed.” —The Wall Street Journal “Fitzsimons handily reassembles the hundreds of intricate, idiosyncratic parts of the miraculous E. Nesbit machine.” —The New York Times Book Review “I’ve always loved the work of E. Nesbit—The Railway Children and Five Children and It are my favorites—but I knew nothing about the extraordinary, surprising life of this great figure in children’s literature . . . so gripping that I read [it] in two days.” —Gretchen Rubin, #1 New York Times-bestsellingauthor of The Happiness Project “A charming, lively, and old-fashioned biography . . . highly readable.” —Publishers Weekly “A terrific book.” —Neil Gaiman

Download or read book The Extraordinary Life of E Nesbit written by Elisabeth Galvin and published by Pen and Sword History. This book was released on 2018-09-30 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Imagine being one of the most well-loved children’s authors of all time, yet your readers don’t know if you’re a man or a woman. Or even your real name. E. Nesbit is really Edith Nesbit, who wrote an extraordinary 98 novels, plays and poetry collections for children and adults between 1885 and 1923. She is credited as the first modern writer for children whose work has influenced authors from Oscar Wilde to C.S. Lewis, Noël Coward to J.K. Rowling. Even though it was published more than 100 years ago, The Railway Children remains one of the most popular children’s books ever written and it has never been out of print. But for Edith, the truth of her life is stranger than her fiction – and it’s a truth she was keen to hide from the public. Edith’s father died when she was four, resulting in a peripatetic childhood across Europe. At 21 years old she was seven months’ pregnant when she married a penniless libertine who became a famous journalist, Hubert Bland. Together as early socialists they were founding members of the Fabian Society, from which the Labour Party has its foundations. A Bohemian and an eccentric, Edith became a mother of five children – two of whom she adopted in secret after her husband had an affair with a close friend (who subsequently lived with them as their housekeeper). It was shortly after the sudden death of her beloved son that Edith wrote her first bestseller in 1899, a groundbreaker that dramatically changed the course of children’s literature. On the eve of World War I, Edith’s husband died and she married a captain of the Woolwich Ferry. A cheerful cockney sparrow, Tommy Tucker proved to be Edith’s unwitting romantic hero who loved and cherished her until she died in near-poverty on the Romney Marshes of Kent.

Download or read book The Incomplete Amorist written by Edith Nesbit and published by Library of Alexandria. This book was released on 1910-01-01 with total page 482 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book A Woman of Passion written by Julia Briggs and published by New Amsterdam Books. This book was released on 2000-11-07 with total page 514 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In A Woman of Passion, Julia Briggs chronicles the life of author Edith Nesbit who is credited with being the first modern writer for children and the creator of the children's adventure story. Nesbit recorded her life with varying degrees of honesty in verse and prose, and while she seldom wrote entirely openly of her own experiences, she seldom wrote convincingly of anything else. In this fascinating read, Julia Briggs attempts to fill in the gaps of Nesbit's autobiographical material, painting an intriguing portrait of the famous author.

Download or read book Wilde s Women written by Eleanor Fitzsimons and published by ABRAMS. This book was released on 2017-09-26 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A lively debut biography of the flamboyant Irish writer . . . focusing on the women who loved and supported him” (Kirkus Reviews). In this essential work, Eleanor Fitzsimons reframes Oscar Wilde’s story and his legacy through the women in his life, including such scintillating figures as Florence Balcombe; actress Lillie Langtry; and his tragic and witty niece, Dolly, who, like Wilde, loved fast cars, cocaine, and foreign women. Fresh, revealing, and entertaining, full of fascinating detail and anecdotes, Wilde’s Women relates the untold story of how a beloved writer and libertine played a vitally sympathetic role on behalf of many women, and how they supported him in the midst of a Victorian society in the process of changing forever. “Fitzsimons reminds us of the many writers, actresses, political activists, professional beauties and aristocratic ladies who helped shape the life and legend of the era’s greatest wit, esthete and sexual martyr . . . provide[s] a potted biography of the multitalented writer and gay icon . . . highly enjoyable.” —The Washington Post “Fitzsimons brilliantly calls attention to the progressive ideas and beliefs which drew the most daring and interesting women of the time to his side. The depth and painstaking care of Fitzsimons’ research is a fitting tribute to Wilde’s fascinating life and exquisite writing—and really, what better compliment is there than that?” —High Voltage

Download or read book The Wouldbegoods written by Edith Nesbit and published by . This book was released on 1901 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After being sent to the country "to learn to be good", the Bastable children and their two friends form the Society of the Wouldbegoods, but continue to become involved in adventures.

Download or read book The Life and Loves of E Nesbit Author of The Railway Children written by Eleanor Fitzsimons and published by Duckworth. This book was released on 2020-10-15 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A SUNDAY TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR Winner of the Rubery Book Award 2020 (Non Fiction) Edith Nesbit is considered the inventor of the children’s adventure story and her brilliant children’s books influenced bestselling authors including C.S. Lewis, P. L. Travers, J.K. Rowling, and Jacqueline Wilson, to name but a few. But who was the person behind the best loved classics The Railway Children and Five Children and It? Her once-happy childhood was eclipsed by the chronic illness and early death of her sister. In adulthood, she found herself at the centre of a love triangle between her husband and her close friend. She raised their children as her own. Yet despite these troubling circumstances Nesbit was playful, contradictory and creative. She hosted legendary parties at her idiosyncratic Well Hall home and was described by George Bernard Shaw – one of several lovers – as ‘audaciously unconventional’. She was also an outspoken Marxist and founding member of the Fabian Society. Through Nesbit’s letters and deep archival research, Eleanor Fitzsimons reveals her as a prolific activist and writer on socialism. Nesbit railed against inequity, social injustice and state-sponsored oppression and incorporated her avant-garde ideas into her writing, influencing a generation of children – an aspect of her legacy examined here for the first time. Eleanor Fitzsimons, acclaimed biographer and prize winning author of Wilde's Women, has written the most authoritative biography in more than three decades. Here, she brings to light the extraordinary life story of an icon, creating a portrait of a woman in whom pragmatism and idealism worked side-by-side to produce a singular mind and literary talent. ***PRAISE FOR THE LIFE AND LOVES OF E. NESBIT*** 'A terrific book.' Neil Gaiman ‘A very well-researched biography.’ Kate Atkinson 'Eleanor Fitzsimons' painstaking research gives us a new insight into the bizarre Bohemian life of the groundbreaking children's author E. Nesbit. It's a fantastic read.' Jacqueline Wilson 'Absolutely superb!' Hilary McKay, children's author of The Skylarks War (shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards) 'In this long-overdue new biography, Eleanor Fitzsimons gives us a nuanced yet compelling portrait of E. Nesbit's many-facetted personality, life and works, as well as of the politically and culturally vibrant milieu in which she lived.' Fiona Sampson, author of In Search of Mary Shelley 'What a stirring and unexpected story Eleanor Fitzsimons tells and what a subject she has found. I can't think of a single writer who doesn't owe something to Edith Nesbit's glorious books for children. The extraordinary woman who wrote them proves to be every bit as brave, funny and imaginative as her own intrepid characters.' Miranda Seymour, author of In Byron's Wake 'One of the greatest children's writers, and an acknowledged much loved influence on Joan Aiken E. Nesbit is celebrated in this wonderful new biography by Eleanor Fitzsimons.' Lizza Aiken, daughter of Joan Aiken 'An exceptional biography about an absolutely fascinating individual.' Adam Roberts, Vice-President of the H.G. Wells Society 'A fascinating, thoughtfully organized, thoroughly researched, often surprising biography.' Kirkus Review 'Fitzsimons delivers a sprightly and highly readable life of a writer who deserves even wider recognition.' Publishers Weekly

Download or read book The Book of Dragons written by E. Nesbit and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2012-03-13 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Eight madcap tales of unpredictable dragons — including one made of ice and another that takes refuge in the General Post Office. 24 illustrations.

Download or read book Railway Children cd written by Edith Nesbit and published by Black Cat-Cideb. This book was released on 2007 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When their father is sent away to prison, three London children move to the country where they keep busy preventing accidents on the nearby railway, making many new friends, and generally learning a good deal about themselves.

Download or read book THE PHOENIX AND THE CARPET written by E. NESBIT and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2019-03-28 with total page 179 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The sequel to Five Children and It follows the wondrous adventures of Robert, Jane, Cyril, Anthea, and The Lamb as they discover a clever phoenix and a magic carpet. The children find an egg in the carpet, which hatches into a talking Phoenix. The Phoenix explains that the carpet is a magic one that will grant them three wishes a day. The children are on a fantastic ride with the hopelessly vain but good-hearted phoenix and his flying carpet. They travel to a French castle, to a tropical island, foil a burglar, arrange a marriage, change people's disposition, and have to figure out how to get 199 Persian cats, 398 muskrats, a cow, and a policeman out of their house. Their charming adventures not only entertain but teach them, and the reader, a few gentle lessons." The Phoenix and the Carpet"" is a wonderful book for the young and the young at heart. The adventures are continued and concluded in the third book of the trilogy, "The Story of the Amulet"

Download or read book The Story of the Amulet written by E. Nesbit and published by Standard Ebooks. This book was released on 2021-04-01T23:31:22Z with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this conclusion to the Psammead Trilogy, Cyril, Anthea, Robert, and Jane are reunited with the cantankerous Sand-fairy. While the old creature can’t grant them wishes anymore, it points them towards an old Egyptian amulet that can grant their hearts’ desire—in this case the return of their parents and baby brother. While their amulet is only half of a whole, it still acts as a time portal which they use to visit locales like Ancient Egypt, Babylon, Atlantis, and even a utopian future in search of the missing other half. Perhaps one of E. Nesbit’s most personal works, The Story of the Amulet benefited from her interest in the ancient world, particularly Egypt. With the help of A. E. Wallis Budge, to whom the book is dedicated—then Head of the Assyrian Departments of the British Museum and translator of the Egyptian Book of the Dead—she conducted extensive research on the topic and is thus able to bring an exquisite attention to detail. For example, the titular amulet is shaped after the tyet, an Egyptian symbol also known as the “knot of Isis.” Likewise, the inscription at the back of the amulet is written in authentic Egyptian hieroglyphs. A staunch supporter of democratic socialism and a founding member of the Fabian Society, E. Nesbit cultivated friendships with other like-minded writers, such as George Bernard Shaw and H. G. Wells, whose influence on this book is easy to notice. She practiced what she preached, so much so that despite her literary successes, her acts of charity brought her close to bankruptcy. These political beliefs are prominently displayed in the book. The children encounter memorable characters during their adventures, chief among them the Queen of Babylon, who causes quite a stir when she later pays them a call in their contemporary London. When the visiting Queen witnesses the squalid living conditions of the London working class, she’s amazed at how poorly they’re treated compared to the slaves of her own Babylon. Likewise, the utopian future—which features a wink to her friend H. G. Wells, the “great reformer”—is a striking contrast in terms of the happiness, care, and education of the general populace. The book’s legacy can be found in the works of other writers. Most notably, C. S. Lewis incorporated several elements in his Chronicles of Narnia: the Calormene civilization of The Horse and His Boy draws heavily from The Amulet’s Babylon, and the episode in The Magician’s Nephew where Jadis, the White Witch, causes chaos during her short stay in London is also a direct homage to the aforementioned visit from the Queen. The format of these stories, where a group of people take their audience on adventures through time and space to learn about distant cultures, is an uncanny precursor to the popular British TV series Doctor Who. This book is part of the Standard Ebooks project, which produces free public domain ebooks.

Download or read book Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare written by Edith Nesbit and published by Library of Alexandria. This book was released on 2020-09-28 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Magic City written by Edith Nesbit and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-07-03 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Magic City Edith Nesbit The Magic City by Edith Nesbit When young Philip Haldane builds a play city out of odds and ends, the fantastic creation comes to life, and he and new stepsister Lucy are magically transported into it. Now they must try to save the Magic City by fulfilling an ancient prophecy-despite a mysterious adversary determined to steal their glory for herself. How Philip and Lucy come to forge a friendship and together triumph over impending disaster makes for a riveting read. We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure a high quality product, each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work, and that for you it becomes an enriching experience. We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure a high quality product, each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work, and that for you it becomes an enriching experience.

Download or read book New Treasure Seekers written by Edith Nesbit and published by . This book was released on 1948 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Story of the Treasure Seekers Adventures of the Bastable Children in Search of a Fortune written by Edith Nesbit and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2019-06-12 with total page 506 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the story of the different ways we looked for treasure, and I think when you have read it you will see that we were not lazy about the looking. This novel, the first in what is often called the "Bastable Saga" begins the story of these six children - Dora, Oswald, Dicky, Alice, Noel, and Horace Octavius Bastable. When their mother dies and their father's business fails, the children embark on a series of adventures. Says Oswald (the book's narrator) at the start: "I'll tell you what, we must go and seek for treasure: it is always what you do to restore the fallen fortunes of your House."

Download or read book Long Ago when I was Young written by Edith Nesbit and published by Dial. This book was released on 1987 with total page 127 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An autobiographical account by the author of "The Railway Children" and other children's books, in which she describes a childhood spent sometimes within the security of her family and sometimes apart from them in schools she detested.

Download or read book The Story of the Amulet Illustrated written by Edith Nesbit and published by . This book was released on 2020-06-03 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Story of the Amulet is a novel for children, written in 1906 by English author Edith Nesbit.It is the final part of a trilogy of novels that also includes Five Children and It (1902) and The Phoenix and the Carpet (1904). In it the children re-encounter the Psammead-the ""it"" in Five Children and It. As it no longer grants wishes to the children, however, its capacity is mainly advisory in relation to the children's other discovery, the Amulet, thus following a formula successfully established in The Phoenix and the Carpet."