Beletrie v angličtině

Orphaned John Trenchard grows up in the village of Moonfleet with his aunt, entranced by the local legend of the ghostly Blackbeard, who rises each winter night to search for his lost diamond. While conducting his own hunt for the treasure, John is trapped in the church crypt and discovers the true secret of the village: smuggling. Taken under the wing of the gruff innkeeper and chief smuggler, Elzevir Block, John begins a dangerous adventure which will see him in a hair-raising chase along a precarious cliff path and deciphering a hidden code in an ancient castle. "Moonfleet" is thrilling story of revenge and betrayal, of loyalty and great sacrifice, but it is above all a story about friendship..

The Bridge on the River Kwai tells the story of three POWs who endure the hell of the Japanese camps on the Burma-Siam railway - Colonel Nicholson, a man prepared to sacrifice his life but not his dignity; Major Warden, a modest hero, saboteur and deadly killer; Commander Shears, who escaped from hell but was sent back. Ordered by the Japanese to build a bridge, the Colonel refuses, as it is against regulations for officers to work with other ranks. The Japanese give way but, to prove a point of British superiority, construction of the bridge goes ahead - at great cost to the men under Nicholson's command.

Roald Dahl was always full of fun and mischief and loved all kinds of jokes - the sillier the better! Here is a marvellous collection of Roald Dahl's favourites, based on his much-loved children's novels.

It is a comedy of game shows and greed, high stakes and the high life from the acclaimed and bestselling writer Anthony Burgess. Janet Shirley was always impressed by her husband. Even before he began using his special talent to change their lives beyond recognition. The thing is, Janet doesn't want their lives to change that much - she's quite happy, working at the supermarket, cooking for Howard three times a day, watching quiz shows in the evening. But once Howard unleashes his photographic brain on the world, the once modest used-car salesman can't seem to stop. But what he sees as the logical conclusion isn't something Janet can agree to. She will not consent to Howard's grand gesture. Written out of Burgess' disgust at western decadence and degradation, "One Hand Clapping" casts

Enderby - poet, social critic, comrade and Catholic - is endlessly hounded by women. He may be found hiding in the lavatory where much of his best work is composed, or perhaps in Rome, brainwashed into respectability by a glamorous wife, aftershave and the dolce vita. But whether he is pursuing revenge and inspiration in Morocco, expounding on his notorious sex film on a TV chat show, or writing a hit musical based on the life and work of Shakespeare, Enderby emerges triumphant.

The Notting Hill Mystery was first published between 1862 and 1863 as an eight-part serial in the magazine Once a Week, written under the pseudonym Charles Felix. It has been widely described as the first detective novel, pre-dating as it does other novels such as Wilkie Collins's The Moonstone (1868) and Emile Gaboriau's first Monsieur Lecoq novel (1869) that have previously claimed that accolade. The story is told by insurance investigator Ralph Henderson, who is building a case against the sinister Baron 'R___', suspected of murdering his wife in order to obtain significant life insurance payments. Henderson descends into a maze of intrigue including a diabolical mesmerist, kidnapping by gypsies, slow-poisoners, a rich uncle's will and three murders. Presented in the form of diary e

'You put together two things that have not been put together before. And the world is changed...' Julian Barnes' new book is about ballooning, photography, love and grief; about putting two things, and two people, together, and about tearing them apart. One of the judges who awarded him the 2011 Man Booker Prize described him as 'an unparalleled magus of the heart'. This book confirms that opinion

Great poetry 'finds its way to the hearts of many, not just the minds of the few', and this delightful collection is the ideal way to browse, remember and enjoy some of poetry's greatest hits. Following in the bestselling footsteps of "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud", the first poetry anthology from Ana Sampson, "Tyger Tyger, Burning Bright" contains verses from more than eighty of the world's favourite poets, from the thirteenth century to the present day. It includes such leading lyricists as Burns, Keats, Tennyson, T.S. Eliot, Philip Larkin and Seamus Heaney - taking in the work of W.H. Auden, Dylan Thomas, Wilfred Owen, and many others along the way. Perfect to dip into on the reader's whim, the chapters cover childhood and youth, nature, love and romance, home and travel, elegies, a

After an attack of scruples, Colin Laney's skipped out on his former employer Slitscan - avoiding the rash of media lawyers sent his way - and taken a job for the outfit managing Japanese rock duo, Lo/Rez. Rez has announced he's going to marry an 'idoru' by the name of Rei Toi - she exists only in virtual reality - and this creates complications that Laney, a net runner, is supposed to sort out. But when Chai, part of Lo/Rez's fan club, turns up unaware that she's carrying illegal nanoware for the Russian Kombinat, Laney's scruples nudge him towards trouble all over again. And this time lawyers'll be the least of his worries . . .

This compelling novel has as its protagonist Cornelius Suttree, living alone and in exile in a disintegrating houseboat on the wrong side of the Tennessee River close by Knoxville. He stays at the edge of an outcast community inhabited by eccentrics, criminals and the poverty-stricken. Rising above the physical and human squalor around him, his detachment and wry humour enable him to survive dereliction and destitution with dignity.

Protect the diamonds, survive the clubs, dig deep through the spades, feel the hearts! Ed Kennedy is an underage cabdriver without much of a future. He's pathetic at playing cards, hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey, and utterly devoted to his coffee-drinking dog, the Doorman. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery. That's when the first ace arrives in the mail. That's when Ed becomes the messenger. Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary) until only one question remains: Who's behind Ed's mission? A 2005 Michael L. Printz Honor Book and recipient of five starred reviews, "I Am the Messenger" is a cryptic journey filled with laughter, fists, and love.

The story of "Tom-All-Alone's" takes place in the 'space between' two masterpieces of mid-Victorian fiction: "Bleak House" and "The Woman in White" - overlapping with them, and re-imagining them for a contemporary reader, with a modern understanding of the grimmer realities of Victorian society. Charles Maddox, dismissed from the police force, is working as a private detective and can only hope to follow in his uncle's formidable footsteps as an eminent thief-taker. On a cold and bright Autumn morning, a policeman calls on Charles at his lodgings with information that may be related to a case he is working on. He goes to a ruined cemetery to find a shallow grave containing the remains of four babies has been discovered. After examining them he concludes they are not related to his inve