Drama
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The Awakening
What price will Edna Pontellier pay to be free?
She seems to have everything she needs – her loving husband Léonce, two beautiful children, and a wonderful home in turn-of-the-century New Orleans. But deep inside her burns a creative fire that longs to be unleashed.
One summer changes everything. When Edna meets Robert, she starts to question all that she was taught to believe. Is her comfortable marriage nothing more than a cage? Will she ever be able to explore her creativity and passion to the full? Is it possible for a woman to be responsible for the needs of others and still to live her own life to the full?
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The Brothers Karamazov
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Illustrated by
ISBN: 978-1-911091-05-9
£7.99
As Dimitry struck him Grigory screamed and fell back, the blood streaming horribly from his head. Dimitry bent over him, trying to stop the flow with his handkerchief which turned soaking red in an instant.
Alexey, Ivan and Dimitry Karamazov were sent away by their father Fyodor when they were very young, and never knew a father’s love. Now what will Dimitry’s bitter quarrel with Fyodor lead to?
Dimitry and his father both want to marry the beautiful Grushenka. Fyodor is old and ugly, but offers her wealth and security. Will she accept either of them, and if so, which?
The sickly, timid servant Smerdyakov confesses to a terrible crime. Is he telling the truth?
Can the deadly rivalry between father and son be settled peacefully, or must it end in tragedy?
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The Call of the Wild
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ISBN: 978-1-906230-77-7
ATOS®/AR Level: 6.1 what is this?
F&P Level: X what is this?
£7.99
Buck recognised the wild brother. He was whining softly, and they touched noses. A second wolf, old and battle-scarred, came forward and sniffed noses with him; he sat down, pointed his nose at the moon, and broke out in a long wolf howl. Buck, too, sat down and howled.
Buck, a big, powerful dog, is kidnapped from his California home and sold as a sled dog in the Arctic. In his new environment he must learn quickly how to deal with man’s club and dog’s fang, or he will not be able to survive.
He is transformed by two opposing forces – his love for John Thornton who saved his life, and the memories that awaken within him of the ways of his ancestors, both dogs and wolves. How will Buck survive, and not just survive, but become a leader of dogs and eventually a leader of wolves?
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The Great Gatsby
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ISBN: 978-1-906230-74-6
Lexile® Rating: 900L what is this?
ATOS®/AR Level: 5.7 what is this?
F&P Level: Z what is this?
£7.99
Nick Carraway’s mysterious neighbour Gatsby gazes across the dark bay at a distant green light.
As the summer unfolds, Nick is drawn into Gatsby’s world of luxury cars, speedboats and extravagant parties. But the more he hears about Gatsby – even from what Gatsby himself tells him – the less he is sure of the truth. Did Gatsby really go to Oxford University? Was he a hero in the war? Did he once kill a man?
Nick recalls how he came to know Gatsby. He recounts how he enters the world of his cousin Daisy and her wealthy husband Tom. But does their money make them any happier? How do everybody’s stories connect?
Will you come to know the real Gatsby after reading Nick’s account of that fateful summer?
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The Heart of Midlothian
Edinburgh, 1736.
In the town’s grim prison, the Heart of Midlothian, two prisoners await execution. Captain Porteous of the Town Guard has been sentenced to death for ordering his soldiers to open fire on Edinburgh citizens. He hopes for reprieve. The people want revenge.
Effie Deans, wrongly accused of killing her new-born baby, will die unless her sister Jeanie tells a lie. Jeanie, determined to save her sister, makes a terrifying journey as Effie’s life hangs in the balance.
Will the two prisoners get the justice they deserve?
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The Hunchback of Notre Dame
A frightful horde of men and women, armed with scythes, pikes, billhooks and rusty swords, advanced towards the massive front doors of Notre Dame Cathedral.
For many years Quasimodo the bellringer has lived peacefully in the Cathedral of Notre Dame with his master, Archdeacon Claude Frollo. But the arrival of Esmeralda, the young and dazzlingly beautiful gypsy dancer, changes everything.
Esmeralda has fallen in love with the brave and handsome Captain Phoebus. Will the Archdeacon be able to control his violent jealousy when Esmeralda rejects him?
Esmeralda’s life is in danger, but Quasimodo will do anything to protect her. When the King's soldiers clash with the thieves and beggars of Paris, can the innocent young dancer survive?
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The Mayor of Casterbridge
Michael Henchard knew he deserved the pain he felt.
Henchard is a handsome farm labourer. When he gets drunk at a country fair, he sells his wife and child to a sailor. The next day, ashamed by what he has done, he lets people believe that his wife has died. Thus begins a chain of events which leads Henchard deep into dishonesty and betrayal.
Repentant and determined to change his ways, Henchard works hard to improve his fortunes. He becomes rich, and is elected mayor of Casterbridge – though his temper and his pride make him difficult to like.
When Henchard’s wife and daughter come back to find him, will he accept them? And what might they want from him? Will a reunion mean a happy ending?
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The Mill on the Floss
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ISBN: 978-1-906230-59-3
Lexile® Rating: 840L what is this?
ATOS®/AR Level: 5.3 what is this?
F&P Level: X what is this?
£7.99
Why was this feeling of regret so familiar to her? Why must she always wish she had done something different?
Maggie Tulliver and her brother Tom grow up in the Mill on the River Floss. Although Maggie adores Tom, she often finds him cruel and cold. All she wants is for life to be full and warm.
The Tulliver family’s traditional way of living is threatened by changes beyond their control. Will the educated world of lawyers and lawsuits destroy what generations have enjoyed?
As Maggie grows into adulthood, how can she control her passionate nature? With a destiny like an unmapped river – full, deep and rapid – where will love and desire lead her? Where will it all end?
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The Old Curiosity Shop
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ISBN: 978-1-906230-63-0
Lexile® Rating: 820L what is this?
ATOS®/AR Level: 5.2 what is this?
F&P Level: X what is this?
£7.99
‘Why bless you, Little Nell! What if I had lost you?’
Little Nell Trent’s childhood is over. Her grandfather’s mind is failing, his dark secret makes him sad and distracted, and he has nobody to care for him but Nell.
The grotesque Daniel Quilp is out to cause trouble. What plans does he hatch with the dreadful Sampson and Sally Brass? What use can he hope to make of the foolish Dick Swiveller? Is Nell’s one true friend, Kit, a match for Quilp’s villainous mind?
Nell and her grandfather must disappear or be separated forever, and so they begin their lives as beggars. When a mysterious gentleman arrives in London, determined to track them down, it becomes a race against time and against the evil of Quilp.
Can Little Nell keep her grandfather safe? Who will protect Nell? Will the mysterious gentleman find them before it is too late?
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The Scarlet Letter
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ISBN: 978-1-906230-76-0
ATOS®/AR Level: 6.1 what is this?
F&P Level: Z what is this?
£7.99
Hester Prynne stands defiantly on a scaffold before hostile Puritans in seventeenth-century Boston, Massachusetts.
The baby in her arms and the bright scarlet letter ‘A’ on her gown are evidence and punishment for the shame she has brought on her religious neighbours.
Will Hester continue to conceal the name of the husband who sent her away from Europe years before as well as that of the father of her baby? Will the husband get his revenge on the man who has shamed him? Will that man admit his past, and join Hester and her daughter Pearl?
Or is the matter out of their hands, waiting to be decided between the forces of the Lord and of Satan?
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The Tempest
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Illustrated by
ISBN: 978-1-906230-46-3
Lexile® Rating: 680L what is this?
ATOS®/AR Level: 4.7 what is this?
F&P Level: Z what is this?
£7.99
A storm, a shipwreck, an enchanted island ...
A violent storm shipwrecks the King of Naples and his noblemen on what appears to be an uninhabited island. What the king doesn’t know is that they have been brought here by powerful magic.
Prospero, the mysterious ruler of the island, has a plan, but will he use his magic for good or bad against the castaways? His daughter, Miranda, has never seen another man except her father. What will she think of the stranger who stumbles into her life? Prospero’s monstrous servant, Caliban, sees a chance to overthrow his master. Will he succeed?
Enchantment and treachery are everywhere on the island – which will prove the stronger?
Click here for the Shakespeare original language comparison
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Tom Sawyer
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ISBN: 978-1-906230-18-0
Lexile® Rating: 600L what is this?
F&P Level: W what is this?
£7.99
Tom Sawyer is a respectable boy in a little Mississippi River town. Huck Finn is a freedom-loving, neglected outcast. What better playmate could Tom want?
One night, innocent games of pirates and Robin Hood turn serious when the boys witness a murder in the graveyard. The murderer will kill them if they tell the truth. What should they do?
The boys decide to search for the murderer’s treasure. What risks will they take? Who else will they endanger? Will they have the courage and quick thinking to escape from dark caverns, cross the mighty Mississippi, and outwit the criminals? Will they find what they are looking for?
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Twelfth Night
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ISBN: 978-1-906230-56-2
Lexile® Rating: 570L what is this?
ATOS®/AR Level: 4.2 what is this?
F&P Level: Z what is this?
£7.99
Viola survives a shipwreck, but she thinks her twin brother Sebastian has died.
Alone in a strange country where it isn’t safe to be a single girl, Viola disguises herself as a boy called Cesario and finds work as a servant.
But dressing in boy’s clothes doesn’t stop Viola falling in love with a man – who is in love with someone else. Will she ever manage to win his love for herself?
And who is this other young man that appears, looking so like Cesario? What confusion will result from his arrival? Perhaps Viola’s brother didn’t drown after all …
Click here for the Shakespeare original language comparison
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Waverley
Edward Waverley is an English officer in the army of King George, but will his love for Flora, the beautiful Scottish rebel, lead him to betray his King?
Life with his regiment in Scotland is dull until he visits his uncle’s friends in the Highlands, where he meets Fergus McIvor and his sister Flora. Attracted by the wild freedom and romance of the Scottish clans, Edward finds himself in a difficult and dangerous position. His new friends are Jacobites, planning to overthrow King George and restore the Stuart monarchy.
The Jacobites rise in rebellion. When Prince Charles leads an invasion of England, Edward’s loyalties are hopelessly divided. Whose side will he take? And what fate awaits them all?
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Wuthering Heights
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ISBN: 978-1-906230-20-3
Lexile® Rating: 760L what is this?
ATOS®/AR Level: 4.9 what is this?
F&P Level: X what is this?
£7.99
I saw everything. They told me everything. I played a part in everything.
Nelly Dean has spent her life serving the inhabitants of Wuthering Heights. She has quite a tale to tell. She wants to tell it to you.
Nelly’s story is as wild and stormy as the moors on which it is set. She talks of haunting, hatred, love, grief and the desire for revenge.
Her tale begins and ends with the mysterious Heathcliff. Where has this strange, silent boy come from? Will you fear him or pity him? What drives the adult Heathcliff to destroy others, even his own son, and to dig in dark graveyards? Is it love or vengeance, or both?
This famous story of Heathcliff and Catherine will thrill you and chill you to the bone.
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