After the death of her parents, the neglected and spoiled Mary Lennox is sent to her uncle's large and lonely house on the Yorkshire Moors. There she discovers a secret garden and with the help of her strange, animal-charming friend Dickon, not only restored the garden but in the process transforms herself from a sullen, unhappy child to an unselfish, happy one, and helps to cure her sick cousin and to rehabilitate his gloomy, grief-stricken father.
Frances Hodgson Burnett's passionate belief in the redemptive forces of renewal is shown nowhere more clearly than in The Secret Garden, her most sensitive and popular children's novel. First published in 1911, it lies in the best tradition of the family story developed by such writers as E. Nesbit in Britain and Louisa M. Alcott and Susan Coolidge in America.
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Lorsqu'il paraît en 1894 sous forme de feuilleton dans le Harper's Monthly, Trilby suscite une vogue incroyable. Le livre devient un best-seller : en un an 300.000 exemplaires sont vendus des deux côtés de l'Atlantique. À la grande surprise de son auteur, George du Maurier, le grand-père de Daphné, illustrateur de la célèbre revue satirique Punch, devenu romancier sur le tard. À la grande surprise également de son meilleur ami Henry James qui faillit hériter du sujet. Voici donc, contée par une plume diserte l'histoire d'une grisette, Trilby, " blanchisseuse de fin et modèle pour l'ensemble ".
Voici encore le récit de la carrière de Petit Billy, peintre anglais génial, flanqué de deux amis pour la vie, épris de Trilby et contrarié par la morale de son milieu. Voilà Svengali, pianiste génial, magnétiseur à toute heure qui entreprend l'héroïne. Voici revivre le Quartier latin d'il y a cent ans et plus, ses bistrots, sa bohème, son petit peuple et la haute. Et nous voilà délicieusement dépaysés. Autant que le changement d'époque, c'est le ton cocasse et émouvant qui réjouit. Et l'argument fantastique fournit par le thème de l'hypnose qui fit entrer Trilby au panthéon des surréalistes.
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First published as part of the best-selling The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain, John Blair's Very Short Introduction to the Anglo-Saxon Age covers the emergence of the earliest English settlements to the Norman victory in 1066. This book is a brief introduction to the political, social, religious, and cultural history of Anglo-Saxon England.

ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

A rich, atmospheric Viking journey into Iceland.



A sense of menace grew on me all morning. Not a vision. No glimpse of the future disturbed me. It was more a shadow of approaching danger.

Snatched by a notorious Viking chieftain, Thora is set to leave her homeland on a ship bound for Iceland. But when her captor is murdered an altogether different journey begins . . .



Features Marie-Louise Jensen's first novel, Between Two Seas, received brilliant reviews and found many fans, as well as being shortlisted for the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize and the Branford Boase Award.
The Lady in the Tower looks set to follow the success of Between Two Seas - it was shortlisted for the 2009 Waterstone's Children's Book Prize and is receiving fantastic reviews.
Meticulously researched and rich in historical detail.
A key strength of this author is her ability to evoke a wonderful sense of place.
Thora is a fantastic character whom readers will root for and her psychic abilities add another layer to the story.
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There has been a ghost in the house for three hundred years, and Lord Canterville's family have had enough of it. So Lord Canterville sells his grand old house to an American family. Mr Hiram B Otis is happy to buy the house and the ghost - because of course Americans don't believe in ghosts.