UNITED KINGDOM AUTHOR · FICTION · BROTHERS AND SISTERS
L. P. Hartley
Also known as: Leslie Poles Hartley, LP Hartley
Leslie Poles Hartley was born in 1895 in Cambridgeshire, England. His father, who had strong religious views, was the manager of a factory. There was enough money in the family for them to live in a large country house and to send the boy to Harrow (one of the most expensive boys' schools in the country) and later to Oxford University. During the First World War Hartley served in the army, but he left before the end of the war as a result of ill-health. He returned to Oxford, where he continued studying until 1922. He then turned seriously to writing and lived in Italy for much of the rest of his life. He died in 1972. Hartley became known as an important writer of short stories, which appeared in a number of collections. He also wrote full-length books, and his three stories about 'Eustace and Hilda' were very popular. These follow the relationship between Eustace and his older sister Hilda as they grow from children to adults in Oxford and Venice. In these books, Hartley shows a great understanding of the difficulties of growing up, a subject to which he returns in The Go-Between. He also gives a very clear picture of the society and customs of the time, particularly in his description of Oxford student life in the 1920s. (Adapted from the biography written for "The Go-Between" Penguin readers edition.
Most acclaimed
The Go-Between (Penguin Readers, Level 4)
It is the summer of 1900 and Leo is staying with his friend Marcus. Leo likes Marcus's beautiful older sister very much. He becomes a secret messenger for her and a local farmer. But when he realizes what the messages they send each other are about, he is shocked and confused.
The Dracula Book of Great Vampire Stories
Dickens, C. Captain Murderer. -- Poe, E.A. [Pit and the Pendulum]( Lytton, Lord. The haunted and the haunters, or The house and the brain. -- Maupassant, G. de. The inn. -- Jerome, J.K. The dancing partner. -- Caterpillars. -- Stoker, B. The judge's house. -- Hodgson, W.H. The voice in the night. -- James, M.R. Count Magnus. -- Lovecraft, H.P. The festival. -- Hartley, L.P. The travelling grave. -- Blackwood, A. The wendigo.
The betrayal
There is an alternate story of the life of Jesus. One the early Church fathers found so menacing they outlawed the books that documented it, ordered them burned, and threatened anyone found copying them with death. International bestselling authors and award-winning archaeologists Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear put more than thirty years of exhaustive research into this fascinating novel. In A.D. 325, Brother Barnabas is a student of the ancient holy texts. These books paint a portrait of Jesus that is radical, heretical, and irresistible. In the writings of Mary Magdalene, Phillip, and James, Barnabas finds clues to a secret he must protect at all costs. But the Ecumenical Council of Bishops has just declared his cherished books "a hotbed of manifold perversity." Emperor Constantine has decreed that the documents must be burned and that anyone found copying them will be executed as a heretic. Barnabas's monastery is attacked. Brother Barnabas flees with his trusted companions, but they are being followed, for the True Church cannot allow them to find the most sacred place on Earth. In fact, it will do anything to stop them...