FICTION · BIOGRAPHY
Paul Collins
You're a woman, Miss Wainwright.
— from Trust Me
Most acclaimed
Edgar Allan Poe
1963
"Charlatan, plagiarist, pathological liar, whimpering child, egomaniac, braggart, and irresponsible drunkard, he did what few American writers had ever tried to do before: he tapped the rich reservoir of the subconscious mind to set free the terrible images which had seldom been allowed to stalk the printed page." Thus in his introduction to this collection Philip Van Doren Stern sums up the strange genius of Edgar Allan Poe, one of America's most original men of letters. The Portable Poe compiles Poe's greatest writings: tales of fan- tasy, terror, death, revenge, murder, and mystery, including "The Pit and the Pendulum," "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Cask of Amontillado," and "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," the world's first detective story. In addition, this vol-ume offers letters, articles, criticism, visionary poetry, and a selection of random "opinions" on fancy and the imagination, music and poetry, intuition and sundry other topics. --back cover
Samurai
In 1613 Father Pedro Velasco's dream came true. He set sail with a small group of Japanese Samurai for Mexico, Spain and Rome. Velasco knew Japanese, and his zealous hope was to become primate over a converted, Catholic Japan. His mission, with the Samurai, was to bargain for a Catholic crusade through Japan in exchange for Japanese trading rights with the West. It was a journey of incredible danger and hardship, underwritten solely by faith...
Home run
Looking back, everything Dick Bainton said was a lie. But at the time, it was possible to judge. His implausible excuse for turning up at The Millstone, a rambling farmhouse on the way to nowhere just north of Oxford, was to check security fittings. He also claimed no one answered when he rang the bell. But that aside, he offered money. Not directly, but in the form of another student for Miss Quilter's foreign language school -- and one who might help with the unending repair, maintenance and modernisation bills. The only uncertainty seemed to be the prospective student herself, Dick Bainton's fiancee. A Russian migr still apprehensive of the unknown future awaiting her. Needing security. Anonymity. And somewhere to hide. So Kit Quilter filled in the form, accepted a substantial cheque and handed over a receipt. Kit Quilter BA, MSc, Dip RSA, officially enrolled Ludmilla Tolstoya for a four-week course starting on 15 April. Kit Quilter was an idiot, first class. But at the time, how could she possibly have known?