George Eliots tale of a solitary miser gradually redeemed by the joy of fatherhood Silas Marner" is edited with an introduction & notes by David Carroll in " Penguin Classics". Wrongly accused of theft & exiled from a religious community many years before the embittered weaver Silas Marner lives alone in Raveloe living only for work & his precious hoard of money. But when his money is stolen & an orphaned child finds her way into his house Silas is given the chance to transform his life. His fate & that of Eppie the little girl he adopts is entwined with Godfrey Cass son of the village Squire who like Silas is trapped by his past. " Silas Marner" George Eliots favourite of her novels combines humour rich symbolism & pointed social criticism to create an unsentimental but affectionate portrait of rural life. This text uses the Cabinet edition revised by George Eliot in 1878. David Carrolls introduction is complemented by the original " Penguin Classics" edition introduction by Q.D. Leavis. Mary Ann Evans (1819-80) began her literary career as a translator & later editor of the Westminster Review. In 1857 she published " Scenes of Clerical Life" the first of eight novels she would publish under the name of George Eliot including " The Mill on the Floss" " Middlemarch" & " Daniel Deronda". If you enjoyed " Silas Marner" you might like Nathaniel Hawthornes " The Scarlet Letter" also available in " Penguin Classics". "I think " Silas Marner" holds a higher place than any of the authors works. It is more nearly a masterpiece; it has more of that simple rounded consummate aspect...which marks a classical work". (Henry James)." ...

Although the shortest of George Eliot's novels Silas Marner is one of her most admired & loved works. It tells the sad story of the unjustly exiled Silas Marner
- a handloom linen weaver of Raveloe in the agricultural heartland of England
- & how he is restored to life by the unlikely means of the orphan child Eppie. Silas Marner is a tender & moving tale of sin & repentance set in a vanished rural world & holds the reader's attention until the last page as Eppie's bonds of affection for Silas are put to the test.

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Silas Marner lives a friendless & isolated existence near the country village of Raveloe hoarding his gold. One night his fortune is stolen & Silas loses everything he holds dear. But then the golden-haired child Eppie appears in his home & Silas begins to reform bonds of faith & human connectedness that he once renounced forever. ...

Deep in the water lurks a new breed of Beast. The Robobeasts threatens the planet Nemos! Max & his new companion Lia plunge deeper into the depths on their mission to save his dad. But will Max survive the dangers that hide in the shadows? & can he defeat the shocking power of Silda the Electric Eel? Dive into Sea Quest & live the adventure! ...

The noise between Patch & Nora has gone. They've overcome the secrets riddled in Patch's dark past bridged two irreconcilable worlds & faced heart-wrenching tests of betrayal loyalty & trust...and all for a love that will transcend the boundary between heaven & earth. Armed with nothing but their absolute faith in one another Patch & Nora enter a desperate fight to stop a villain who holds the power to shatter everything they've worked for
- & their love
- forever.

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Diarmaid Mac Culloch acknowledged master of the big picture in Christian history unravels a polyphony of silences from the history of Christianity & beyond. He considers the surprisingly mixed attitudes of Judaism to silence Jewish & Christian borrowings from Greek explorations of the divine & the silences which were a feature of Jesus's brief ministry & witness. Besides prayer & mystical contemplation there are shame & evasion; careless & purposeful forgetting. Many deliberate silences are revealed: the forgetting of histories which were not useful to later Church authorities (such as the leadership roles of women among the first Christians) or the constant problems which Christianity has faced in dealing honestly with sexuality. Behind all this is the silence of God; & in a deeply personal final chapter Mac Culloch brings a message of optimism for those who still seek God beyond the clamorous noise of over-confident certainties. ...

This is the powerful beautiful & chilling sequel to the bestselling Straw Dogs John Gray draws on an extraordinary array of memoirs poems fiction & philosophy to make us re-imagine our place in the world. Writers as varied as Ballard Borges Freud & Conrad are mesmerised by forms of human extremity
- experiences on the outer edge of the possible or which tip into fantasy & myth. What happens to us when we starve when we fight when we are imprisoned? & how do our imaginations leap into worlds way beyond our real experience? The Silence of Animals is consistently fascinating filled with unforgettable images & a delight in the conundrum of our existence
- an existence which we decorate with countless myths & ideas where we twist & turn to avoid acknowledging that we too are animals separated from the others perhaps only by our self-conceit. In the Babel we have created for ourselves it is the silence of animals that both reproaches & bewitches us. Reviews: The Silence of Animals is a new kind of book from Gray a sort of poetic reverie on the human state on the state that is of the human animal... He blends lyricism with wisdom humour with admonition nay-saying with affirmation making in the process a marvellous statement of what it is to be both an animal & a human in the strange terrifying & exquisite world into which we straw dogs find ourselves thrown". (John Banville Guardian). " Interesting original & memorable... The Silence of Animals is a beautifully written book the product of a strongly questioning mind. It is effectively an anthology with detailed commentary setting out one rich & suggestive episode after another". (Philip Hensher Spectator). About the author: John Gray has been Professor of Politics at Oxford University Visiting Professor at Harvard & Yale & Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics. He now writes full time. His books include False Dawn: The Delusions of Global Capitalism Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans & Other Animals & The Immortalization Commission: The Strange Quest to Cheat Death. His selected writings Gray's Anatomy was published in 2009."

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The problems responsibilities & ultimately the meaning of our lives have long been concerns of philosophers poets artists
- indeed
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Building work in an expanding Reykjavik uncovers a shallow grave. Years before this part of the city was all open hills & Erlendur & his team hope this is a typical Icelandic missing person scenario; perhaps someone once lost in the snow who has lain peacefully buried for decades. Things are never that simple. Whilst Erlendur struggles to hold together the crumbling fragments of his own family his case unearths many other tales of family pain. The hills have more than one tragic story to tell: tales of failed relationships & heartbreak; of anger domestic violence & fear; & of family loyalty & family shame. Few people are still alive who can tell the story but even secrets taken to the grave cannot remain hidden forever. ...

A powerful sequel to Love Without Conditions. John Bradshaw says: with deep insight & sparkling clarity this book demonstrates that the roots of all abuse are to be found in our own self-betrayal. Paul Ferrini leads us skilfully & courageously beyond shame blame & attachment to our wounds into the depths of self-forgiveness...a must read for all people who are ready to take responsibility for their own healing"." ...