Jean Rhys spell-binding novel Wide Sargasso Sea" inspired by Jane Eyre & winner the Royal Society of Literature Award is beautifully repackaged as part of the Penguin Essentials range. There is no looking glass here & I dont know what I am like now... Now they have taken everything away. What am I doing in this place & who am I? If Antoinette Cosway a spirited Creole heiress could have foreseen the terrible future that awaited her she would not have married the young Englishman. Initially drawn to her beauty & sensuality he becomes increasingly frustrated by his inability to reach into her soul. He forces Antoinette to conform to his rigid Victorian ideals unaware that in taking away her identity he is destroying a part of himself as well as pushing her towards madness. Set against the lush backdrop of 1830s Jamaica Jean Rhys powerful haunting masterpiece was inspired by her fascination with the first Mrs Rochester the mad wife in Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre. " Compelling painful & exquisite". (" Guardian"). " Brilliant. A tale of dislocation & dispossession which Rhys writes with a kind of romantic cynicism desperate & pungent". (" The Times"). " Rhys turns a menacing cipher into a grieving plausible young woman & one whose story says whole worlds about global mixtures about the misunderstandings between the colonized the colonizers & the people who cant easily say which they are". (" Time"). Jean Rhys was born in Dominica in 1890 the daughter of a Welsh doctor & a white Creole mother & came to England when she was sixteen. Her first book a collection of stories called " The Left Bank" was published in 1927. This was followed by Quartet (originally Postures 1928) " After Leaving Mr Mackenzie" (1930) " Voyage in the Dark" (1934) & " Good Morning Midnight" (1939). None of these books was particularly successful & with the outbreak of war they went out of print. Jean Rhys dropped from sight until nearly twenty years later she was discovered living reclusively in Cornwall. During those years she had accumulated the stories collected in Tigers are Better-Looking. In 1966 she made a sensational reappearance with Wide Sargasso Sea which won the Royal Society of Literature Award & the W. H. Smith Award. Her final collection of stories " Sleep It Off Lady" appeared in 1976 & " Smile Please" her unfinished autobiography was published posthumously in 1979. Jean Rhys died in 1979." ...

There is nothing to be found in the pages of these books but misery & despair. You still have time to choose something else to read. But if you must know what unpleasantries befall the charming & clever Baudelaire children read on...A story that

Includes:: a hurricane a signalling device hungry leaches cold cucumber soup a horrible villain & a doll named Pretty Penny. Then again why trouble yourself with the unfortunate resolutions? Avoid these books in Lemony Snickets international bestselling series & youll never have to know what happens!

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here is nothing to be found in the pages of these books but misery & despair. You still have time to choose something else to read. But if you must know what unpleasantries befall the charming & clever Baudelaire children read on...A story that

Includes:: a hurricane a signalling device hungry leaches cold cucumber soup a horrible villain & a doll named Pretty Penny. Then again why trouble yourself with the unfortunate resolutions? Avoid these books in Lemony Snicket's international bestselling series & you'll never have to know what happens!

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In 1987 the Tour was won by Irishman Stephen Roche. It was the first time the champion had hailed from outside the Continent or the States & the first time in 20 years a British team
- ANC Halfords
- had competed in the world's toughest & craziest race. Jeff Connor not only stayed with the British team but also found himself an unofficial team member. In this long-awaited new edition of Wide-Eyed & Legless" now widely regarded as a classic Connor describes what it takes to compete survive & win during those 26 days of gruelling effort. Alongside the heroism & athleticism he reveals the extraordinary amounts of chicanery from pulling riders along to illicit drug use. Time has not dimmed the impact of this eye-opening & entertaining close-up look at the supreme endurance event & " Wide-Eyed & Legless" is destined to be acclaimed by a new generation of cycling enthusiasts."

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A wide-mouthed frog cheerily asks all the animals what they would like to eat
- until he comes across a rather sinister crocodile
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Widnes is an industrial town within the borough of Halton in the ceremonial county of Cheshire England with an urban area population of 57 663 in 2004. It is located on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form Runcorn Gap. Directly to the south of Widnes across the Mersey is the town of Runcorn. Upstream & 8 miles to the east of Widnes is the town of Warrington & downstream 16 miles to the west is the city of Liverpool. Historically part of Lancashire prior to the Industrial Revolution Widnes consisted of a small number of separate settlements on land which was mainly marsh or moorl&. In 1847 the first chemical factory was established & the town rapidly became a major centre of the chemical industry. Widnes continues to be a major manufacturer of chemicals & there has been a degree of diversification of the towns industries. Widnes lies on the southern route of the Liverpool to Manchester railway line. The Sankey Canal (now disused) terminates in an area of Widnes known as Spike Isl&. ...

One night when she was four & sleeping in the bottom bunk of her bunk bed Ruth Cole awoke to the sound of lovemaking
- it was coming
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When Nigel Strangeways books tickets for a holiday in the Greek islands with renowned sculptor Claire Massinger he has no idea that the trip will end in tragedy. From the moment the boat sets sail it becomes clear that many of his fellow passengers
- from a neurotic widow to the ships lecturer
- have guilty secrets to hide but do any of them also have a motive for murder? It will take all of Nigels insight & flair if he is to uncover the truth.

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My husband died my life collapsed. On a February morning in 2008 Joyce Carol Oates drove her ailing husband Raymond Smith to the emergency room of the Princeton Medical Center where he was diagnosed with pneumonia. Both Joyce & Ray expected him to be released in a day or two. But in less than a week even as Joyce was preparing for his discharge Ray was dead from a hospital-acquired virulent infection & Joyce was suddenly faced -- totally unprepared -- with the reality of widowhood. A Widows Story illuminates one womans struggle to comprehend a life absent of the partnership that had sustained & defined her for nearly half a century. Joyce Carol Oates shares the derangement of denial the anguish of loss the disorientation of the survivor amid a nightmare of death duties & the solace of friendship. She writes unflinchingly of the experience of grief -- the almost unbearable suspense of the hospital vigil the treacherous pools of memory that surround us the vocabulary of illness the absurdities of commercialized forms of mourning. Enlivened by the piercing vision acute perception & mordant humour that are the hallmarks of the work of Joyce Carol Oates this is a extremely moving tale of life & death love & grief. ...

When Nathan Smith 51 is found in bed with a hole in his head its hard not to imagine his young bride as the one with her finger on the trigger. Even her lawyer thinks she is guilty. But given that Mary Smith is entitled to the best defence she can afford
- & thanks to Nathans millions she can afford plenty
- Spenser is hired to investigate Marys bona fides. Her alibi is flimsy
- she claims she was watching TV in the other room when the murder occurred. But the couple were seen fighting at a high profile cocktail party earlier that evening...


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