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First published in 1891, 'The Light that Failed' is Rudyard Kipling's semi-autobiographical first novel. Critics who had praised his Anglo-Indian short stories were shocked by the unhappy ending and deviation from his usual style. None, however, could deny the power of Kipling's writing.'The Light that Failed' tells the story of war artist Dick Heldar, his doomed relationship with Maisie, and his descent into blindness. Through Dick, Kipling considers the relationship between Art and Life, espousing his belief that the artist has a duty to paint only what he knows to be true.This scholarly edition includes: critical introduction; author biography; suggestions for further reading; explanatory notes; contextual material.

Against the vivid background of the political and social upheavals of the mid-1880s, in 'Demos' Gissing weaves an electrifying story of ambition, betrayal, love and loss. The novel offers one of the most penetrating analyses of London's poor and working classes in late-Victorian fiction and delivers an unsettling critique of the English socialist movement at a pivotal point in its history. Gissing's rage against the social and economic system that creates appalling poverty is palpable, and he depicts human suffering with exquisite poignancy in scenes that are among the most beautiful in the English language. This new scholarly edition includes: preface by Pierre Coustillas, critical introduction by Debbie Harrison, suggestions for further reading, George Gissing chronology, explanatory notes, appendix on the politics of 'Demos'.

Originally published in 1901, 'East of Suez' was Alice Perrin's first collection of short stories. Her fascinating and thought-provoking tales of Anglo-Indian life rival the best work of Kipling, and were hugely successful in their day. Perrin tells stories of illicit love against a beautifully-drawn backdrop of the mystical east, interweaving the supernatural with exquisite details of her characters' lives. This scholarly edition includes: a critical introduction; author biography; suggestions for further reading; explanatory notes; contextual material on representations of the British Raj; illustrations from 'The Illustrated London News' and 'The Windsor Magazine'.

Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927) was the author of Three Men in a Boat, one of the best-loved books in the English language, but much of his prolific career has been left unexplored. Over a period of forty years, Jerome was variously a humourist, novelist, journalist, essayist and dramatist, leaving behind him a prodigious quantity of work, belying his famous quote "I like work. It fascinates me. I could sit and look at it for hours."In this major new biography, Carolyn Oulton unearths hitherto unknown details of Jerome's early life in Walsall with his Micawberish father and God-fearing mother, and follows his momentous move to the Fairy City of London, where a formative encounter with Charles Dickens influenced his choice of profession.Although famous for his unerring ability to capture middle-class experience in comic form, Oulton also reveals Jerome's serious side as campaigner on animal rights, champion of the underdog, and fierce opponent of the New Woman. Jerome was desperate to shake off the persistent association with larking about on the Thames, but never quite achieved it in his own lifetime.Jerome K. Jerome is revealed in Oulton's book as a complex figure worthy of reassessment, with his contradictions, idiosyncrasies and, above all, his exquisite wit.This edition also includes a Foreword by Jeremy Nicholas, President of the Jerome K. Jerome Society.

Harriet Brandt is the daughter of a mad scientist and a mixed-race voodoo priestess. Brought up on her parents' Jamaican plantation, she is forced to flee to Europe after the slaves revolt. Although everyone is initially attracted to Harriet, people who get close to her seem to sicken and die.Marryat's "psychic vampire" represents both the racial "other" and the New Woman of the period, both of whom were perceived as a threat to fin-de-siecle society. This curious novel engages with key debates, such as race, women's rights, heredity, syphilophobia and the occult.

'The Angel of the Revolution' is part of a relatively new literary genre, the British speculative future war novel. Interpretated in many ways - fin-de-siecle, technophobia, British imperialism - they anticipated modern science fiction.

A collection of short ghost stories by Victorian writer Rhoda Broughton. Includes: 'The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth', 'The Man with the Nose', 'Behold, it was a Dream!', 'Poor Pretty Bobby', and 'Under the Cloak'. Broughton uses the tales to comment on taboo subjects such as female sexuality and women's attitudes to money, as well as developing her interest in psychology and otherness, whilst consolidating her reputation as a sensational writer who never failed to tell a gripping tale.

'Notable Women Authors of the Day' began life as a series of interviews published in the popular women's magazine the Lady's Pictorial. The 30 featured authors were among the most successful of the late nineteenth century, and many were household names. This new edition includes a preface on Helen C. Black, a critical introduction, original portraits, explanatory footnotes, updated profiles of the Notable Women, and suggestions for further reading.

Professor Aldwyn wakes from a nap to discover that he is actually dead. During life he was a rational man of science, but he has now entered the spirit world and is forced to account for his actions on earth. In this novella Florence Marryat presents the reader with a sometimes playful, but ultimately engaging, challenge to the wider scientific community and its skepticism of the spiritual other.This new edition, edited by Dr Greta Depledge, features an introduction, contextual notes and additional material on contemporary debates.

In this, his first published novel, George Gissing establishes the hallmarks of his life-long literary obsession with class, money and sex. Against the turbulent background of London in the late nineteenth century he explores the overwhelming obstacles that face men of education, intelligence and talent, who strive to escape from the artisan class into which they were born.The novel marks a turning point in the history of English fiction. Through his subversive treatment of the conventions of fiction, Gissing becomes a founding member of the new school of fin-de-siecle literary realism and anticipates the twentieth-century novels of D H Lawrence and George Orwell.This new edition includes a preface by Pierre Coustillas, a map of Arthur Golding's London by Richard Dennis, and a critical introduction and explanatory notes by Debbie Harrison.

Nelly Ambrose is an East End seamstress with ideas above her station. Discontented with her reliable but conservative fiancé, George, she falls for the urbane charms of middle-class Arthur Grant, a married man bothered by few moral scruples. In her first novel, Harkness presents a vivid and troubling depiction of working-class life in late-Victorian London. Based on her own experience of the slums, she exposes the appalling conditions experienced by women in the casual labour force and their desperate struggle for economic security. Friedrich Engels famously wrote a letter to Harkness after reading her novel, describing it as 'the old, old story, the proletarian girl seduced by a middle-class man'. While he praised her storytelling, Engels criticised her portrayal of the working classes as passive. In this critical edition, Deborah Mutch demonstrates that while Harkness eschewed revolutionary politics, A City Girl embodies her desire to marry socialist goals with human empathy.

Dorothea's Daughter is a stunning new collection of short stories based on novels by Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, and Thomas Hardy. They are postscripts, rather than sequels, entering into dialogues with the original narratives by developing suggestions in the text. The authors' conclusions are respected, with no changes made to the plot; instead, Barbara Hardy draws out loose threads in the original fabric to weave new material, imagining moments in the characters' future lives.