Three novels set in the 19th century. In the first, a howling dog at a wedding becomes a portent of troubles ahead; in the second, two rival farms suffer contrasting fortunes; and in the third, a woman escaping tragedy finds work, lodging and comfort in a small Cornish fishing village.
This omnibus contains two novels from Mary Pearce: Jack Mercybright - wherein Jack tries to make a name for himself in an unfamiliar country community at the end of the 19th century; and The Sorrowing Wind - it is 1914 and Betony Izzard's family becomes entangled with the Mercybrights.
JACK MERCYBRIGHT - As the nineteenth-century draws to a close Jack Mercybright is making a life for himself in an unfamiliar country community. Brown Elms Farm is badly in need of an overseer; its fields lie neglected and its owners, Philippa and Nenna Guff, are at a loss what to do until Jack Mercybright appears on the scene. His blunt speech and uncompromising manner, together with the fact that he is a stranger, make him unpopular with the men at first, but by his dedication and sheer hard work, he soon wins their respect and their friendship. THE SORROWING WIND - It is 1914 and Betony Izzard is working hard for the war effort. Life with her family and their carpentry business is as busy as ever, but all too soon her brothers William and Roger, and foster brother Tom, are fighting in the trenches in France and the future is darkly uncertain. Back home in England, the lives of the Izzards and Mercybrights become entangled and out of sorrow love is born. But the strength of family bonds is tested when events bring shame and suspicion, followed by loss in the aftermath of the Great War.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is one of the most influential and controversial novels of the nineteenth century; it is also one of the most misunderstood and misinterpreted. It has been vivisected critically by latter-day Victor Frankensteins who have transformed the meanings emergent from the novel into monsters of post-modern misconception. Meanwhile Franken-feminists have turned the novel into a monster of misanthropy. Seldom has a work of fiction suffered so scandalously from the slings and arrows of outrageous criticism. This critical edition, containing tradition-oriented essays by literary scholars, refutes the errors and serves as an antidote to the poison that has contaminated the critical understanding of this classic gothic novel. The Ignatius Critical Editions represent a tradition-oriented alternative to popular textbook series such as the Norton Critical Editions or Oxford World Classics, and are designed to concentrate on traditional readings of the Classics of world literature. While many modern critical editions have succumbed to the fads of modernism and post-modernism, this series will concentrate on tradition-oriented criticism of these great works. Edited by acclaimed literary biographer, Joseph Pearce, the Ignatius Critical Editions will ensure that traditional moral readings of the works are given prominence, instead of the feminist, or deconstructionist readings that often proliferate in other series of 'critical editions'. As such, they represent a genuine extension of consumer-choice, enabling educators, students and lovers of good literature to buy editions of classic literary works without having to 'buy into' the ideologies of secular fundamentalism. The series is ideal for anyone wishing to understand great works of western civilization, enabling the modern reader to enjoy these classics in the company of some of the finest literature professors alive today. Edited by Joseph Pearce Contributors to this volume: Jo Bath Philip Nielsen Joseph Pearce Thomas W. Stanford III Aaron Urbanczyk
The sequel to Pearce's "Apple Tree Lean Down" begins as the Wayman family moves into Holland Farm during the cruel, desperate years of the 1920s and, united in hope and effort, triumphs over adversity
When Ellen Wainwright marries Richard Lancey in July 1873, the day is so hot that the church doors are left wide open and towards the end of the ceremony, a stray dog runs in and stands howling in the central aisle. Later people would remember the dog as an ill omen.
The moving abolitionist novel that fueled the fire of the human rights debate in 1852 and condemned the institution of slavery through such powerfully realized characters as Tom, Eliza, Topsy, Eva, and Simon Legree. First published more than 150 years ago, this monumental work is today being reexamined by critics, scholars, and students. Harriet Beecher Stowe was appalled by slavery, and she took one of the few options open to nineteenth century women who wanted to affect public opinion: she wrote a novel, a huge, enthralling narrative that claimed the heart, soul, and politics of pre-Civil War Americans. In a time when many whites claimed slavery had ""good effects"" on blacks, Uncle Tom's Cabin paints pictures of three plantations, each worse than the other, where even the best plantation leaves a slave at the mercy of fate or debt. Her questions remain penetrating even today: ""Is man ever a creature to be trusted with wholly irresponsible power?"" Though "Uncle Tom" has become a synonym for a fawning black yes-man, Stowe's Tom is actually American literature's first black hero, a man who suffers for refusing to obey his white oppressors. Uncle Tom's Cabin is a living, relevant story, passionate in its vivid depiction of the cruelest forms of injustice and inhumanity-and the courage it takes to fight against them.
In this final novel of the trilogy Mary Pearce brings together the characters from Apple tree lean down and Jack Mercybright to conclude a fascinating saga of English country life and those who maintain it. The period covered by this book includes the First World War.
Set in rural Gloucestershire in the mid-nineteenth century, THE OLD HOUSE AT RAILES follows the fortunes of Martin Cox, the gifted son of a local stonemason. Martin and his family live in poverty, but he is educated at Newton Railes, the house of one of the most respected families in the district, the Tarrants. Martin instantly falls under the spell of both the old house and John Tarrant's beautiful daughters. The destinies of both families alter: Martin comes into a legacy and buys a comfortable cottage whle expanding his father's business until he too is a wealthy man. The Tarrants, however, experience a tragedy which also has a dramatic effect on Martin, as he renews his connection with the old house at Railes, and with the girl he has loved since boyhood.
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