Books published by publisher Aegypan

Forster's 1908 novel, A Room with a View, is his most optimistic work, while A Passage to India (1924) brought him his greatest success. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 13 different years. Set in Italy and England, the story is both a romance and a critique of English society at the beginning of the 20th century. Lucy is a well-mannered Edwardian lady who finds that true love has no interest in playing by her rules. But how can she choose between what she wants and what everyone around her expects her to want? This gentle but sharp comedy has it all: surprise encounters, jealousy and revenge, conventional fools and unconventional sages, confrontation, loss, and eventual triumph.

One day Bowser the Hound found the fresh trail of Old Man Coyote and made up his mind that he would run down Old Man Coyote if he had to run his legs off to do it. You know there is nothing in the world Bowser enjoys quite so much as to hunt someone who will give him a long, hard run. Any time he will go without eating for the pleasure of chasing Reddy or Granny Fox, or Old Man Coyote. Old Man Coyote was annoyed. He was and he wasn't afraid of Bowser the Hound. That is to say he was afraid to fight Bowser, but he wasn't afraid to be hunted by Bowser, because he was so sure that he was smart enough to get away from Bowser. If Bowser had appeared at almost any other time Old Man Coyote wouldn't have been so annoyed. But to have Bowser appear just then made him angry clear through. You see, he had just started out to get his dinner. . . .

The Dorcas society of the little church has set its collective mind to the task of re-dressing the floors -- which means cleaning the pews, too -- and if they cannot have it done by Thanksgiving, why, then, let it be by Christmas. Nancy Wentworth, at thirty-five the most vivacious of them, with her youth undimmed by her work as teacher, throws herself into the work, even the dirty business of scrubbing. She begins to clean the Peabody Pew, which starts Mrs. Sargent into the subject of that worthless Peabody son, long missing."I know there's a Peabody still alive and doing business in Detroit," Mrs. Burbank says then, "for I got his address a week ago, and I wrote asking if he would send a few dollars toward repairing the old church."Nancy turns her face to the wall and silently wipes at the paint of the wainscoting. The blood that has rushed into her cheeks at Mrs. Sargent's jeering reference to Justin Peabody still lingers there, for anyone at all to read.From a literary point of view Wiggin's childhood was most distinctive for her encounter with the novelist Charles Dickens. Her mother and another relative had gone to hear Dickens read in Portland, but Wiggin, aged 11, was thought to be too young to warrant an expensive ticket. The following day, however, she found herself on the same train as Dickens and engaged him in a lively conversation for the course of the journey, an experience which she later detailed in a short memoir, A Child's Journey with Dickens (1912).

Time has brought changes to the March household -- home of the girls Jo, Amy, Beth and Meg, introduced in Louisa May Alcott's classic novel Little Women. Having returned safely from war, Mr. March has become a trusted and beloved minister in the local parish. Home, too, is young John Brooke, whose plans for a shared life with Meg, however modest and poor that life may turn out to be, make the eldest March girl think herself the happiest soul in Christendom. The young lovers will live in a charming little house dubbed "The Dovecote," with its front lawn the size of a handkerchief. Life promises adventures and fulfillment for the other March girls, as well -- for not only are their talents developing, but they are growing older and more accomplished in the complicated matter of living their own lives. Tomboyish Jo's curly crop is lengthening into long coils, and she is learning to carry herself with ease -- if not quite with grace. Beth has grown slender, pale, and more quiet than ever, with beautiful eyes brimming with kindness. And Amy, the flower of the family, at sixteen already has the air and bearing of a full-gown woman, and exerts an indescribable charm -- especially on young men.

"Never are there such departures as from the dock at Honolulu. The great transport lay with steam up, ready to pull out. A thousand persons were on her decks; five thousand stood on the wharf. Up and down the long gangway passed native princes and princesses, sugar kings and the high officials of the Territory. Beyond, in long lines, kept in order by the native police, were the carriages and motor-cars of the Honolulu aristocracy. On the wharf the Royal Hawaiian Band played 'Aloha Oe,' and when it finished, a stringed orchestra of native musicians on board the transport took up the same sobbing strains, the native woman singer's voice rising birdlike above the instruments and the hubbub of departure." - From "Aloha Oe"

"H.L. Mencken wrote of Mark Twain, 'I believe that he was the true father of our national literature, the first genuinely American artist of the blood royal.' Father, Mark Twain is. And brother, friend, and wise old grandpa. But no offense to Mr. Mencken: Sam'l Clemens is American and there ain't no royalty around here 'ceptin maybe the Duke or someone like that. Unless it's the Prince and the Pauper or King Arthur in Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. "Hank the Yankee asks, 'You know about transmigration of souls; do you know about transposition of epochs -- and bodies?' "'Wit ye well, I saw it done.' Then, after a pause, added: 'I did it myself.' "Just like Mark Twain -- Samuel Langhorne Clemens." -- From Amy Sterling Casil's Introduction

That night the comet was the only thing in the whole sky. All the stars were smothered by the light of its copper-yellow flame, and, although the sun had set two hours ago, the Earth was lit as with the glow of a thunderous dawn.In Mayfield, Ken Maddox walked slowly along Main Street, avoiding collisions with other people whose eyes were fixed on the object in the sky. Ken had spent scores of hours observing the comet carefully, both by naked eye and with his 12-inch reflecting telescope. Still he could not keep from watching it as he picked his way along the street toward the post office.The comet had been approaching Earth for months, growing steadily to bigger proportions in the sky, but tonight was a very special night, and Mayfield was watching with increased awe and half-dread -- as were hundreds of thousands of other communities around the world.Tonight, the Earth entered the comet's tail, and during the coming winter would be swept continuously by its million-mile spread.

Harry Birsch is thought to be a loyalist living in the American colonies, but when George Washington offers him money in exchange for sensitive information about the British, Harry scoffs at the idea. He exchanges the information not for the monetary gains, but what he can do for America. And so he begins a journey in which he spies for the Americans in an attempt to win the war. In doing so, he must masquerade as a traitor. The real truth is the secret that can never be revealed lest the reputation of all he holds dear will fall.James Fenimore Cooper is best known for his "leather stocking" novels concerning American Indian life and the frontier. His most famous novel is Last of the Mohicans. The Spy is the first novel with espionage as the main theme and is the novel that garnered him much fame.

WAS DANNY MEADOW MOUSE'S TAIL TOO SHORT? Danny certainly thought so. Cousin Whitefoot's elegant tail was certainly much longer. One day Danny was so morose on the subject, he almost didn't notice Old Whitetail the Marsh Hawk swooping down. Whew! He escaped, though -- You see, Danny had a problem. Not only was Danny a mouse, he was a plump, tasty-looking mouse. Reddy Fox wanted him for dinner Granny Fox thought he'd do for breakfast. Mr. Blacksnake wriggled with pleasure at the notion of a -- "Chomp!" -- Danny Meadow Mouse Snack. And Redtail the Hawk -- well, you get the idea.

A small child and a cuckoo for a cuckoo clock become unlikely friends, when at night the clock transports her to magical places. "Stopped!" says Miss Tabitha, throwing up her hands. "Impossible!" "I mean cuckoo has stopped," the girl says. "The clock is going on, but the cuckoo isn't telling the hours." "What can we do?" says Miss Tabitha. "Should we send for the watch-maker?" But Miss Grizzel shakes her head, and says, "That would be worse than useless, Tabitha. Were we to search the world over, we would find no one to put it right. Fifty years and more, that clock has never missed an hour! We are getting old, Tabitha -- and maybe our day is nearly over!"

The Touchstone was Edith Wharton's first published novella, and it's spare, perhaps even underwritten. Even so, this Faustian tale of a man who stoops to publish love letters for money has mesmerizing, even dangerous qualities -- it has betrayals, greed, and consequences faced: hidden meanings emerge in places where we do not expect to find them. Perhaps, like Stephen Glennard in The Touchstone, we will go mad with guilt, proving we do after all have a conscience. . . .