Books published by publisher Norilana Books

Doctor Thorne (1858) by Anthony Trollope is one of the charming series of loosely connected novels set in Barsetshire. This is the third book to appear in the series, but may be read as a standalone work, and enjoyed on its own merits. While the good Dr. Thomas Thorne is at the heart of the novel, it is the romantic story of his niece Mary Thorne and Frank Gresham -- a story with the playful sensibility of Jane Austen and the heartwarming cheer of Dickens.

This is the 10th Anniversary Edition of the critically acclaimed mythic fantasy classic "collage novel" DREAMS OF THE COMPASS ROSE by two-time Nebula Award Nominee Vera Nazarian. The world is shaped by two things -- stories told and the memories they leave behind. The Compass Rose universe -- an ancient milieu where places have no names, cities spring forth like bouquets in the desert, gods and dreams walk the scorching sands in the South, ice floats like mirror shards upon the Northern sea, islands that do not exist are found in the East, death chases a thief on the rooftops of a Western city, immortal love spans time, and directions are intertwined into one road we all travel.... You come to this place when you wonder, and sometimes, only when you dream. What is the nature of evil? When a young warrior of a dark race finds himself bound in servitude to a beautiful cruel princess, his loyalty becomes entwined with something more horrifying and mysterious than endless night falling over the ancient desert. When a courageous young servant reveals her hidden wisdom to the madman conqueror of the world, her fate is joined to a nightmare suspended beyond death and outside the universe. Two souls from different times -- their destinies connected through hundreds of other lives and generations, through soft whispers of the wind, through ancient truths that lie buried in an island between worlds. Both souls enslaved through dream and desire in an endless conflict between truth and illusion. They can only be set free by the wonder of the Compass Rose. "A clever concoction of vignettes and short stories knitted into a morality tale about the temptation of illusion and the price of truth... an exotic setting reminiscent of Tanith Lee's Flat Earth series.... The author's sumptuous language will resonate with Lord Dunsany and Clark Ashton Smith fans... Nazarian's vital themes and engaging characters are sure to entertain." -Publishers Weekly "The colorful strong writing style that Vera has worked on for years has come to full fruition." -Marion Zimmer Bradley "I love this book. Dreams of the Compass Rose is a story-cycle in which we keep coming back to the same characters, except from different viewpoints and different times in their lives. It's set in a land of desert empires that never was, though it could easily be our world-far in the future, or deep in the past. Some of the stories are brutal, some are like dreams. All of them are engaging and resonant, creating a new mythology that feels so right one might be forgiven for thinking that it's the cultural heritage of some forgotten country or people that have been lost to history. It reminded me of those wonderful, dream-laden story-cycles that Clark Ashton Smith and Lord Dunsany were writing around the turn of the last century. Dreams of the Compass Rose has a similar stately lyricism, a compelling and visionary voice that speaks to the heart of the reader." -Charles de Lint "Nazarian's story cycle treads the borderline between the episodic novel and the short-story collection... her imagery is rich, vivid, and memorable, not to mention being remarkable because she realizes it not in her native language, Russian, but in English.... this is a singularly appealing book by a new voice in fantasy." -ALA Booklist "An intricate multi-level story... a kind of Aesop's Fables... spoken with a voice from the Far East, hypnotic as the desert sands." -Locus

ROMOLA (1862-63) by British Victorian woman author George Eliot is a complex historical novel of Renaissance Florence. Young, handsome, and ambitious scholar Tito Melema falls in love with the erudite and intelligent Romola, daughter of another scholar and convinces her to marry him. In a mock ceremony Tito also marries a naïve young Florentine girl Tessa. Political and religious upheaval fills the city, plague spreads, and events reveal Tito to be a dishonorable and cowardly schemer who betrays the trust of his adoptive father. Otherworldly and charitable Romola is thrust in the middle of this personal and political conflict, and her fate becomes entwined with historical events, and with Tessa, the "other wife." A sophisticated and many-layered psychological masterpiece by the author of MIDDLEMARCH.

The warm nostalgic spirit of the holidays shines in this deluxe holiday gift edition. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is a perennial family classic populated by such unforgettable characters as Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit, and the Three Spirits of Christmas -- beginning with a "Bah! Humbug!" and culminating in an ultimate discovery of grace and good cheer. And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!

ROMOLA (1862-63) by British Victorian woman author George Eliot is a complex historical novel of Renaissance Florence. Young, handsome, and ambitious scholar Tito Melema falls in love with the erudite and intelligent Romola, daughter of another scholar and convinces her to marry him. In a mock ceremony Tito also marries a naive young Florentine girl Tessa. Political and religious upheaval fills the city, plague spreads, and events reveal Tito to be a dishonorable and cowardly schemer who betrays the trust of his adoptive father. Otherworldly and charitable Romola is thrust in the middle of this personal and political conflict, and her fate becomes entwined with historical events, and with Tessa, the "other wife." A sophisticated and many-layered psychological masterpiece by the author of MIDDLEMARCH.

Robinson Crusoe (1719) by Daniel Defoe is the story of a 17th century Englishman shipwrecked on a desert island and his daily struggles for survival, a steadfast adherence to his Puritan religious ethic, illness and loneliness, cultivation of the land and the creation of a home against all odds including man-eating savages, and eventually the saving and "taming" of one to be "his man Friday" -- culminating in an eventual rescue and return to England. Robinson Crusoe is considered to be one of the earliest novels in the English language, and it remains powerfully compelling for the modern reader. Over the centuries it has spawned a number of imitations, all based on the desert island trope. This one's the original -- a beloved classic for the young and old alike.

When Baroness Emmuska Orczy wrote The Scarlet Pimpernel (1905), little did she know she was creating the super hero genre. Who is the elusive and mysterious Scarlet Pimpernel? A master of clever disguises, stealth and elegant escapes -- skills that he uses to rescue doomed French aristocrats from the guillotine during the French Revolution's Reign of Terror. His signature -- a tiny scarlet flower. The Pimpernel's true identity is unknown except to a small group of co-conspirators who work with him and together comprise the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel. Not even his wife, the beautiful Lady Marguerite Blakeney, knows that the man she is married to, an effete fop and dull-witted British dandy Sir Percy Blakeney, is a secret hero who risks his life on a daily basis in order to save countless others. A vibrant adventure awaits the reader -- heart-pounding narrow escapes, clever repartee and dashing wit, true love thwarted and redeemed, a relentless agent of the French Republican Government who makes it his personal goal to capture and destroy the Scarlet Pimpernel, and of course Percy's immortal "bon mot" that makes the social rounds in England and France: "We seek him here, we seek him there, Those Frenchies seek him everywhere. Is he in heaven? -- Is he in hell? That demmed, elusive Pimpernel." Book One of "The Scarlet Pimpernel Series"

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is a masterpiece of aestheticism and a moral parable. Dorian Gray is a young man of impossible physical beauty whose portrait -- painted by the artist Basil Hallward -- becomes connected on an occult level with the workings of his soul. Drawn into a corrupt and sensual life by the dissolute Lord Henry Wotton, Dorian remains young and beautiful, while the painting ages in his stead, ultimately becoming a monstrosity. Interwoven throughout is the author's brilliant commentary on beauty, art, love, and always, stunning wit.

THE EXPLORER (1907) by W. Somerset Maugham is a story of the proud Allertons whose fortune has been squandered, and whose three-hundred-year estate Hamlyn's Purlieu stands to be lost to the family. Lucy and George Allerton, brother and sister, are resolved to overcome the mistakes of their father, Fred Allerton. A powerful exploration of relationships and familial bonds by a true master of the human psyche.

Wuthering Heights (1847) by Emily Brontë is considered to be one of the great classic novels of literature in the English language. A gothic story of obsessive, cruel love, of terrifying "soul mates" Catherine and Heathcliff who destroy each other with unresolved passion, the novel is distinctive for its complex structure, told in circular flashback. The mood and psychological tension is mesmerizing, and the atmosphere of the supernatural permeates this dark, unforgettable work.

Laddie, A True Blue Story (1913) by Gene Stratton Porter is a wonderful and semi-autobiographical novel of siblings, family bonds, struggles and loves, learning and nature, and the complex joys of growing up in the country at the turn of the past century. Little Sister tells us the story of her brother Laddie, and the whole family is glimpsed through her loving eyes. A classic uplifting tale of self-discovery for all ages.