W. Somerset Maugham
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First published in 1915, the semi-autobiographical Of Human Bondage combines the values left over from the Victorian era with the prevailing irony and despair of the early twentieth century. Unsentimental yet bursting with deep feeling, Of Human Bondage remains Maughams most complete statement of the importance of physical and spiritual liberty, a theme that resounds more loudly than ever today.
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"The story of the beautiful but love-starved Kitty Fane. When her husband discovers her adulterous affair, he forces her to accompany him to the heart of a cholera epidemic. Stripped of the British society of her youth and the small but effective society she fought so hard to attain in Hong Kong, she is compelled by her awakening conscience to reassess her life and learn how to love"--Page 4 of cover.
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Kate Burton reprises her Tony-nominated performance as Constance Middleton in W. Somerset Maugham's classic comedy of manners. There's something Constance Middleton's friends are dying to tell her: her husband is having an affair, with her best friend! Despite their hints, Constance remains ever cool, and seemingly oblivious. Or is she?
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W. Somerset Maugham led many lives, including that of a doctor in London's slums, a successful playwright and novelist, an agent for British Intelligence during World War I, and a world traveler. In 1917, he took the first of many voyages to the Pacific Islands and the Far East, where his keen sense of observation found inspiration for some of his finest writing. Rain and Other South Sea Stories features one of Maugham's most famous tales, concerning...
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For Christmas, Charley Mason's father granted him a trip to Paris, all expenses paid. It should have been a lark, but on his first night Charley meets a woman whose story will forever change his life.
For Lydia has seen tragedy. The Russian Revolution displaced her family, left her homeless, fatherless. And for reasons that elude Charley, Lydia pines for a man half a world away—a dope dealer and murderer whose sins Lydia seeks to absolve through...
For Lydia has seen tragedy. The Russian Revolution displaced her family, left her homeless, fatherless. And for reasons that elude Charley, Lydia pines for a man half a world away—a dope dealer and murderer whose sins Lydia seeks to absolve through...
9) The Magician
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From one of literature's finest storytellers comes an enchanting tale of secrets, the supernatural—and fatal attraction.
Renowned English surgeon Arthur Burdon is engaged to the beautiful Margaret Dauncey, who is studying art in Paris. The match is met with approval from all sides, and everyone is happy—until the mysterious Oliver Haddo enters the picture. Both Arthur and his fiancée dislike the enormously fat and eccentric
...10) Cakes and ale
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For Alroy Kear the task is sample: write the authorized biography of the eminently respectable Victorian novelist Edward Driffield and make it a bestseller. What he doesn't reckon on is the truth.
11) Being Julia
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Julia is a true diva: beautiful, talented, wealthy and famous. She has a devoted husband who has masterminded her brillant career - but after years of the spotlight she begins to suffer from a severe case of boredom and longs for something new and exciting to put the twinkle back in her eye. She finds what she is looking for in a handsome young American fan, who adds a few more sparks than Julia was hoping for.
12) The letter
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Set on a rubber plantation in Malaya, this story centers on a woman's reasons for killing a man who was a close family friend.
13) The razor's edge
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In 1918, Larry Darrell returns home from World War 1 disillusioned with his materialistic society. The quest for inner peace leads Larry to reject his rich fiancee, Isabel, and go searching for truth in the Himalayas. But, Larry learns that the path to enlightenment is as painful and narrow as treading the sharp edge of a razor.
14) The painted veil
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The story unfolds in China, where Katrin's marriage to busy M.D. Walter Fane is in trouble. Lonely and neglected, Katrin falls in love with diplomatic attaché Jack Townsend. When Walter discovers the affair, he takes Katrin inland to fight a cholera epidemic, maliciously thinking the disease will kill them both. But working together helps rebuild their marriage, until Townsend resurfaces. Now Katrin must choose.
15) The painted veil
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Set in the 1920s. A young English couple, Walter a middle class doctor and Kitty, an upper-class woman, get married for all the wrong reasons and relocate to Shanghai. Kitty falls in love with someone else. When Walter discovers her infidelity, in an act of vengeance, he accepts a job in a remote village in China that is being ravaged by a deadly epidemic. He takes his wife along and their journey brings meaning to their relationship and gives them...
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Among the most fascinating chapters of film history is that of the so-called "race films" that flourished in the 1920s -'40s. Unlike the "black cast" films produced within the Hollywood studio system, these films not only starred African Americans but were funded, written, produced, edited, distributed, and often exhibited by people of color. Entrepreneurial filmmakers built an industry apart from the Hollywood establishment, cultivating visual and...