The Mirror of the Sea by Joseph Conrad First published in 1906, The Mirror of the Sea was the first of Joseph Conrad's two autobiographical memoirs. Discussing it, he called the book "a very intimate revelation. . . . I have attempted here to lay bare with the unreserve of a last hour's confession the terms of my relation with the sea, which beginning mysteriously, like any great passion the inscrutable Gods send to mortals, went on unreasoning and...

This Complete Works of Oscar Wilde is a truly complete and authoritative single-volume edition of Oscar Wilde's works. It contains his only novel, 'The Portrait of Dorian Gray', as well as his plays, stories, poems, essays and letters, all in their most authoritative texts. For easier navigation, there are tables of contents for each section and one for the whole volume. This ebook contains his complete works in a new, easy-to-read and easy-to-navigate...

The classic Oscar Wilde story of the selfish giant who won't let anyone into his garden - until his heart is softened by one very special little boy, illustrated with great drama.

Within the Tides' is a collection of four short stories devoted to a motley crew of sailors scattered across all corners of the globe exchanging tales sharply punctuated by leitmotifs of loyalty and betrayal, staples of Conrad's. Ranging from a sociopath loner who is tempted to join the ranks of the very same society he so ardently shuns, to stories of hypocrisy, disloyalty, unearthed treasure and blood-soaked colonial encounters at the other end...

The recently married Valeria Brinton uncovers an unsettling truth about her new husband, including a false identity and the potential murder of his first wife. Valeria is determined to solve the mystery of her husband's previous marriage and presumed guilt. Shortly after her wedding, Valeria Brinton learns her husband, Eustace Woodville, has been living a lie. His real name is Eustace Macallan and he was previously accused of murdering his first...

'Twixt Land and Sea (1912) contains three long stories written for magazines in the 1909-11 period. 'The Secret Sharer' is one of the great tales in the English language. All three tales explore a young captain under stress. Although in this period of renewed personal and financial turmoil Conrad's imagination turns nostalgically to life at sea, the sea is no longer the simplified world of 'Typhoon' or 'The End of the Tether', where moral distinctions...

William Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) was an English novelist, playwright, and writer of short stories. He was hugely popular in his time, and wrote 27 novels, more than 50 short stories, at least 15 plays, and over 100 pieces of non-fiction work. His best-known works are The Woman in White (1860), The Moonstone (1868), Armadale (1866) and No Name (1862). His works were classified at the time as 'sensation novels', a genre seen nowadays as the precursor...

The youngest son of King Peter, leaves his family home to explore the world, meet new people, and discover the Well at the World's End. It's an unconventional hero's journey that takes the protagonist on a life-changing adventure. King Peter has four sons, all of whom are eager to leave home. He allows three of them to travel the world but forces his youngest boy, Ralph, to stay. Despite his father's ruling, Ralph sets out on his own adventure without...

Chance (1914) was the first of Conrad's novels to bring him popular success and it holds a unique place among his works. It tells the story of Flora de Barral, a vulnerable and abandoned young girl who is "like a beggar, without a right to anything but compassion." After her bankrupt father is imprisoned, she learns the harsh fact that a woman in her position "has no resources but in herself." Her only means of action is to be what she is. Flora's...

This masterly character study of human transformation, written by Joseph Conrad (1857–1924) during the First World War, chronicles a youth's passage into manhood upon becoming the commander of his first ship. In this poignant tale of maturation, Conrad explores the initiation of this transitional occurrence and delivers a portrait of physical and psychic exile; sensory disorientation; and the final crossover toward a new identity. With realism born...