The first ever Jane Austen sequel written in 1914 follows Elizabeth Bennett, Mr Darcy and many other beloved characters embarking on new stages of life, new friendships and new romances. In writing Old Friends and New Fancies in 1914, Sybil Brinton trail-blazed the way with the very first Jane Austen sequel - a concept now much in vogue with the ongoing Austen Project, Death Comes to Pemberley, Longbourn and various continuing film adaptations. It is clear that Austen's literary career left generations of readers wanting read more… Taking in all of Jane Austen's preferred locations and backdrops, the plot of Old Friends and New Fancies takes us from London to Bath and, of course, to Pemberley. Picking up where Pride and Prejudice leaves off, Elizabeth and Mr Darcy are now happily married and the new bride has taken it upon herself to match-make for her single family and acquaintance - beginning with her new sister-in-law Georgiana and Colonel Fitzwilliam. Kitty Bennet too remains in the market for a husband - now she has grown up and sobered up a little. Austen fans will be thrilled to see such a wide palette of characters making their appearances, with personalities from each of her six novels playing a role in clever combinations. The union between Tom Bertram (from Mansfield Park) and Isabella Thorpe (from Northanger Abbey) is a brilliant new romance to discover. Yet it is also lovely to encounter once again the familiar tender relationship between Emma and Mr Knightley. Written in a style truly reminiscent of Austen's and making free use of her characters, Brinton's work is a must read for Austen fans and one which they will devour with relish.

Finding cocaine to be an analgesic and a cure for depression, Freud hailed it as a miracle drug, stressing in particular its apparent lack of side effects. Marveling at its ability to "cure" addictions to morphine, he enthusiastically recommended it to all his acquaintances. Eventually, following several tragic experiences, he was forced to recognize the negative effects of the drug. This unique selection, edited and translated by Freud expert David Carter, combines letters, papers, and dream analyses on cocaine, bringing together the contentious thoughts of one of the 20th-century's most brilliant minds.

Throughout his life, the world's most famous escapologist strove to expose the methods and tricks of illusionists and sham spiritualists. Studying entertainers and criminals alike, Houdini investigates the tricks of the mind and sleights of hand that have deceived people throughout history. The magician's writings caused a public sensation; legend has it that his book The Right Way to Do Wrong was bought in bulk by burglars in an attempt to guard the tricks of their trade. This collection also includes Houdini's revelations about the methods behind some of his own most famous tricks, and articles he wrote to expose his imitators.

Journey through the subject of melancholia in this easily accessible volume, touching on topics from love and sex to religion and geography. A new volume to add to Hesperus's unique and bestselling 'On' series.

On the unexplained is a brand new selection of Arthur Conan Doyle's writings on all things supernatural taken from Edge of the Unknown. Best known for the creation of Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle had many more strings to his bow. On the unexplained contains accounts of séances, automatic writing, trips to haunted country houses, passages on his incredible relationship with Houdini and in-depth philosophical analysis of the thinking behind the supernatural recorded by the author. As well as creating one of the most famous and recognisable fictional detectives of our time, Conan Doyle was a political campaigner (most memorably in his defence of the Boer War); he believed in the existence of fairies; he played amateur sleuth, taking up closed cases to prove miscarriage of justice. Perhaps most intriguing of all though was the fact that, following the deaths of a number of his family, Conan Doyle began to take an interest in what was then termed 'spiritualism' (trying to prove the existence of life beyond the grave), he became a member of the paranormal association The Ghost Sense Club and he also joined the British Society of Psychical Research. This latest book in Hesperus's On series is a must have for the Conan Doyle enthusiast or the intrigued reader alike.

The latest in Hesperus's 'On' series comes from master travel writer Mark Twain and concentrates on his journey through America's Wild West, tapping into the perennial interest in this period in history. From 1861 to 1867, a young Mark Twain travelled through the Wild West. Following an abortive foray into a career as a Confederate Cavalry man he opted instead to head off on a stagecoach road trip with his brother Orion, who had just been appointed Secretary of Nevada Territory. Twain sets out on an epic voyage from Missouri to Sacramento. He will visit Salt Lake City, witness the beginning of the real estate boom and try his hand at silver mining in Nevada. Travelling in turn by boat, train and coach, through mountains and deserts, he comes across Native Americans, visits a Mormon village and becomes stranded in a snowstorm. Discovering a land in the grasp of a boom and bust mentality, Twain is caught up in the lust for instant wealth which remains always tantalisingly close. Priceless anecdotes detail the amusing mishaps and bad judgement calls that ensure that the author's riches are kept at arm's length. Even at this early stage of his budding career, Twain's trademark humour is visible - no one is safe from Twain's wit. Train drivers, coachmen, fellow passengers and locals, all become victims of the author's pen as he hones his trade.

Dickens' burning passion for theater has often been overlooked by fans of his novels. A keen playwright and actor, he staged performances for which he oversaw every detail, and personally adapted many of his own fictional works. As a consummate self-publicist, he also undertook numerous stage tours and public readings of his own work. For Dickens, and for large swathes of Victorian society, theatre was a way of life and a hub of community: audience and performers would swell out onto the streets and into nearby drinking establishments after each show. Drawing on a variety of sources, both fictional and journalistic, this collection portrays a career's worth of Dickens' musings, critiques, and opinions on one of his most revered passions and pastimes—the theater.

In July 1940, Erich Fischer found himself in Liverpool being herded onto a British transport ship bound for Australia, along with 2,500 other men. Conditions on board were horrific, with men locked below decks with overflowing latrines and only seawater to clean themselves. Separated from family, friends and removed from any semblance of a normal life, Erich is unsure whether he will ever see wife and child again. Erica Fischer's The King's Children tells the extraordinary story of her own parents and at the same time sheds light on a little-known and little-discussed chapter in British history. Fischer's parents met in Austria in the early 1930s. Her mother, Irka, was a Polish Jew and her father, Erich, was a Viennese lapsed Catholic. Faced with growing unrest in Europe, Irka fled to the United Kingdom in 1938, her husband followed a year later. However at the outbreak of war, Erich had been arrested as an 'enemy alien', and having been interned was deported to the opposite side of the world. Faced with unimaginable hardships, the deportees banded together in solidarity to face their new life in Australia and Erich was, against the odds, able to make contact with Irka and their letters established a lifeline between continents. The King's Children is astonishing true tale dealing with an unexposed and unexplored period in British history but also a story of the resilience of love.

A collection of moving poems by the public expressing the anguish, hopes, and dreams of the Palestinian nation with all profits going to charity. 'Poems for Palestine' was launched as a project aiming to collect together verse written by the people of Palestine, as a website open to all comers, all free to upload their work. The broad spectrum of the resulting talent displays a multitude of different poetic styles, subject matters and emotions. The role of art and poetry in particular, as a cathartic healer is crucial to this venture - the poems are in turn full of anguish, emotion, longing and love. In an age which sees a multitude of conflicts all over the world, it is important to make sure that we do not forget to listen to the voices of those affected. Too many people live in danger, in exile or in despair today - Poems for Palestine may well serve as a refrain for displaced people, from war-torn countries all over the word. Now collected together in volume form, it is hoped that this poetry will be able to gain a wider audience. Any profits will be donated to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund.

"... there is something about everything that you can be glad about, if you keep hunting long enough to find it." When Pollyanna Whittier's father dies she is sent to live with her Aunt Polly in Beldingsville in Vermont. A clash of personalities ensues as Pollyanna's sunny disposition sits ill with her aunt's need for quiet, her passion for shutting windows and her obsession with quietly shut doors. The key to Pollyanna's happiness is The Glad Game. No matter how dark the situation it is always possible to find something to be glad about. A bread and milk supper in the kitchen is greeted with rapture; a puritan attic bedroom with sparse furnishing is seen as valued for its rapturous views - better than any decoration could ever be. As Pollyanna becomes acquainted with other inhabitants of the town, her infectious personality continues to spread: one by one, the cantankerous residents fall victim to her charms: Mrs Snow and Mr Pendleton being the hardest cases to crack. However, the arrival of a motor car in town heralds a tragic change in Pollyanna's life which not even Pollyanna looks likely to be able to overcome. A timeless classic that has spawned many spin-off novels, films and television serials and truly entered the folklore and consciousness - 'Pollyanna' is now a byword for, sometimes naïve, optimists. With this new edition Hesperus hopes to bring the tale to a new generation.

From the author of The Jungle Book comes a magical fantasy story, rich in historical detail and filled with intrigue and excitement. Una and Dan, reciting Shakespeare on a summer's evening in rural Sussex, unwittingly summon the elf Puck. They are taken on a fantastic journey through Britain's past, their magical companion plucking from history an array of fascinating characters for them to meet: Parnesius, a Roman centurion who manned Hadrian's wall; Wayland, a Saxon warrior and blacksmith; Sir Richard, a Norman knight who made an extraordinary journey to Africa; and many others. Each offers a story from his own life, mixing war and politics with adventure and intrigue. Each is rich with historical detail. One of the great classics of children's literature, Puck of Pook's Hill is by turns a fantastical story of magical otherness and a compelling exploration of British history. A runaway success on first publication, it still has the power to excite children and their parents alike.

A classic and delightful children's novel that tells the story of young Rebecca Rowena Randall, the mischief she gets into and the difference she makes to the lives of those around her. Often compared to L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables and published four years afterwards, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm introduces us to a charming ten-year-old heroine who changes the lives of all those she touches. Set in Riverboro, Maine, this quintessentially American story is a remarkable depiction of rural life in the United States at the turn of the twentieth century. We first meet Rebecca when she is on her way to live with her spinster aunts, Miranda and Jane. She has just left behind her the beloved home she grew up in, Sunnybrook Farm, along with her widowed mother and six siblings. Due to the financial straits her family have found themselves in, it has been deemed best that her aunts take her in and look after her under their own roof. A naturally cheerful and imaginative little girl, Rebecca soon forms a close bond with her Aunt Jane who teaches her to sew, cook and look after the house. However there remains a shadow over Rebecca's happiness: the fact that she has never quite won over her Aunt Miranda's affections. But slowly Rebecca is growing up into a mature and thoughtful young lady. And when her mother falls ill and Rebecca is forced to look after her old farmstead home as well as her ailing mother, it may just be that Miranda has grown fond of her niece after all.

Written by the bestselling Western author of all time, Riders of the Purple Sage can be seen at the original Western. When Lassiter, a gun-slinging avenger in black with a fearsome reputation, rides into the Mormon village of Cottonwoods in Southern Utah, he finds a town in turmoil. An underhand land battle is in full force. Beautiful young rancher Jane Withersteen is in possession of the richest land holding in the Cottonwoods, but the Mormon church have plans to take control by forcing the unwilling Jane into marrying Elder Tull. Outnumbered and outgunned, Jane sees no escape… until Lassiter arrives. A lone gunman fighting for justice, Lassiter has his own agenda. His sister has been kidnapped by a Mormon proselytizer and he is determined to find out what happened to her. Jane finds herself drawing ever closer to Lassiter while he tries to unravel the complex web of intrigue that underlies the corrupt village. Adapted five times for film in the past hundred years, the enduring affection for the Western genre doesn't show any sign of decreasing. In Lassiter, Zane Grey creates an iconic prototype hero that inspired many books and films to come. With a complex plot and engaging with issues of morality, isolation and religion, Riders of the Purple Sage is more than just the first Western - it is a classic.

Rome, 73 BC. Kleon, a Greek slave, wakes early, cuts his master's throat, and flees south by a back road, clutching a copy of Plato's Republic. His destination is Capua, where he hopes to join the burgeoning rebel army of Spartacus, an escaped gladiator. So begins the definitive telling of one of the most famous stories in history. Spartacus and his companions, having burst out of the ludus where they were held, defeated every Roman force sent against them, are plundering the countryside and gathering to their ranks thousands of fugitives, brigands and itinerants. They seek to create a new world, one where men are not owner and owned. But they must first escape Italy, and the vengeful Roman legions already marshalling against them. Brutal and uncompromising in its depiction of the ancient world, Spartacus masterfully evokes the violence, hope and despair of the war that shook Rome to its very foundations.

In the same year that Meryl Streep plays the role of feminist Emmeline Pankhurst in Hollywood movie Suffragette, Hesperus Press is proud to present Pankhurst's gripping memoir: Suffragette: My Own Story. With insight and great wit, Emmeline's autobiography chronicles the beginnings of her interest in feminism through to her militant and controversial fight for women's right to vote. While Emmeline received a good education, attending an all-girls school and being, she rebelled against conventional women's roles. At the age of fourteen a meeting of women's rights activists sparked a lifelong passion in her to fight for women's freedom and she would later claim that it was on that day she became a suffragist. As one after another of the proposed feminist bills were defeated in parliament, Pankhurst was inspired to turn to extreme actions. While she was the figurehead of the suffragette movement, it advocated some controversial tactics such as arson, violent protest and hunger strikes. Even today there is still debate about the effectiveness of her extreme strategies, but her work is recognised as a crucial element in achieving women's suffrage in Britain. Her mantle was taken up by her daughters and granddaughter with her legacy still very much alive today.

A charming tale of love, family and compromise filled with vivid characters, from the author of I Capture the Castle. From Dodie Smith, the author of I Capture the Castle and The Hundred and One Dalmatians comes a classic tale of complicated sibling relationships, friendship and forbidden love. Set in 1970s England, this is a delightful, funny novel with deftly drawn characters and true heart. Suspecting her husband, George, of dalliances in the city, May decides it is high time the family moved to the country. Determined to create the perfect home there, she finds an idyllic country house set in a lilac grove and sets about furnishing it properly and cooking enormous meals. She even manages to convince her less well-off sister, June, to move into a cosy cottage on the grounds with her husband Robert. This new set-up is very much a family affair as June's husband Robert just happens to be George's brother: the two sisters are married to two brothers. At first both families seem to be settling in well, sharing delicious meals and having jolly times together. Their grown-up children, Hugh and Corinna, visit from London and there even seems to be a hint of romance in the air for them, while the surviving grandparents from both sides of the family move into the big house and forge new friendships. But the arrival of a cantankerous great aunt will reveal the cracks in the family's tangled relationships and will even threaten to unveil the greatest secret of all - while May thought moving George to the country would put a stop to his affairs, he has begun to fall in love with his sister-in-law, June. The death of a beloved character will, however, turn the tables again and lead to the ultimate, happy, denouement.

A wonderful collection of tales for children based on Greek myths, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of The Scarlet Letter. This delightful collection of stories for children, written in 1853 by Nathaniel Hawthorne, best remembered for The Scarlet Letter, is a captivating retelling of ancient Greek myths. The reader joins Theseus as he battles to escape the labyrinth and the clutches of the fearsome Minotaur. We accompany Jason and his Argonauts on their perilous quest for the Golden Fleece. Hawthorne also recounts Cadmus' encounter with the terrifying dragons whose teeth, once planted, sprout entire armies. These brilliant stories, amongst many others, are the adventures that lie in wait in Tanglewood Tales. Hawthorne's writing remains fresh and his stories are still perfect for all inquisitive young readers.

Once upon a time there lived a king who was deeply in love with a princess, but she could not marry anyone, because she was under an enchantment. So the King set out to seek a fairy, and asked what he could do to win the Princess's love... The Blue Fairy Book is the first in a series of fairy-tale anthologies beloved of children in the last century. Each fairy book is a veritable treasure trove of stories for children and adults alike, spellbinding and special. Hesperus is very proud to present the first anthology, The Blue Fairy Book, which includes wonderful renditions of the old favourites such as Cinderella and Hansel and Gretel, as well as some intriguing fairy tales that modern audiences have yet to discover such as Why the Sea is Salt, Prince Hyacinth and The Dear Little Princess. Andrew Lang collected stories from communities and traditions all over the world for his fairy books: from the Arabian nights, China and the Brothers Grimm. Many of the tales were translated into English for the first time for these anthologies, from languages as diverse as Russian, Norse and Japanese. The book is republished here with a stunning blue jacket, accompanied throughout by the original illustrations. With its accompanying volume The Red Fairy Book and with more books in the series to come in 2014, the Fairy Book series is one to be treasured and would make a welcome addition to any family's home.

Oscar Wilde's spooky tale of a genteel English ghost clashing with a brash American family is endearing, hilarious and perfect reading for all ages. Much adapted for television and film, Oscar Wilde's The Canterville Ghost tells the story of the Otises, a modern American family, who are looking to buy a house in the English countryside. 'Canterville Chase' possesses all of the trappings of a standard haunted country house - including large suits of armour and Gothic panelled library walls. However, it soon becomes difficult to ignore the spooky signs that 'Sir Simon' is haunting the house - the usual Halloween fare of rattling chains and bloodstains. Surprisingly, and hilariously, the Otises refuse to be scared; despite all of Sir Simon's best flamboyant efforts and costume changes: stain remover is deployed to clean bloodstains and oil is applied to clanking chains. Instead, the poor revenant is faced with practical jokes from the two young twins in the family - and seeks solace by befriending fifteen-year-old Virginia instead, perhaps she holds the key to unlocking the mysteries of his being marooned on earth. Told from the unusual point of view of the ghost rather than the haunted party, it still bears the trademark Wildean moral message but the message is carried lightly in this entertaining, amusing and heart-warming Christmas story. With a new animated film featuring the voices of Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie (working together for the first time in thirteen years) making news, interest in this classic story is sure to re-emerge.

Regarded as the first gothic horror novel ever written, The Castle of Otranto is a dark, thrilling tale, delightfully shocking for its time and hugely influential. A fantastic, provocative and playful tale of medieval dynastic and sexual politics, The Castle of Otranto is regarded as the first ever published gothic novel and has inspired authors from Edgar Allan Poe to J.K. Rowling. Abounding with unfulfilled prophecies, supernatural occurrences, adventure, suspense and destiny it follows the fortunes of the royal family of Sicily in the thirteenth century. Prince Conrad is crushed to death on the day of his wedding to the beautiful Princess Isabella. Heirless - and terrified of an ancient prophecy that foretells the downfall of his dynasty - his father, King Manfred, divorces his wife and resolves to marry the princess himself. Far from enamoured with her new fiancé, Isabella flees the royal castle and makes for the sanctuary of a nearby church with the help of the humble Theodore. When the pair is captured their respective fates seem inescapable; but at the moment of Theodore's death, delivery comes from the most unexpected of places.