John Rayburn
King Solomon’s Mines was published in September 1885, becoming an immediate best seller by tapping into people’s excitement for the unknown: in this case, the unexplored regions of Africa.
Haggard wrote the novel in a very short period, between six and sixteen months, on a bet with his brother to try to match Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. In the process he created a new literary genre known as the “Lost
...A mild-mannered fellow striving to make a good impression on his future wife's father purchases a beautiful but mysterious brass bottle. Although he's hoping to use it to project an image of sophistication and affluence, architect Horace Ventimore finds something in the bottle that he never dreamed possible. The Brass Bottle is a charming and humorous fantasy that has been used as the basis for several popular versions on the stage and the
...The description “consulting detective” was often a reference to Sherlock Holmes, but that was inadequate to tell about his unusual characteristics. He was a loner who preferred to keep to himself and kept many secrets from others, including the few friends he had. Holmes did have a constant professional relationship with Dr. Watson, and it was the faithful Watson who once said, “I had no idea that such personalities exist outside of stories.”
The
...6) The untamed
If duty called, would you leave the confines of your cushy life to dedicate yourself to the service of the greater good? That's what Sara Lee, the altruistic heroine of Mary Roberts Rinehart's The Amazing Interlude, decides to do amidst the terror and tumult of World War I. Based on the author's own experiences as one of the first prominent female war correspondents, this novel provides a fascinating glimpse into the horror of war—and
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