The book tells the story of Victoria Cope, following her experience of hosting a home child - an orphan from England sent to Canada by Barnardo''s, essentially as a servant, receiving care and education in exchange. The Copes end up with a girl one year older than Victoria, named Marianna Wilson. She tells Victoria about her life in England, and as they become friends Victoria becomes more aware of some of the discrimination that Marianna faces from the local children, as well as from members of Victoria''s own family, notably her oldest brother, David. Something seems to be distracting Marianna and one night Victoria wakes up and finds Marianna in the barn with her younger brother, Jasper, who had escaped from the home where he was placed after his guardian whipped him and broke his arm. The family must decide what to do with Jasper, which is made difficult by David''s attitude towards the home children. The book ends with an epilogue detailing where Marianna and Victoria went in their lives, and explaining how the home child program worked. The orphan becomes rich and famous.

Orphan at My Door

ACT 1 takes place in John''s office and introduces us to John and Miss A. John is an amateur psychic and Miss A. is a woman whose mother recently died and left her an inheritance. Miss A. seeks psychic advice concerning matters both personal and financial regarding her mother''s will. John also advises Miss A that she may have untapped psychic abilities. ACT 2 introduces us to John''s young protégé Charles, and alludes to the homosexual relationship between them. John explains to Charles the smoke-and-mirror tricks he uses on his customers, in particular Miss A, so that Charles may one day learn to make an "honest" living from this profession. Although John uses techniques of a questionable nature, he shows a more caring side towards his clients, whereas Charles is driven more by greed and ambition and is willing to compromise the ethics of the profession. They devise a plan to give Miss A what she wants: answers to her question about what to do with her inheritance. They plan to hold a seance and pretend to contact her deceased mother. In discussing the details of the plan, Charles pressures John into making it look like Miss A''s mother will want to contest the will and give the inheritance to them. ACT 3 takes place the following evening. The seance is held and John uses his usual smoke-and-mirror techniques in concert with his seance research. He pretends to contact a 19th Century Boston Woman, who in turn allegedly contacts Miss A''s mother. But Miss A puts the two charlatans to the test. She came prepared with a photograph of her mother, as she had been instructed by John the previous day. However, the photo is a fake. When tested, John claims the woman in the photo is that of Miss A''s mother. Miss A then exposes them by declaring the photo a fraud. But just as she is about to storm out on them, John has a genuine psychic vision from Miss A''s childhood regarding a Red Shawl. John is able to give a detailed description of The Shawl and how Miss A''s mother would sing her to sleep as The Shawl, draped on her lamp, cast a red shadow. ACT 4 takes place the following day. John is having a heated argument with Charles as he gets ready for his appointment with Miss A. John, having finally had the breakthrough psychic experience he wished for throughout his amateur years, is revealing to Charles the last of his tricks while telling him this is the parting of the ways. As Charles gives his farewell and leaves, Miss A shows up for their appointment. Upon being questioned by Miss A, John honestly admits to her that the Boston Woman was a fiction. However, Miss A is intrigued that John was able to have a genuine vision of her mother, because nobody could have made up the vision of The Shawl. Miss A offers John payment for helping her decide she should contest the will. And finally, when she asks John for clarification of how she lost The Shawl five years ago, John offers more genuine insight and elaborates that she burnt The Shawl in a fit of rage ... but that''s all he saw. *John - a man in his fifties *Miss A - a woman in her late thirties *Charles - a man in his thirties

The Shawl

After the cliffhanger ending of The Dragonbone Chair, we find that Simon, the scullion-turned-warrior, has wrested the legendary sword Thorn from the frozen lair of Igjarjuk, the ice dragon. The dragon''s blood, scalding his face and turning some of his hair white, earns him the new name Simon Snowlock, but while his scars may brand him as a dragonslayer, he''s much the same young man he was before. As Simon recovers from his wound, Binabik the troll and Sludig the Rimmersman are being tried for crimes against the Qanuc people. Sludig''s crime is merely being a Rimmersman, a traditional enemy of the Qanuc, while Binabik is charged with abandoning his fiancée, Sisqi, before marriage. Jiriki, a Sithi prince who owes Simon several favors, isn''t inclined to help Simon free his imprisoned friends. Eventually, Simon does manage to free Binabik and Sludig, where the friends head south to deliver Thorn to Prince Josua. Meanwhile, the exiled prince Josua and his ragged band of survivors flee from the ruins of Naglimund. They head for Aldheorte Forest, trying to escape the swords and arrows of their enemies, all the while trying to reach the Stone of Farewell, where the League of the Scroll believes they will be able to regroup and recuperate. Elsewhere, Josua''s niece Miriamele is traveling undercover in the dubious company of the monk Cadrach, a drunken sot. Daughter of the evil King Elias, she is at constant risk of being discovered and captured. Duke Isgrimnur, also having gone undercover, hopes to find Miriamele and return her to her uncle Josua before she is harmed or captured, either by her father or by others. At the same time, Maegwin, the Hernystiri princess, teeters between desperation and insanity while searching deep in the earth for some salvation for her refugee people. After surviving many perils, Simon becomes the only mortal to enter Jao e-Tinukai''i, last refuge of the Sithi. The band led by Prince Josua, though betrayed by the chieftain of the nomadic Thrithings-folk, eventually reaches the Stone of Farewell, where they wait for the arrival of Simon and the blade Thorn. As King Elias consolidates his power, the Storm King''s blight brings permanent winter to most of Osten Ard, and the remaining defenders ready for a decisive battle at the Stone.

Stone of Farewell

Tracy and Cam often argue about anything, including Tracy''s new school, where she has a ghastly class teacher, whom she has christened Mrs "Emesis" Bagley. She hates her. Most of her classmates spread rumors about her mum leaving her on purpose. Tracy says that her mum has to leave because she is a movie star in Hollywood. Tracy decides to exclude herself and go to her own secret house. After a few days she discovers she''s not the only one who excluded herself from school as she meet two new friends, Alexander and Football. Alexander is a feeble little boy, whereas Football is the complete opposite, very burly, strong and large. Like Tracy, both boys have family problems: Alexander''s dad hates him, and Football has a mother who is always going on at him; his dad has left, and keeps promising to take him to a football match, but he never does. They all stay at a secret house and play dares day after day, including one where Tracy hangs her underwear on a tree. Suddenly, Tracy''s mum, Carly, appears out of the blue, saying she wants her back. Tracy is allowed to stay with her for a weekend, where her mum showers her with expensive gifts. Cam is upset about losing Tracy, but Tracy is hell-bent on going to live with her mother forever. However, when she goes to her mother''s for a second time, her mother leaves her on her own for hours and hours while she attends a karaoke night at her local pub. Tracy feels frightened and anxious, remembering that this is what her Mum used to do when she was younger. When Carly eventually comes home she is accompanied by a man. They were obviously planning to get passionate, but Carly has to cancel their plans when she remembers Tracy is there. However, before he leaves, she arranges to spend the following weekend with him instead of Tracy. Tracy runs away, eventually choosing to live with Cam, who has always taken care of her.

The Dare Game

Hawk Rhiscarlan attempts to gain favor with Andreus of Senna Lirwan by succeeding where Andreus was foiled in Wren to the Rescue. Tyron is deployed in the guise of a dog in order to gain reconnaissance among the nobles of Cantirmoor which might reveal who is behind the trouble, but is captured by Hawk. During this time, unaware of the new plot afoot, Wren ventures to the records center for the Siradi border guards who found her in a brigand-devastated trade caravan as a very young child. Wren is accompanied by Connor Shaltar for protection in case of any trouble, though that idea was hatched by Leila and Queen Astren of Meldrith to allow Connor to avoid confinement by his uncle Fortian Rhismordith to a particular vacation house as punishment for his tendency to socialize with stage performers. Excursion into such remote territory fails to spare the pair form the interesting times, however, as they are forthwith pursued incessantly yet intermittently by mysterious and vaguely menacing couriers clothed in blue, culminating in an entire forest fire being levied as an attack against the protagonists, which Connor manages to dispel though an exertion of his own manner of magic, which leaves him prostrate and asleep for two full days. Upon regaining consciousness, Connor discovers his location to have changed to that of a stone fortification of considerable vintage, whereupon Wren briefs him regarding the elapsed time and the fact that this is indeed the Siradi border-guard records center, as well as one of their command posts.

Wren''s Quest

The story takes place in Berlin during World War II, with Germany firmly under Nazi terror. The book conveys the level of fear and suspicion engulfing Germany at the time because of the constant Nazi threat of arrest, imprisonment, torture and death. Even if one were not subjected to any of these, one could find oneself ostracized and unable to find work. Escherich, a Gestapo inspector, must find the source of hundreds of postcards encouraging Germans to resist Adolf Hitler and the Nazis with personal messages such as “Mother! The Führer has murdered my son. Mother! The Führer will murder your sons too, he will not stop till he has brought sorrow to every home in the world.” Escherich is under pressure from Obergruppenführer Prall to arrest the source or find himself in dire straits. Nearly all those who find the cards turn them in to the Gestapo immediately, terrified they themselves will be discovered having them. Eventually, someone denounces the postcard writer, who turns out to be a quiet, working class couple, Otto and Anna Quangel. The Quangel''s acts of civil disobedience are prompted by the loss of their only son, who has been killed in action. They are arrested and brought to trial at the Volksgerichtshof, the Nazi "People''s Court", where the infamous Roland Freisler presides. The Quangels are sentenced to death and later executed.

Every Man Dies Alone

Restoree is the story of Sara, an introverted, beak-nosed, 24-year-old virgin librarian from New York who is abducted by the Mil, amorphous alien creatures that eat human flesh. She is kept alive, with her skin removed and in a catatonic state from the physical and mental shock, on a meat hook as a Mil meal until the alien ship she is on is captured by human inhabitants of the planet Lothar. Without her skin, some Lotharians mistake her for one of their own and perform controversial "restoration" procedures on her, including a nose job. Sara comes to her senses in a mental institution on Lothar with no memory of what happened, little knowledge of the local language, and a beautiful, golden-skinned body. At the institution, she is treated as if she were retarded and given menial tasks to do, as are other "restorees" who have been clandestinely salvaged from Mil ships; it is apparently some factor of Sara''s Terran origins that allows her to fully recover from the shock of the Mil ordeal, while Lotharian restorees are of limited intellect at best. One of her jobs is to care for Harlan, the deposed planetary regent, who is being drugged into a moronic state. Recognizing what is being done, Sara helps Harlan to regain his senses and escape the mental institution. Sara and Harlan then gain the advantage over Harlan''s political enemies, defeat the Mil, solve some of Lothar''s emerging domestic problems and, of course, fall in love.

Restoree

The novel is about Will Freeman, a 36-year-old bachelor, and Marcus, an introverted, bullied 12-year-old who lives alone with his suicidal mother, Fiona. Will, who has never had to work thanks to the royalties from his father''s hit Christmas song, "Santa''s Super Sleigh," has a lot of spare time, which he spends smoking, watching TV, listening to albums and looking for temporary female companionship. After a pleasant relationship with a single mother, Angie, Will comes up with the idea of attending a single parents group as a new way to pick up women. For this purpose, he invents a two-year-old son called Ned. It is through one of these single parents meetings that he comes to know Marcus. Although their relationship is initially somewhat strained, they finally succeed in striking up a true friendship. Will helps Marcus to fit into the modern world, taking him shopping, buying him shoes and introducing him to the music of Nirvana. Marcus and Will''s friendship blooms as the story progresses, even after Marcus and Fiona discover Will''s lie about having a child. Marcus is "adopted" by Ellie McRae, a tough, moody 15-year-old girl, who is constantly in trouble at school because she insists on wearing a Kurt Cobain jumper. He also spends some time with his dad Clive, who visits Marcus and Fiona for Christmas together with his new girlfriend Lindsey and her mother. Meanwhile Will starts going out with a single mother named Rachel, whose son Alistair is about the same age as Marcus. In the end, Marcus comes out of his shell and learns to stand up for himself. Will, meanwhile, finally grows up and ends up wanting to marry Rachel. Therefore, both Will and Marcus have started to live appropriately for their age groups. The action is set in 1993 and 1994 in London. The title is a reference to the song "About a Girl" by Nirvana, a band that is featured in the book, and Patti Smith''s tribute to Kurt Cobain, "About a Boy".

About a Boy

Wexford has long suspected Eric Targo of being a serial killer. Decades later, he finally admits this to DI Mike Burden, his longtime colleague and friend. In an apparently unrelated matter, DS Hannah Goldsmith and Burden''s second wife Jenny both approach Wexford with concerns about Tamima, one of Jenny Burden''s students. As a young detective constable he investigated the murder of Elsie Carroll. Wexford suspects that while her husband purported to be a whist club, he was actually with his mistress when his wife was killed. George Carroll was acquitted of his wife''s murder on a technicality, but was still shunned by Kingsmarkham residents; Wexford believes him innocent. In the weeks of and following the investigation into Elsie Carroll''s death, Targo, a scarf covering his prominent birthmark, walks his dog past the young Wexford''s rooming house to taunt him, or so it appears to Wexford. By the 1970s Targo has become a prosperous, businessman, several times married and divorced, living in the north of England. Targo reappears in Kingsmarkam. Wexford suspects that Targo has murdered the autistic son of a Myringham widow who wishes her son dead so she can marry her longtime partner. In the book''s present Targo reappears again, still with his dogs, without the naevus, but with a private menagerie.

The Monster in the Box

Having returned his fleet to Alliance space, Jack "Black Jack" Geary is brought before the Alliance senate, and is nearly arrested as it is assumed that he is returning as a conquering hero, planning to usurp control of the Alliance as a dictator. Rather than, Capt. Geary briefs the Alliance Senate on the entire journey of the fleet, as well as the alien race that was strongly implied to exist, including the fact that the aliens have established system killing devices, in the form of every hypernet gate in existence, in Alliance and Syndic territory. A captured Syndic CEO, commanding the Syndic reserve flotilla, confirms the existence of the alien race, and that they''ve been responsible for the total destruction of every human they''ve encountered, and have begun to encroach aggressively into Syndic territory. Faced with two possible wars, the Senate elects to finally finish the Syndic war, using sword point diplomacy if necessary. Geary is promoted to Admiral of the Fleet, and charged to attack the Syndic homeworld and force a cease fire. After fighting back to the Syndic system where he began his journey, he nearly stumbles into an ambush. The Syndic Executive Council, planning to use the Syndic homeworld hypernet gate to destroy Geary''s fleet, and with it, nearly sixty billion Syndic citizens, is instead deposed, and after destroying a large portion of the Syndic Home Fleet, a cease fire is drawn up. Immediately afterward, a Syndic system bordering the area of space occupied by the aliens claims an evacuation ultimatum has been issued by the aliens. The aliens are dubbed the Enigma race because despite a century of contact, not a single thing is known about the alien race: ships, resources, or the aliens themselves. Geary, realizing that the aliens taking the system would effectively condemn half of the system population to probable death, as well as allow the aliens control of an important strategic location, elects to intervene. Arriving in system, the alien armada arrives, apparently outnumbering Black Jack''s fleet by 3 to 1. After realizing that the aliens had used extensive computer manipulation on the Alliance, Geary orders another computer scrub, finding that the Fleet actually outnumbers the aliens 2 to 1. Engaging them in combat after a total failure of diplomacy results in the near total destruction of the alien fleet, who scuttle every wounded ship before fleeing, leaving no possible evidence of the Enigma race. Returning to Alliance space, Admiral Geary abdicates his Admiralty, awards himself a month of leave, and races after Captain Desjani, who was returning home, unwilling to explore a relationship with Geary. After catching her, he quickly proposes to be married, citing that it was the only option to allow them to remain together. Desjani accepts, and the two plan their wedding aboard the civilian transport Desjani conveniently booked for two, and to honeymoon on her homeworld.

The Lost Fleet: Victorious

The novel is set against the background of the Civil Rights Act conflict in the Johnson Administration. At the beginning of the book, Paul Whipple, a black character from the earlier novel Too Many Cooks (1938), whose trust Wolfe had gained against a strong West Virginia atmosphere of prejudice, comes to tell Wolfe that Wolfe has since become his hero, and that he has also achieved the dream, stated in the earlier novel, of becoming an anthropologist. He has come, however, to draw upon the favor he did Wolfe 26 years earlier, by asking Wolfe to prevent his son Dunbar Whipple from marrying a rich white girl, Susan Brooke, with whom he is apparently in love. While denying that he is not opposed, in principle at least, to mixed-race couples, Paul Whipple thinks that sensible rich white girls do not fall in love with poor black men, even if the rich white girl is working for a black civil rights organization in New York, the Rights of Citizens Committee. Wolfe is loath to interfere in the matter, but agrees to at least learn what he can about the true motivations of the socialite girlfriend and why she would be interested in a Negro boyfriend to settle the debt he owes Whipple. Before the real mystery story gets underway, Stout allows some give and take on the concept of racism being a two-way street: blacks preferring their own as much as whites. Archie arranges a meeting with Susan Brooke through his girlfriend Lily Rowan, but is unable to form a conclusion as to her motives. Wolfe has him fly to Racine, Wisconsin, Susan''s hometown, to do research on her background. He discovers little except for an incident where a man who wanted to marry her, Richard Ault, shot himself on her front porch after she turned him down. He is doing more research when Wolfe suddenly calls him back to New York: Susan Brooke has been brutally murdered in her Harlem apartment. Dunbar Whipple is the prime suspect for the murder, and Wolfe agrees to work on his behalf. Wolfe focuses his investigation on Dunbar and Susan''s co-workers at the Rights of Citizens Committee over the objections of Whipple''s lawyer Harold Oster, who is also the ROCC''s counsel. Those interviewed include the organization''s founder Thomas Henchly, Susan''s superior Cass Faison, Rae Kallmann and Maud Jordan, two white volunteers, and Beth Tiger, a black stenographer Archie takes immediate interest in. Susan''s family is also interviewed, and it becomes apparent that they are bigots who consider her involvement with Civil Rights a "kink" and do not believe she could have been engaged to Dunbar. Her sister-in-law Dolly is particularly vitriolic and Archie takes an instant dislike to her. The family claims that Susan was actually engaged to a white car dealer named Paul Vaughan. Saul Panzer discovers that Dolly Brooke lied about her alibi the night of the murder by interviewing a garage attendant who saw her take her car out an hour before the murder took place. They cannot prove it because the witness refuses to testify, but stumble upon a lucky break when Paul Vaughn, riddled with guilt, confesses to Archie that he lied to the Police to firm up Dolly''s alibi. Mrs. Brooke is confronted and admits that she went to Susan''s apartment, but she could not get in because no one answered her knock. This indicates that Susan was already dead at 8:45, long before Dunbar Whipple arrived at the apartment. Her evidence clears him, but Wolfe elects not to use it because that would not only endanger his source, Paul Vaughan, but would complicate matters by destroying the lead he has on the police. Several days later, Vaughan calls Archie, telling him that he may have more information but that he has to do some checking on it first. The next day he is found dead, shot multiple times. When it emerges that Vaughan went to the ROCC the day before for information on Susan and Dunbar, Wolfe brings the key players to his office for another interview to prevent them from being arrested as Material Witnesses. It is during this interview that Wolfe realizes that the key to the case lies in the unusual frequency of a diphthong in the names of those involved. It will take another trip to the Midwest for Archie (this time to Evansville, Indiana) before the case is solved. The use of Paul Whipple as a character in a 1964 Nero Wolfe novel was problematic, since Rex Stout never allowed his recurring characters to age. Whipple was a young man in Too Many Cooks, but had aged 26 years and was a middle-aged academic in A Right to Die. In all this time, Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin miraculously remained the same age, but Whipple never noticed or mentioned this oddity.

A Right to Die

The book opens on a scene where Mirage, a Hunter (individuals who specialize as assassins, bodyguards and spies), is hiding and preparing to strike three men who mistake her for a witch at first then for a Cousin (witch''s assistant). Mirage, being a great Hunter trained from Silverfire, gets her mark and almost kills the three men. The scene cuts to Eclipse, Mirage''s schoolmate at Silverfire, one of the numerous Hunter schools, walking through Chervie''s streets amidst a festival. He goes to a bar and meets Mirage, whom he calls Seniade. Mirage recognizes him and calls him Kerestel. Eclipse teases Mirage and they talk and catch up with each other until Ice arrives, a Hunter from Thornblood, a school Silverfire is not friendly with. Ice flirts briefly with Eclipse but is stopped by Mirage. A hostile conversation takes place and only stops when Mirage learns she was chosen for a commission. Mirage pays for a private room, which is hard to find and expensive since the festival is taking place. She and Eclipse search the room for any possible places where eavesdroppers might hide and, finding none, start talking. Mirage is quite taken aback and starts having second thoughts when she learns it concerns the assassination of a witch and generally the witch community, which she avoids concerning herself with since she is always being mistaken for a witch for her red hair. Reluctantly, Mirage accepts the commission for her popularity, having been on a commission two times now in a short period of time. They travel to Corbeth to meet their employer. Upon arriving there, they learn they need to take a blood oath, which means they either do the job or die. They are prepped by a witch and after discussing it, decides to go to Starfall to investigate Tari-nakana''s house Meanwhile, Miryo is introduced in the story sitting on a roof and thinking over her future as a witch and what will happen if she fails the test she needs to pass to become a witch. Soon Eikyo, her friend, comes along and comforts her and reminds her of her homework and also reassures her she will pass and that many women have passed this stage. Miryo gets nervous about failing, remembering a schoolmate Hinosuka who died as a result of the test. Eikyo helps Miryo decide what Path she will be in and without much conclusive results, Miryo goes back to her room to start a homework. The next scene is featured in the library, where Miryo talks with an Air Head, Narika-kai. Narika-kai notices that Miryo is jumpy that day and correctly assumes Miryo is studying and also says every witch studies herself exhausted when her trials approaches.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

Orphan at My Door

By Jean Little

The Shawl

By David Mamet

Stone of Farewell

By Tad Williams

The Dare Game

By Jacqueline Wilson

Wren's Quest

By Sherwood Smith

Every Man Dies Alone

By Hans Fallada

Restoree

By Anne McCaffrey

About a Boy

By Nick Hornby

The Monster in the Box

By Ruth Rendell

The Lost Fleet: Victorious

By John G. Hemry

A Right to Die

By Rex Stout

Doppelganger

By David Stahler, Jr.