Picnic at Hanging Rock centers around a trip by a party of girls from Appleyard College, a fictitious upper class private boarding school, who travel to Hanging Rock in the Mount Macedon area, Victoria, for a picnic on Valentine''s Day 1900. The excursion ends in tragedy when three of the girls, and later one of their teachers, mysteriously vanish while climbing the rock. No reason for their disappearance is ever given, and one of the missing girls who is later found has no memory of what has happened to her companions. A fourth girl who also climbed the rock with the group is of little help in solving the mystery, having returned in hysterics for reasons she cannot explain. The disappearances provoke much local concern and international sensation with sexual molestation, abduction and murder being high on the list of possible outcomes. Several organized searches of the picnic grounds and the area surrounding the rock itself turn up nothing. Meanwhile the students, teachers and staff of the college, as well as members of the community, grapple with the riddle-like events. A young man on a private search locates one of the missing girls, but is himself found in an unexplained daze – yet another victim of the rock. Concerned parents begin withdrawing their daughters from the formerly prestigious college and several of the staff, including the headmistress, either resign or meet with tragic ends. We are told that both the College, and the Woodend Police Station where records of the investigation were kept, are destroyed by fire shortly afterwards. The unsolvable mystery of the disappearances was arguably the key to the success of both the book and the subsequent film. This aroused enough lasting public interest that in 1980 a book of hypothetical solutions (by Yvonne Rousseau) was published, called The Murders at Hanging Rock. In fact, Lindsay''s original draft included a final chapter in which the mystery was resolved. At her editor''s suggestion, Lindsay removed it prior to publication. Chapter Eighteen, as it is known, was published posthumously in 1987 as The Secret of Hanging Rock by Angus & Robertson Publishing. The novel is written in the form of a true story, and even begins and ends with a pseudo-historical prologue and epilogue, adding to the overall feeling of mystery. However, while the geological feature, Hanging Rock, and the several towns mentioned are actual places near Mount Macedon, the story is not completely true. Lindsay had done little to dispel the myth that the story is based on truth, in many interviews either refusing to confirm it was entirely fiction, or hinting that parts of the book were fictitious, and others were not. Valentine''s Day, 14 February 1900 was a Wednesday, not a Saturday as depicted in the story. All attempts by enthusiastic readers to find historical evidence of the event, characters, or even Appleyard College, have proved fruitless. Appleyard College was to some extent based on Clyde Girls'' Grammar School at East St Kilda, Melbourne, which Joan Lindsay attended as a day-girl while in her teens. Incidentally, in 1919 this school was transferred to the town of Woodend, Victoria, about 8&nbsp;km southwest of Hanging Rock. The book suggests that the fictional site of Appleyard College, given its eastward view of Mount Macedon on the Bendigo-Melbourne Road, might have been on the western side of Calder Highway/Black Forest Drive (C792), about 2–4&nbsp;km south of Woodend. A far more detailed synopsis of the story is given in the main entry for the film version.

Picnic at Hanging Rock

Amarkant is an intelligent and idealistic, though weak, young man who has grown up hating his father''s business and adherence to the formalities of Hindu religion. He is married to Sukhada who is beautiful and intelligent, but dominates him through her logical and down-to-earth approach to life. Denied love at home and stifled by his wife, Amarkant is attracted to their watchman''s granddaughter, the modest and courteous Sakina. When his father refuses to accept Sakina, Amarkant leaves home to wander from village to village. Finally settling in a village of Untouchables, he teaches children and help villagers in their fight for relief against land tax. Initially unable to comprehend her husband''s sympathy for the poor, Sukhada is ultimately drawn into the movement when she sees the police firing on a non-violent demonstration for acceptance of the Untouchables inside temples. She instantaneously gains recognition and acceptance as a leader of city''s poor and downtrodden. Impelled by the desire to gain similar recognition, Amarkant deviates from the path of non-violence in favour of direct confrontation that leads to many casualties among the farmers. He finally realizes that the Gandhian path was the better one, and returns to its fold.

Karmabhoomi

A young woman named Helen Stoner consults the detective Sherlock Holmes about the suspicious death of her sister, Julia. One night, after conversing with her twin sister about her upcoming wedding day, Julia screamed and came to the hallway where Helen came out to see her, in Julia''s dying words she said "it was the band, the speckled band!" Julia had been engaged to be married and, had she lived, would have received an annual GBP250 annuity from her late mother''s income. Now Helen is engaged to be married. Holmes'' investigation of the mother''s estate reveals that its value has decreased significantly, and if both daughters had married, Dr. Roylott, Helen''s ill-tempered and violent stepfather, would be left with very little, while the marriage of even one would be crippling. Therefore, the main suspicion falls on him. Dr. Roylott has required Helen to move into Julia''s old room of his heavily mortgaged ancestral home, Stoke Moran. A number of details about the place are mysterious and disturbing. A low whistling sound is heard late at night, as well as a metallic clang. There is a strange bell cord over the bed, and it does not seem to work any bell. The rope goes to a ventilator to the step father''s room. The bed is also unusually clamped to the floor so that it can never be moved from its position. Stoner surmises that Julia might have been murdered by the gypsies, whom Dr. Roylott permits to live on the grounds&mdash;they wear speckled handkerchiefs around their necks. A cheetah and a baboon also have the run of the property, for Dr. Roylott keeps exotic pets from India. Helen feels reluctant to sleep in the room. After Helen leaves, Dr. Roylott comes to visit Holmes, having traced his stepdaughter. He demands to know what Helen has said to Holmes, but Holmes refuses to say. Dr. Roylott bends an iron poker into a curve in an attempt to intimidate Holmes, but Holmes is unaffected as he maintains a rather jovial demeanor during the encounter. After Roylott leaves, Holmes straightens the poker out again, thus showing that he is just as strong as the doctor. Having arranged for Helen to spend the night in her original bedroom, Holmes and Watson sneak into her bedroom without Dr. Roylott''s knowledge. Holmes says that he has already deduced the solution to the mystery, and this test of his theory turns out to be successful. They hear the whistle, and Holmes also sees what the bell cord is really for, although Watson does not. Julia''s last words about a "speckled band" were in fact describing "a swamp adder, the deadliest snake in India". The venomous snake had been sent to Julia''s room by Dr. Roylott through the ventilator to murder her. The fake bell cord is to act as a bridge for the snake to land on the bed. After the swamp adder bit Julia, he called off the snake with the whistling, which made the snake climb up through the bell cord, disappearing from the scene. Now the swamp adder is sent again through the ventilator by Dr. Roylott to kill Julia''s sister Helen. Holmes attacks the snake, sending it back through an air ventilator connected to the next room. The aggravated snake bites Dr. Roylott instead, and, within seconds, he is dead. Holmes grimly notes that he is indirectly responsible for Dr. Roylott''s death, but that he is unlikely to feel much guilt over the death.

The Adventure of the Speckled Band

In a small town in Greece, a group of people witness a boating accident and subsequently become tangled in each other''s lives. Thomas is a Californian university professor escaping from the tense relationship between him and his remarried ex-wife, and their son, who he adores. Elsa, the beautiful German blonde, resigned from her successful television job to escape her ex-boyfriend, who she still loves. Irish Fiona couldn''t stand her family and friends'' resentful attitudes towards her boyfriend, Shane, so they went to peaceful Greece. David, a kind English man, doesn''t want to take over his father''s business like his family wants and expects, and instead decides to travel. These strangers meet in a tavern in peaceful Aghia Anna underneath the stars, and soon they are the closest of friends. Vonni, a native who too escaped her family many years ago, becomes involved in all their lives and together they form bonds and discover things about each other and themselves that they never could have anticipated. *2004, Ireland/UK/Australia, Orion ISBN 0-7528-5166-7, Pub date 25 August 2004, Hardback *2004, USA, Dutton ISBN 0-525-94754-X, Pub date 21 September 2004, Hardback *2005, USA, Dutton ISBN 0-451-21446-3, Pub date 28 June 2005, Paperback *2005, Ireland/UK/Australia, Orion ISBN 978-0-7528-6536-2, Pub date 29 June 2005, Paperback

Nights of Rain and Stars

Eon has been studying the ancient art of Dragon Magic for four years, hoping he''ll be selected as apprentice to a dragoneye. Dragoneyes are the human links to the twelve dragons of good fortune, who provide energy to the earth. However, circumstance does not favour Eon; he is a cripple and despised by the trainers and other candidates for the ceremony. They believe his disability embodies bad luck and try to distance themselves, all except a boy named Dillon who is also bullied for his small size. Eon''s master, Heuris Brannon, places all his hope and dwindling wealth into his pupil, who is able to see all twelve dragons in minds'' sight. This feat is almost unheard of and they pray that the ascending dragon this cycle, who is the keeper of ambition, will be drawn by the enormous power demonstrated. However, Eon has a dark secret unbeknownst to all but himself and his master; he is actually Eona, a sixteen-year-old girl who has been living a lie in order for the chance to become a Dragoneye. It is forbidden for females to practice the Dragon Magic; this is due to common belief that the female eye, so practised in looking at itself, cannot see other things in life with true clarity. If discovered, ''Eon'' faces a terrible death. The choosing day comes all too quickly and the corrupted Rat Dragoneye, Lord Ido, has seized dominance over the council. He revokes the current practise of ceremonial performances and instead brings back the combat of old. The bloodthirsty crowds approve, but this just adds to the mounting misfortune Eona has to bear. Not only is she given the unlucky number of death, 4, but she has to face off with the one trainer of the two that bears a grudge against her. Against the odds, the Rat Dragon chooses her friend Dillon, the smallest of the bunch. Here, it appears as though the protagonist has failed and her master''s wealth is all lost; however, as the remaining candidates proceed to the arena to bow to the Emperor, the Mirror Dragon, which has been lost for five hundred years, returns. It chooses Eona, who becomes a Lord due to the absence of a current Mirror Dragoneye. Much to the fury of Lord Ido, all the dragons bow to the Mirror Dragon, including his. This is impossible because his is the ascendant dragon, but the message is clear; the Mirror Dragon, the Keeper of Truth, holds power over all other dragons. To discourage those who oppose him, Ido poisons Heuris Brannon, Eona''s appointed proxy. Meanwhile, the country grows increasingly restless. A battle is about the break out between the Emperor and one of his brothers, High Lord Sethon, who wishes to make a claim for the throne. Lord Ido has allied himself with Sethon and as the Emperor ages, it is clear that the empire will soon be under civil war. The Emperor and his heir, Prince Kygo, attempt to use the return of the Mirror Dragon as a good omen for their reign. This throws Eona into the midst of their struggle for power. She panics, without knowledge as for who to trust except her close friend Lady Dela (born a man but who is a woman in spirit) and Dela''s bodyguard, the islander Ryko. Tension mounts and soon the battle begins. Eona finds herself in trouble; Ido discovers her true gender and her dragon fades and then disappears altogether. When talking to Dillon she realises that she does not have her dragon''s name and thus cannot communicate properly. She consults the palace professor/librarian, who cannot find the red folio of the Mirror Dragon. Eona suspects Lord Ido and realises he has masterminded his own plan, killing all other Dragoneyes and apprentices in a bid for more power. In his library she meets an almost insane Dillon who finds both the red folio and another black folio, detailing how it is possible to create a ''String of Pearls'', with 2 Dragoneyes harnessing the power of the normal 12. She puts the pieces together and is horrified to find that Ido wishes for the two of them to be the only two left alive. However, Dillon takes off with the black folio as Eona saves Ryko from the pain a dragon-powered hallucination. Prince Kygo flees and his baby brother, the Emperor''s only other heir, is killed by Sethon. In desperation the wounded Dela, limping Eona and injured Ryko try to escape but Ido orders his men to find them. Dela continues decoding the red folio, which is written in Women''s Script, for Eona''s dragon''s name. As the warfare escalates and all seems to be lost in this final confrontation, Dela screams out that the dragon''s name is her name; Eona. She summons her dragon, the Queen of the Heavens, and they are united at last, with Eona''s crippled leg healing in the process. Together the Dragon and the Dragoneye force compassion upon Ido and the trio make their escape to the river.

The Two Pearls of Wisdom

Car engines are spontaneously exploding all over the country. The reason is narrowed down to the petrol used in the cars which is tampered in some way to cause an explosion. As a result most form of transport from cars to airlines are cutting down on fuel usage, thus affecting the economy. Furthermore political tensions are heightening, leading the world to the brink of war, and Captain Haddock is mobilised in anticipation of an outbreak of hostilities. Following different leads, Tintin and Thomson and Thompson set off for Khemed (a fictional country in the Middle East) on board a petrol tanker. Upon arrival, the three are framed and arrested by the authorities under various charges. The Thompsons are cleared and released, but Tintin is kidnapped by Arab insurgents. (In the original version of the story he initially arrived in the port of Haifa in British-governed Palestine and was first kidnapped by members of the Irgun, before being subsequently abducted by Arabs.) In the course of his adventures, Tintin re-encounters an old enemy, Dr. J.W. Müller (see The Black Island for back story), whom he sees sabotaging an oil pipeline. He reunites with the Thompsons and eventually arrives in Wadesdah, the capital of Khemed, where he comes across his old friend, the Portuguese merchant Senhor Oliveira da Figueira. When the local Emir Ben Kalish Ezab''s young son, Prince Abdullah, is kidnapped, Tintin suspects that Müller (who is masquerading as an archaeologist under the name of Professor Smith) is responsible. He pursues Müller in hopes of rescuing the prince and gets into his study. After an incident involving sneezing powder he is able to knock out Muller. He ties him up, gags him, and hides him behind the sofa. He then rescues the Prince and later captures Muller. Captain Haddock comes along near the end of the book, but it is never explained how this happens. In the process he discovers the doctor to be the agent of a foreign power responsible for the tampering of the fuel supplies, having invented a type of chemical in tablet form that increases the explosive power of oil by a significant amount. The Thom(p)son''s find the tablets and swallow them, thinking them to be aspirin, causing them to belch continuously, and grow long hair and beards that change colour. After analysing the tablets, Professor Calculus comes up with remedies for the Thompsons and a means of countering the affected oil supplies, though, while carrying out his tests, he half-destroys Captain Haddock''s Marlinspike Hall, earning the Captain''s fury.

Land of Black Gold

The Fifty Year Sword is essentially a mature-audience ghost story, in the disguised form of a children''s book. The events of the book take place at a woman''s 50th birthday party in an orphan''s foster home, told from the point of view of Chintana, a kind yet sullen seamstress who is struggling with the recent divorce from her husband over an affair, the mistress, Belinda Kite, of which is ironically the birthday girl whose party Chintana is attending. A storyteller is invited by a social worker to entertain the orphans. He brings with him a long, black box. The storyteller entertains the orphans by explaining his adventures of obtaining the contents of the box: His Fifty Year Sword, a weapon that never fails to cut but shows no wound until the victim''s 50th year of life. He recants a suspenseful, epic journey through mystical rocky trails and soundless forests, bent on finding an otherworldly swordsmith to satisfy a dark, never explained personal grudge. He then opens the box, revealing a seemingly bladeless sword, and he waves it in the air at the candles. Just then, the mistress and Birthday Girl, who has barged in toward the end of the story, gets annoyed at the storyteller and tells the children the whole thing is a bunch of hogwash, and sets out to prove it. She takes the hilt of the sword, and slashes it around at herself in any and all places in order to disprove the man''s story, much to the horror of the children and the bemusement of the shadowy storyteller. The suspense grabs the reader even more as the storyteller finishes and Chintana and the other guests go outside so the Birthday Girl can toast herself as her 50th year of life begins at the stroke of midnight. As they take the toast, and the clock hits midnight, signaling the 50th year of Belinda Kite, Belinda falls to pieces, as she has sliced herself in all discernable locations. Chintana, in a fit of empathy, runs to Belinda and holds her as the different discernable entities of her human body fall off. Chintana, at this point, likens holding her together to a series of stitches and the pressures and cuts that can tear it apart. How does one know how much it will take before it tears?

The Fifty Year Sword

Sherlock Holmes is sent to live with his unknown aunt and uncle in Holmes Manor in Hampshire over his school holidays when his father is unexpectedly sent overseas with the British Army. He cannot go home as his mother is unwell, and cannot go to London as his older brother Mycroft is busy working for the government. Wandering around the estate and the surrounding countryside he soon befriends a boy his own age named Matty Arnatt (who has witnessed an unusual death involving a cloud of death). After a few days of holidays Sherlock discovers that his brother Mycroft has hired him an unusual American tutor named Amyus Crowe. During their first lesson together Sherlock finds a dead body on the Holmes'' estate and witnesses the same death cloud surrounding the body that Matty had previously seen. He detects a yellow powdery substance around the body and takes a sample of it. With Matty''s help he tracks down a warehouse which has links to one of the deceased, and almost dies in the warehouse when the villains set it alight. Holmes escapes the building, and determines that he must travel to Guildford and locate an expert in exotic diseases who might help identify the yellow substance. He, therefore, sets out with Matty on his barge to Guildford, and although they are attacked along the way by the villains, they nevertheless make it to his destination and discovers that the yellow substance is bee pollen. On returning home he visits his tutor''s home, where he meets Crowe''s daughter Virginia. A few days later Sherlock is lured to a fair, where he is forced to participate in a boxing match, from which he is kidnapped and interrogated by the unseen Baron Maupertuis until he is rescued by Matty, and the pair go to his tutor''s home. Knowing that the Baron has left his headquarters, Sherlock, Matty, Crowe and Virginia determine to follow and locate the Baron. They discover that the Baron is shipping a weapon from a London wharf, and after a series of chases, Sherlock and Virginia are kidnapped to France by the Baron, and further interrogated. The pair escape and meet up with Crowe and Matty and set out to stop the Baron from trying to destroy the British Army.

Death Cloud

Sten, leader of the Mantis Team 13, Empire''s covert ops, is on the way back from Eryx Cluster, when his spy ship is ambushed by Janissary cruiser. After crashing on nearby planet, Team 13 is able to overpower Janissars, capture their ship and return home. The Eternal Emperor is not pleased with results of Sten''s mission, which confirms existence of very rare mineral in Eryx Cluster. The shortest path to Eryx goes right through Lupus Cluster. Also known as "Wolf Worlds", Lupus Cluster is a home of the cult of Talemein, religious dictatorship, whose military half, Janissars, practice piracy to acquire money and ships, and ruthlessly kill any captives who do not immediately and fervently convert. According to Emperor''s analysis, in three years, every "wannabe merchant, miner and explorer" will travel right through Lupus Cluster, where they will be slaughtered en masse by one or other Talamein faction. Emperor will have to send Imperial Guard, which will be a great hit on his public relations, because he gave the worlds to the young soldier Talemein a few thousand years before. Since official action is out of the discussion, the only acceptable solution is unofficial one. Sten receives very simple order: in three years he has to pacify whole Lupus Cluster, by someone who will not shoot at miners when they arrive (i.e. not Janissars). How, it doesn''t matter. He can recruit anyone, but no more than one other member from Mantis. Sten took Alex Kilgour, his best friend and former teammember from Mantis. Sten''s first action is meeting with "moderate" Talamein, ruled by merchant prince Parral and his prophet Theodomir, and offering them mercenary services and unification of Cluster. They accept, secretly planning to kill Sten when he gets the job done. After that, Sten offers help to Bhor, natives of Lupus Cluster. Bhor are race of knuckle dragging Neanderthals, that, when they''re not tearing their competitors in half the long way, they''re doing the same to their competitor''s bank accounts. Being militant and violent beings, they quickly develop a great friendship with Sten and Alex. Sten then begins his campaign by attacking Janissary military center, followed by multiple distraction attacks. His primary objective is to attack Janissary shipyards. Slightly understrength, Sten accepted help of Mathias, Theodomir''s son, who has small group of his followers available. During the attack Parral betrays Sten and orders his ships to retreat, leaving Sten to die on the planet. Luckily, Sten is saved by intervention of Bhor, and he decides to pay Parral a little visit. After Parral''s unfortunately demise from the hands of Mathias, Eternal Emperor personally visits Lupus Cluster and declares prophet Theodomir as legitimate ruler, in spite of the fact that Sten warned Mahoney that he needed more time for situation to settle. Day after Emperor left, Mathias murders his own father, falsely accuses Sten and declared holy war against traitors, unbelievers, and "that heretic Emperor". Sten and Alex escapes, but his mercenaries are captured. Sten asks Mahoney to give him back Mantis Team 13, hoping that he can resolve situation. With the help of his team, Sten infiltrates Lupus Cluster capital, where he frees his imprisoned mercenaries and launches an attack. Eventually, Sten captures Mathias, druggs him and forces him to recant and publicly declare peace. The Eternal Emperor is very pleased with Sten''s action in Lupus Cluster and promotes him to commander of the Gurkhas, Emperor''s personal bodyguards.

The Wolf Worlds

Gandalf tricks Bilbo into hosting a party for Thorin and his band of dwarves, who sing of reclaiming the Lonely Mountain and its vast treasure from the dragon Smaug. When the music ends, Gandalf unveils a map showing a secret door into the Mountain and proposes that the dumbfounded Bilbo serve as the expedition''s "burglar". The dwarves ridicule the idea, but Bilbo, indignant, joins despite himself. The group travel into the wild, where Gandalf saves the company from trolls and leads them to Rivendell, where Elrond reveals more secrets from the map. Passing over the Misty Mountains, they are caught by goblins and driven deep underground. Although Gandalf rescues them, Bilbo gets separated from the others as they flee the goblins. Lost in the goblin tunnels, he stumbles across a mysterious ring and then encounters Gollum, who engages him in a game of riddles. As a reward for solving all riddles Gollum will show him the path out of the tunnels, but if Bilbo fails, his life will be forfeit. With the help of the ring, which confers invisibility, Bilbo escapes and rejoins the dwarves, improving his reputation with them. The goblins and Wargs give chase but the company are saved by eagles before resting in the house of Beorn. The company enters the black forest of Mirkwood without Gandalf. In Mirkwood, Bilbo first saves the dwarves from giant spiders and then from the dungeons of the Wood-elves. Nearing the Lonely Mountain, the travellers are welcomed by the human inhabitants of Lake-town, who hope the dwarves will fulfil prophecies of Smaug''s demise. The expedition travels to the Lonely Mountain and finds the secret door; Bilbo scouts the dragon''s lair, stealing a great cup and learning of a weakness in Smaug''s armour. The enraged dragon, deducing that Lake-town has aided the intruder, sets out to destroy the town. A noble thrush who overheard Bilbo''s report of Smaug''s vulnerability reports it to Bard, who slays the dragon. When the dwarves take possession of the mountain, Bilbo finds the Arkenstone, an heirloom of Thorin''s dynasty, and steals it. The Wood-elves and Lake-men besiege the mountain and request compensation for their aid, reparations for Lake-town''s destruction, and settlement of old claims on the treasure. Thorin refuses and, having summoned his kin from the mountains of the North, reinforces his position. Bilbo tries to ransom the Arkenstone to head off a war, but Thorin is intransigent. He banishes Bilbo, and battle seems inevitable. Gandalf reappears to warn all of an approaching army of goblins and Wargs. The dwarves, men, and elves band together, but only with the timely arrival of the eagles and Beorn do they win the climactic Battle of Five Armies. Thorin is fatally wounded and reconciles with Bilbo before he dies. Bilbo accepts only a small portion of his share of the treasure, having no want or need for more, but still returns home a very wealthy hobbit.

The Hobbit

The novel is set at the start of the twentieth century and deals with the orphaned boy Álfgrímur, his adoptive grandparents, and the small, tolerant community of misfits and eccentrics they gather around them at Brekkukot, their cottage on the outskirts of Reykjavík. As Álfgrímur begins to encounter the minor politicians, businessmen and social-climbers of the growing town of Reykjavík he starts to question his future as a fisherman''s grandson, and is increasingly fascinated by Garðar Hólm, the celebrated Icelandic "world singer" whose sporadic returns to Iceland encourage Álfgrímur to pursue his own personal goals of self-expression. He discovers the true value of his boyhood experiences only as he sets out on a path that will take him away from them forever. The boy''s name, Álfgrímur, is explained in the book as a compound of Álf (elf) and grímur (a poetic word for ''night'') meaning ''he who spends the night with the elves''. The original name of the book in Icelandic is ''Brekkukotsannáll'' (Annals of Brekkukot). de:Das Fischkonzert is:Brekkukotsannáll

The Fish Can Sing

Adeline''s family considers her as bad luck and they don''t pay attention to her throughout her early childhood. This is the story of her struggle for acceptance and how she overcomes the odds to prove her worth. Born the fifth child to a wealthy Chinese family, Adeline''s life begins tragically. Adeline''s mother died three days after her birth due to complications bought on by the delivery, and in Chinese culture she is considered as bad luck. This situation is compounded by her father''s new marriage to a lady who has little affection for her husband''s five children. She displays overt antagonism and distrust towards all of the children, particularly Adeline, while favoring her own younger son and daughter born soon after the marriage. The book outlines Adeline''s struggle to find a place where she feels she belongs. Denied love from her parents, she finds some solace in relationships with her grandfather (Ye Ye) and her Aunt Baba, but they are taken from her. Adeline immerses herself in striving for academic achievement in the hope of winning favour, but also for its own rewards as she finds great pleasure in words and scholarly success. Adeline progresses through various situations in life, from boarding school to studies abroad.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

Picnic at Hanging Rock

By Joan Lindsay

Karmabhoomi

By Munshi Premchand

The Adventure of the Speckled Band

By Arthur Conan Doyle

Nights of Rain and Stars

By Maeve Binchy

The Two Pearls of Wisdom

By Alison Goodman

Land of Black Gold

By Hergé

The Fifty Year Sword

By Mark Z. Danielewski

Death Cloud

By Andy Lane

The Wolf Worlds

By Allan Cole

The Hobbit

By J. R. R. Tolkien

The Fish Can Sing

By Halldór Laxness

Chinese Cinderella

By Adeline Yen Mah