Showing results for "The Peacock" in Literature & Fiction

A powerful and important book for fans of Mark Haddon, THE SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK and Jay Asher. How would you spend your birthday if you knew it would be your last? Eighteen-year-old Leonard Peacock knows exactly what he'll do. He'll say goodbye. Not to his mum - who he calls Linda because it...

Thomas Love Peacock was a linguist, scholar and East India Company official. He had a wide circle of literary friends, including Coleridge and Shelley, and his early works were poems, some of a considerable length. In 1815 his first novel, Headlong Hall, was published, and between that year and 1831, he published a further five novels. His final completed novel, Gryll Grange, was written in 1860 and published the following year. Peacock also produced a number of articles on literary and historical subjects, and some other long poems, which have faded into obscurity.

Meg Langslow's summer is not going swimmingly. In her small Virginia hometown, she's the maid of honor at the nuptials of three loved ones - each of whom has dumped the planning in her hands. One bride is set on including a Native American herbal purification ceremony while another wants live peacocks on the lawn. But when an offensive newcomer, who hints at skeletons in the guests' closets, is found dead under suspicious circumstances, level-headed Meg's to-do list extends from flower arrangements and bridal registries to catching a killer - before the next event is her own funeral.

Two women who long for more, and a house that holds the key to their freedom… From internationally bestselling author Hannah Richell comes this compelling story of hidden secrets, forbidden love, and a mysterious old house. “A juicy mix of secrets and betrayals make The Peacock Summer by...

The only place Suzanna Peacock finds comfort is her shop, which provides a haven for the misfits in town. But she is forced to confront events of the past and her family that have been haunting her for so long. And she discovers that the key to her happiness may have been in front of her all along....

At 26, Lillian feels trapped by life. Her marriage to Charles Oberon has not turned out the way she expected it would. To her it seems she is just another object captured within the walls of Cloudesley, her husband's beautiful manor house tucked away high in the Chiltern Hills. But with a young stepson and a sister to care for, Lillian accepts there is no way out for her. Then Charles makes an arrangement with an enigmatic artist visiting their home, and his presence will unbalance everything she thought she knew and understood.

Lawrence’s first novel tells the tale of a love triangle between Lettie Beardsall and her neighbors George Saxton, son of a farmer, and Leslie Tempest, the local mine owner's son. Lettie will marry Leslie but remain sexually attracted George. George also marries but falls victim to alcohol.

The Peacock Feast opens on a June day in 1916 when Louis C. Tiffany, the eccentric glass genius, dynamites the breakwater at Laurelton Hall - his fantastical Oyster Bay mansion. The explosion shakes both the apple crate, where Prudence, the daughter of Tiffany’s prized gardener, is sleeping and the rocks where Randall, her seven-year-old brother, is playing. Nearly a century later, Prudence receives an unexpected visit at her New York apartment from Grace, a hospice nurse and the granddaughter of Randall, who Prudence never saw again after he left at age 14 for California.

'STARGAZING is the story of a happy family plunged into an unexpected drama: it's poignant, warm, and unpredictable. I enjoyed it hugely.' JULIE COHEN 'A warm and touching family drama exploring serious issues like family breakup, domestic abuse and falling for the right person. Moving.' LAURA...

Thomas Love Peacock is today remembered as the author of seven satirical novels which many regard merely as literary curiosities. However, he was also a man of considerable learning, a skilled poet, and an astute literary critic. This collection includes Recollections of Thomas Love Peacock, an affectionate reminiscence by Sir Edward Strachey; Some Recollections of Childhood, a window into Peacock's early youth; "Four Ages of Poetry", in which he pokes fun at his contemporaries; and "The Last Day of Windsor Forest", an old man's recollection of a memorable episode.

A young girl comes to live in the slums of New Delhi. It is a place of danger where street gangs rule. Through the initiative of a blind beggar, she is taken to work in the home of a rich businessman and his dysfunctional son. There, she observes a world of education and privilege - a world that is out of her reach. But danger still stalks her. A kidnap attempt forces her to flee to her childhood home in the tropical backwaters of Kerala - a land of wooden boats, fishing, and elephants. But she cannot hide forever. 

Yorkshire Dales, 1850. As a terrible storm rages, Annabelle Wallis is shocked to find a distressed young woman at her cottage door, heavy with child. Moments later a baby girl is born. But by dawn, the mother has vanished, leaving behind the helpless child wrapped only in a silk peacock shawl. When news spreads that Lady Eliza Hartley, sister to a wealthy estate owner, has been found dead, Annabelle realises the terrible secret she has stumbled on. Terrified she’ll be blamed for Eliza’s death, Annabelle flees to the slums of York, where she plans to raise the orphan as her own.

Agra, 1938: 18-year-old Florence Hunt has grown up riding horses past the Taj Mahal and chasing peacocks through her backyard under the critical gaze of her father. Increasingly enamoured with his work on the booming railway, Florence yearns to know more, but finds herself brushed away, encouraged only to perform the more ladylike hobbies of singing and entertaining guests. So when a dazzling young engineer walks into her life, she finds herself not only gripped by secret lessons in physics but swept entirely off her feet.

Unverhoffte Berühmheit kann anstrengend sein. Das müssen auch John und Patricia erfahren, als die Fangemeinde von Miss Crockhams jüngst erschienenem Roman ihr Heim belagert. Um eine Weile unterzutauchen, lassen die beiden sich von Freundin Walli in die Oper von Kairo einschleusen. Dort finden sie sich mit der unmöglichen Aufgabe betraut, die berühmte Operndiva Brunella Carvalotti zu beschützen. Diese tyrannisiert das gesamte Ensemble und bemerkt dabei nicht, dass irgendjemand ihr nach dem Leben trachtet.

With deceptive economy in these nine short stories, Ruth Rendell indicates hidden depths in ordinary events and creates a sense of profound unease. The stories are: 'A Pair of Yellow Lilies', 'Paperwork', 'Mother’s Hel'p, 'Long Live the Queen', 'Dying Happy', 'The Copper Peacock', 'Weeds', 'The Fish-Sitter', and 'An Unwanted Woman'.

Eine misslungene Geisterbeschwörung und ein saftiger Skandal - Patricia Peacock und Dogge Sir Tiny stolpern in ihr zweites Abenteuer! Auf dem Silvesterball im Mena Hotel machen Patricia und John mit dem schrulligen Ehepaar Gräfin Walburga und General Huddelston Bekanntschaft. Wenig später bittet die Gräfin sie um Hilfe, denn ihr Gatte wurde entführt. Und das zwei Wochen vor der Goldenen Hochzeit der beiden! Als wäre das nicht schlimm genug, steht auch noch ein saftiger Skandal ins Haus, denn der General verschwand aus dem berühmt-berüchtigten Freudenhaus "Lotusgarten".

In The Paper Garden, celebrated poet Molly Peacock explores the remarkable life of 18th-century British gentlewoman-turned-artist Mary Delany. In the 1770s, at the age of 72, the twice-widowed and nearly broke Delany turned her interest in botany into beautiful paper “mosaick” flowers still revered today.

My father was Mr Bones - the notorious serial killer of 25 years ago. As a child I witnessed his crimes. Everything is different now. I have a new identity. I’m a mother. I am finally free. Until that podcast. I should never have listened. They’re linking a recent kidnapping to the crimes of the past. They know who I am. They’re calling me Little Bones again. They say I’m a villain, but I’m not. I’m a victim. You believe me, don’t you?

Lawrences debut novel transports readers to the fictional town of Nethermere, inspired by real-life Eastwood in Nottinghamshire. The story unfolds through the eyes of Cyril Beardsall, exploring the intricate dynamics of his sister Letties relationships with two suitors the ruggedly handsome George and the refined, almost delicate Leslie. Although Lettie ultimately marries Leslie, her heart yearns for George, who himself weds the conventional Meg. Both unions spiral into discontent, set against the backdrop of the vividly described English midlands, where the tension between pastoral beauty and...

A crew of men are embarking on a voyage up a turbulent river through the rainforests of Guyana. Donne, their wild, domineering leader, is obsessed with hunting for a mysterious woman and exploiting Indigenous people as plantation labour. But their expedition is plagued by tragedies, haunted by drowned ghosts: spectres of the crew themselves, inhabiting a blurred shadowland between life and death. As their journey into the interior—their own hearts of darkness—deepens, it assumes a spiritual dimension, guiding them towards a new destination: the Palace of the Peacock.