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Touch Not The Cat
''Touch Not the Cat'' is a novel by Mary Stewart. Background ''Touch Not the Cat'' was first published in 1976 and is one of Mary Stewart's best-known works. In the United States, ''Touch Not the Cat'' was the 9th highest selling book of 1976. Like many of Stewart's novels, the story has a supernatural element. The title of the book refers to the motto of the clan chief of Clan Chattan, a community of twelve clans including Clan Mackintosh, Clan Macpherson and Clan MacBean. In full this motto is 'Touch not the cat bot ithouta glove'. This is also the motto of the book's fictional Ashley family, from a Scottish ancestor. Mary Stewart admitted that the vicar in the novel, Mr Bryanston, 'is to some extent a portrait of my own father'. Her father, Frederick Albert Rainbow (1886-1967), was an Anglican vicar in County Durham. Settings The story begins in Madeira, where the heroine, Bryony Ashley, is working as a hotel receptionist. Foreshadowing what is to come in the novel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Stewart (novelist)
Mary, Lady Stewart (born Mary Florence Elinor Rainbow; 17 September 1916 – 9 May 2014) was a British novelist who developed the romantic mystery genre, featuring smart, adventurous heroines who could hold their own in dangerous situations. She also wrote children's books and poetry, but may be best known for her Merlin series, which straddles the boundary between the historical novel and fantasy. Early life and education Mary Florence Elinor Rainbow was born on 17 September 1916 in Sunderland, County Durham, England, UK, daughter of Mary Edith Matthews, a primary school teacher from New Zealand, and Frederick Albert Rainbow, a vicar. She was a bright child and attended Eden Hall boarding school in Penrith, Cumbria, age eight. She was bullied there and stated that this had a lasting effect on her. At ten, she won a scholarship to Skellfield School, Ripon, Yorkshire, where she excelled at sport. Offered places by Oxford, Cambridge, and Durham universities, she chose Durham ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adventure Story
Adventure fiction is a type of fiction that usually presents danger, or gives the reader a sense of excitement. Some adventure fiction also satisfies the literary definition of romance fiction. History In the Introduction to the ''Encyclopedia of Adventure Fiction'', Critic Don D'Ammassa defines the genre as follows: D'Ammassa argues that adventure stories make the element of danger the focus; hence he argues that Charles Dickens's novel ''A Tale of Two Cities'' is an adventure novel because the protagonists are in constant danger of being imprisoned or killed, whereas Dickens's '' Great Expectations'' is not because "Pip's encounter with the convict is an adventure, but that scene is only a device to advance the main plot, which is not truly an adventure." Adventure has been a common theme since the earliest days of written fiction. Indeed, the standard plot of Medieval romances was a series of adventures. Following a plot framework as old as Heliodorus, and so durable as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1976 British Novels
Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Philadelphia Flyers–Red Army game results in a 4–1 victory for the National Hockey League's Philadelphia Flyers over HC CSKA Moscow of the Soviet Union. * January 16 – The trial against jailed members of the Red Army Faction (the West German extreme-left militant Baader–Meinhof Group) begins in Stuttgart. * January 18 ** Full diplomatic relations are established between Bangladesh and Pakistan 5 years after the Bangladesh Liberation War. ** The Scottish Labour Party (1976), Scottish Labour Party is formed as a breakaway from the UK-wide party. ** Super Bowl X in American football: The Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Dallas Cowboys, 21–17, in Miami. * January 21 – First commercial Concorde flight, from London to Bahrain. * January 27 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his first pieces, "Timbuktu". He published his first solo collection of poems, ''Poems, Chiefly Lyrical'', in 1830. "Claribel" and "Mariana", which remain some of Tennyson's most celebrated poems, were included in this volume. Although described by some critics as overly sentimental, his verse soon proved popular and brought Tennyson to the attention of well-known writers of the day, including Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Tennyson's early poetry, with its medievalism and powerful visual imagery, was a major influence on the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Tennyson also excelled at short lyrics, such as "Break, Break, Break", "The Charge of the Light Brigade", "Tears, Idle Tears", and "Crossing the Bar". Much of his verse was based on classical mytho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Tragical History Of Romeus And Juliet
''The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet'' is a narrative poem by Arthur Brooke, first published in 1562 by Richard Tottel, which was a key source for William Shakespeare’s ''Romeo and Juliet''. Brooke is reported to have translated it from an Italian novella by Matteo Bandello; by another theory, it is mainly derived from a French adaptation of Bandello's novella which involves a man by the name of Reomeo Titensus and Juliet Bibleotet by Pierre Boaistuau. The plot of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet takes place over four days while Brooke's narrative takes place over many months. Little is known about Arthur Brooke. He was admitted as a member of Inner Temple on 18 December 1561 under the sponsorship of Thomas Sackville and Thomas Norton. He drowned in 1563 by shipwreck while crossing to help Protestant forces in the French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholic Church, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Brooke (poet)
Arthur Brooke (died 19 March 1563) was an English poet who wrote and created various works including ''The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet'' (1562), considered to be William Shakespeare's chief source for his tragedy '' Romeo and Juliet'' (1597). Life The ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' suggests that Brooke may have been a son of Thomas Broke. Brooke was admitted to the Inner Temple, at the request of '' Gorboducs authors, Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville. He may have written the masque that accompanied the play. On 19 March 1563, Brooke died in the shipwreck that also killed Sir Thomas Finch, bound for Le Havre, besieged in the French Wars of Religion. In 1567 George Turberville published a collection of poetry entitled, ''Epitaphs, Epigrams, Songs and Sonnets''; it included ''An Epitaph on the Death of Master Arthur Brooke Drownde in Passing to New Haven''. ''The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet'' Though ostensibly a translation from the Italian o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northanger Abbey
''Northanger Abbey'' () is a coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ... novel and a satire of Gothic novels written by Jane Austen. Austen was also influenced by Charlotte Lennox's ''The Female Quixote'' (1752). ''Northanger Abbey'' was completed in 1803, the first of Austen's novels completed in full, but was published posthumously in 1817 with ''Persuasion (novel), Persuasion''. The story concerns Catherine Morland, the naïve young protagonist, and her journey to a better understanding of herself and of the world around her. How Catherine views the world has been distorted by her fondness for Gothic novels and an active imagination. Plot summary Seventeen-year-old Catherine Morland is one of ten children of a country clergyman. Although a tomboy in he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jane Austen
Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage in the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security. Her works critique the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century literary realism. Her use of biting irony, along with her realism and social commentary, have earned her acclaim among critics, scholars and readers alike. With the publication of ''Sense and Sensibility'' (1811), '' Pride and Prejudice'' (1813), ''Mansfield Park'' (1814), and '' Emma'' (1816), she achieved modest success but only little fame in her lifetime since the books were published anonymously. She wrote two other novels—''Northanger Abbey'' and '' Persuasion'', both published posthumou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Lovell Beddoes
Thomas Lovell Beddoes (30 June 1803 – 26 January 1849) was an English poet, dramatist and physician. Biography Born in Clifton, Bristol, England, he was the son of Dr. Thomas Beddoes, a friend of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Anna, sister of Maria Edgeworth. He was educated at Charterhouse School, Charterhouse and Pembroke College, Oxford. He published in 1821 ''The Improvisatore'', which he afterwards endeavoured to suppress. His next venture, a blank verse, blank-verse drama called ''The Bride's Tragedy'' (1822), was published and well reviewed, and won for him the friendship of Barry Cornwall. Beddoes' work shows a constant preoccupation with death. In 1824, he went to Göttingen to study medicine, motivated by his hope of discovering physical evidence of a human spirit which survives the death of the body. He was expelled, and then went to Würzburg to complete his training. He then wandered about practising his profession, and expounding democratic theories which got h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter De La Mare
Walter John de la Mare (; 25 April 1873 – 22 June 1956) was an English poet, short story writer, and novelist. He is probably best remembered for his works for children, for his poem "The Listeners", and for a highly acclaimed selection of subtle psychological horror stories, amongst them "Seaton's Aunt" and "All Hallows". In 1921, his novel '' Memoirs of a Midget'' won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction, and his post-war ''Collected Stories for Children'' won the 1947 Carnegie Medal for British children's books. Life De la Mare was born in Kent at 83, Maryon Road, Charlton (now part of the Royal Borough of Greenwich), partly descended from a family of French Huguenot silk merchants, and was educated at St Paul's Cathedral School. He was born to James Edward de la Mare (1811–1877), a principal at the Bank of England, and James's second wife Lucy Sophia (1838–1920), daughter of Scottish naval surgeon and author Dr Colin Arrott Browning.Theresa Whistler, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Romeo And Juliet
''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Hamlet'', is one of his most frequently performed plays. Today, the Title character, title characters are regarded as archetype, archetypal young lovers. ''Romeo and Juliet'' belongs to a tradition of tragic Romance (love), romances stretching back to Ancient history, antiquity. The plot is based on an Italian tale translated into verse as ''The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet'' by Arthur Brooke (poet), Arthur Brooke in 1562 and retold in prose in ''Palace of Pleasure'' by William Painter (author), William Painter in 1567. Shakespeare borrowed heavily from both but expanded the plot by developing a number of supporting characters, particularly Mercutio and Count Paris, Paris. Believed to have been written between ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the " Bard of Avon" (or simply "the Bard"). His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. He remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted. Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
