Based on the story of Jane Austen . Retold by Clare West . ... The moment I first met you, I noticed your pride, your sense of superiority, and your selfish disdain for the feelings of others. You are the last man in the world whom I could ever be persuaded to marry' said Elizabeth Bennet. And so Elizabeth rejects the proud Mr Darcy. Can nothing overcome her prejudice against him? And what of the other Bennet girls - their fortunes, and misfortunes, in the business of getting husbands? This famous novel by Jane Austen is full of wise and humorous observation of the people and manners of her times. Classics, modern ... |
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Based on the story of Charlotte Bronte . Retold by Clare West . ... Jane Eyre is alone in the world. Disliked by her aunt's family, she is sent away to school. Here she learns that a young girl, with neither money nor family to support her, can expect little from the world. She survives, but she wants more from life than simply to survive: she wants respect, and love. When she goes to work for Mr Rochester, she hopes she has found both at once. But the sound of strange laughter, late at night, behind a locked door, warns her that her troubles are only beginning. Classics, modern fiction, non-fiction and more. ... |
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Based on the story of Colin Dexter . Retold by Clare West . ... Chief Inspector Morse is drinking a pint of beer. He is thinking about an attractive woman who lives not far away. The woman he is thinking of is hanging, dead, from the ceiling of her kitchen. On the floor lies a chair, almost two metres away from the woman's feet. Chief Inspector Morse finishes his pint, and orders another. Perhaps he will visit Anne, after all. But he is in no particular hurry. Meanwhile, Anne is still hanging in her kitchen, waiting for the police to come and cut her down. She is in no hurry, either. Classics, modern fiction, non- ... |
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Based on the story of Buchi Emecheta. Retold by Rosemary Border . ... When her father dies, Aku-nna and her young brother have no one to look after them. They are welcomed by their uncle because of Aku-nna's bride price - the money that her future husband will pay for her. In her new, strange home one man is kind to her and teaches her to become a woman. Soon they are in love, although everyone says he is not a suitable husband for her. The more the world tries to separate them, the more they are drawn together - until, finally, something has to break. Classics, modern fiction, non-fiction and more. Written for ... |
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Based on the story of Katherine Mansfield . Retold by Rosalie Kerr. ... "Oh, how delightful it is to fall in love for the first time! How exciting to go to your first dance when you are a girl of eighteen! But life can also be hard and cruel, if you are young and inexperienced and travelling alone across Europe... or if you are a child from the wrong social class... or a singer without work and the rent to be paid." By the book Set in Europe and New Zealand, these nine stories by Katherine Mansfield dig deep beneath the appearances of life to show us the causes of human happiness and despair. Classics, modern ... |
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Based on the story of Isaac Asimov . Retold by Rowena Akinyemi . ... A human being is a soft, weak creature. It needs constant supplies of air, water, and food; it has to spend a third of its life asleep, and it can't work if the temperature is too hot or too cold. But a robot is made of strong metal. It uses electrical energy directly, never sleeps, and can work in any temperature. It is stronger, more efficient - and sometimes more human than human beings. Isaac Asimov was one of the greatest sciencefiction writers, and these short stories give us an unforgettable and terrifying vision of the future. Classics, ... |
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Based on the story of Charles Dickens . Retold by Clare West . ... In a gloomy, neglected house Miss Havisham sits, as she has sat year after year, in a wedding dress and veil that were once white, and are now faded and yellow with age. Her face is like a death's head, her dark eyes burn with bitterness and hate. By her side sits a proud and beautiful girl, and in front of her, trembling with fear in his thick country boots, stands young Pip. Miss Havisham stares at Pip coldly, and murmurs to the girl at her side: 'Break his heart, Estella. Break his heart!' Classics, modern fiction, non-fiction and more. ... |
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Based on the story of Jonathan Swift . Retold by Clare West . ... "Soon I felt something alive moving along my leg and up my body to my face, and when I looked down, I saw a very small human being, only fifteen centimetres tall... I was so surprised that I gave a great shout." By the book But that is only the first of many surprises which Gulliver has on his travels. He visits a land of giants and a flying island, meets ghosts from the past and horses which talk... Classics, modern fiction, non-fiction and more. Written for secondary and adult students the Oxford Bookworms Library has seven reading ... |
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Based on the story of Jane Austen . Retold by Clare West . ... Emma Woodhouse , beautiful, clever and rich, has no wish to marry, but she enjoys making matches for those around her. It was Emma who found the perfect husband for her governess Miss Taylor. So when her dear friend Mr Knightley tells her that she should let people choose their own husbands and wives, she will not listen. But does Emma really understand people as well as she thinks? And is she even right about her own feelings, when she says that she will never fall in love? Winner of the Extensive Reading Foundation Language Learner Literature Award ... |
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Based on the story of Anna Sewell . Retold by John Escott . ... When Black Beauty is trained to carry a rider on his back, or to pull a carriage behind him, he finds it hard at first. But he is lucky - his first home is a good one, where his owners are kind people, who would never be cruel to a horse. But in the nineteenth century many people were cruel to their horses, whipping them and beating them, and using them like machines until they dropped dead. Black Beauty soon finds this out, and as he describes his life, he has many terrible stories to tell. Classics, modern fiction, non-fiction and more. Written for ... |
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Based on the story of Lewis Carroll . Retold by Jennifer Bassett . ... "I wish I could get through into looking-glass house," - Alice said. 'Let's pretend that the glass has gone soft and... Why, I do believe it has! It's turning into a kind of cloud!" By the book A moment later Alice is inside the looking-glass world. There she finds herself part of a great game of chess, travelling through forests and jumping across brooks. The chess pieces talk and argue with her, give orders and repeat poems... It is the strangest dream that anyone ever had... Classics, modern fiction, non-fiction and ... |
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Based on the story of Thomas Hardy . Retold by Clare West . ... On a stormy winter night, a stranger knocks at the door of a shepherd's cottage. He is cold and hungry, and wants to get out of the rain. He is welcomed inside, but he does not give his name or his business. Who is he, and where has he come from? And he is only the first visitor to call at the cottage that night... In these three short stories, Thomas Hardy gives us pictures of the lives of shepherds and hangmen, dukes and teachers. But rich or poor, young or old, they all have the same feelings of fear, hope, love, jealousy... Classics, modern fiction, ... |
