Showing results by author "Gill Tavner" in All Categories

Can one lonely little boy show the strength and determination to survive the dangers that lie ahead? Travelling along the rocky road from boyhood to manhood, how can David learn who to trust and who to love? Will David's friends bring him happiness or heartache? In this inspiring tale of trust, betrayal and courage, Dickens presents a world of colourful characters to amuse us, astonish us, disgust us and move us to tears.

William Legrand has found a new type of bug, a golden bug, unusually heavy. His servant, Jupiter, is worried. Why is Legrand behaving so oddly? Has the bug's bite made him mad? When Legrand shows his friend a drawing of the gold-bug, it looks more like a skull. What can this mean? The arrival of the gold-bug leads the three men on an exciting adventure towards skeletons, a skull and a hunt for buried treasure.

The blackness of eternal night encompassed me. The intense darkness oppressed and stifled me so that I struggled for breath. Having been condemned to death by the Spanish Inquisition, the narrator descends into a kind of hell. Dizzy with weakness and fainting with fear, he experiences such torments that death itself would be welcome. What troubles him most is the eternal question: how will he die? Toledo Prison is notorious for the torture of the condemned. What minds have dreamed up the terror of the pit in the centre of the cell?

Here is a test, a puzzle for you. It is a faithful account of two most gruesome murders. Can you work out what actually happened in the early hours of one fateful morning in the Rue Morgue? Before you start, here are a few tips. To be a good detective you need the same skills as a good card-player. You must consider and examine every detail, not just the obvious ones. You have to observe every change in a person's face, everything they say, everything they do and you must always expect the unexpected. And finally, you must remember it all.

Although Simon has no idea why Jesus is beckoning to him from the beach, he agrees to leave his nets and follow him. A robust, enthusiastic fisherman, Simon makes more mistakes and asks more questions than the other disciples. Why then, he wonders, does Jesus call him Peter, which means 'rock'? When Jesus is arrested everybody except Simon Peter flees, but is he brave enough to stand by Jesus until the end? After Jesus' death, how will Simon Peter spread Jesus' teachings? Will he make the right decisions? Can he calm the rivalries developing among Jesus' followers?

Bleak House is one of a series of retellings of classic literature by publishers Real Reads. True to the original plot, characters and themes, Real Reads also imitate the original author's style.