Within An Inch Of His Life

Émile Gaboriau (November 9, 1832 - September 28, 1873) was a French writer, novelist, journalist, and a pioneer of detective fiction. His first detective novel, Monsieur Lecoq 1869, which featured an amateur detective and a young police officer (Monsieur Lecoq), was a success and the Lecoq was the hero in Gaboriau's 3 later detective novels. The character of Lecoq was based on a real-life thief turned police officer, Eugène François Vidocq (1775-1857), whose own memoirs, Les Vrais Mémoires de Vidocq, mixed fiction and fact. It may also have been influenced by the villainous Monsieur Lecoq, one of the main protagonists of Féval's Les Habits Noirs book series. Gaboriau was a pioneer and a great success in his time until Arthur Conan Doyle created Sherlock Holmes which diverted global attention from his Monsieur Lecoq. The story was produced on the stage in 1872. A long series of novels dealing with the annals of the police court followed, and proved very popular. Gaboriau died in Paris of pulmonary apoplexy.

Set against the backdrop of Paris, this gripping tale by Emile Gaboriau weaves a story of mystery, arson, and intrigue. When a devastating fire wreaks havoc, suspicions arise, leading to a thrilling investigation into the world of arsonists and the dark underbelly of the city. Gaboriau masterfully crafts a narrative filled with suspense, unexpected twists, and a deep exploration of human motives. A must-read for fans of detective stories and classic French literature.

Emily Dickinson, probably the most loved and certainly the greatest of American poets, continues to be seen as the most elusive. One reason she has become a timeless icon of mystery for many readers is that her developmental phases have not been clarified. In this exhaustively researched biography, Alfred Habegger presents the first thorough account of Dickinson’s growth–a richly contextualized story of genius in the process of formation and then in the act of overwhelming production. Building on the work of former and contemporary scholars, My Wars Are Laid Away in Books brings to light a wide range of new material from legal archives, congregational records, contemporary women's writing, and previously unpublished fragments of Dickinson’s own letters. Habegger discovers the best available answers to the pressing questions about the poet: Was she lesbian? Who was the person she evidently loved? Why did she refuse to publish and why was this refusal so integral an aspect of her work? Habegger also illuminates many of the essential connection sin Dickinson’s story: between the decay of doctrinal Protestantism and the emergence of her riddling lyric vision; between her father’s political isolation after the Whig Party’s collapse and her private poetic vocation; between her frustrated quest for human intimacy and the tuning of her uniquely seductive voice. The definitive treatment of Dickinson’s life and times, and of her poetic development, My Wars Are Laid Away in Books shows how she could be both a woman of her era and a timeless creator. Although many aspects of her life and work will always elude scrutiny, her living, changing profile at least comes into focus in this meticulous and magisterial biography.

Reproduction of the original.

A captivating book about the emotional and literary power of the lives we might have lived had our chances or choices been different. We each live one life, formed by paths taken and untaken. Choosing a job, getting married, deciding on a place to live or whether to have children—every decision precludes another. But what if you’d gone the other way? It can be a seductive thought, even a haunting one. Andrew H. Miller illuminates this theme of modern culture: the allure of the alternate self. From Robert Frost to Sharon Olds, Virginia Woolf to Ian McEwan, Jane Hirshfield to Carl Dennis, storytellers of every stripe write of the lives we didn’t have. What forces encourage us to think this way about ourselves, and to identify with fictional and poetic voices speaking from the shadows of what might have been? Not only poets and novelists, but psychologists and philosophers have much to say on this question. Miller finds wisdom in all these sources, revealing the beauty, the power, and the struggle of our unled lives. In an elegant and provocative rumination, he lingers with other selves, listening to what they say. Peering down the path not taken can be frightening, but it has its rewards. On Not Being Someone Else offers the balm that when we confront our imaginary selves, we discover who we are.

An experienced thief, Wynthrope Ryland is no stranger to beautiful women—or to relieving them of their most valued possessions. But this life of crime is not one he chose for himself, and just when he thinks he has put that world behind him, he is forced to return, to protect the career and family of his brother, North. Moira Tyndale, a stately viscountess, is his target for this final assignment. But he cannot get close to her without feeling some powerful connection between them. At first he pushes the attraction aside, but as she gives him more and more trust and understanding, Wyn realises he cannot ignore their passion. He knows he must protect her secrets and her past, but he cannot protect her from himself. How can he choose between his heart's desire and his brother's safety?

Profiles the life and career of the professional ballerina, covering from when she began dance classes at age thirteen in an after-school community center through becoming the only African American soloist dancing with the American Ballet Theatre.