Phil Benson
That Lass o' Lowrie's
Frances Hodgson Burnett was born and grew up in Manchester, England, and emigrated to the United States with her family at the age of 16. Fo…
The Astral Plane: Its Scenery, Inhabitants and Phenomena
As skeptics dismissed other-worldly phenomena as the stuff of legend, trickery or delusion, nineteenth-century 'occult science' set out to e…
Hard Times (version 3), Locked Out and On Strike
Hard Times was Dickens's shortest novel and the only one to be set in the industrial north of England. A fast moving story with a typical ca…
Nada the Lily
A classic tale of love and revenge set in the Zulu Kingdom of present-day KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. A work of fiction loosely woven aro…
The Spirit of Bambatse
A romance, a shipwreck and a hunt for buried Portuguese treasure in the Transvaal. All the ingredients of an imperial adventure that made Ha…
Short Stories (Household Words 1850-53)
Elizabeth Gaskell was a regular contributor to Charles Dickens's weekly magazine, Household Words, from 1850 through to 1853 In addition to …
Thorstein of the Mere: A Saga of the Northmen in Lakeland
A fine adventure set in 10th-century England at a time when everyday life in north was made hazardous by wars and shifting alliances among S…
Allan's Wife and Other Tales
In 1885, H. Rider Haggard introduced Allan Quatermain, elephant hunter extraordinaire, in his best-selling African adventure novel 'King Sol…
Clog Shop Chronicles
John Ackworth was the pen name of the Rev. Frederick R. Smith, a Methodist minister who was born in Snaith, Yorkshire, but spent much of his…
The Experienced English Housekeeper
'Cut a large old hare in small pieces, and put it in a mug with three blades of mace, a little salt, two large onions, one red herring, six …
The Master Girl: A Romance
A stone age romance. Deh-Yun of the Little Moon comes across Pul-Yun of the Sun Disc, who has broken his leg while in search of a woman to k…
In a North Country Village
M. E. Francis was born Mary E. Sweetman in Dublin and moved to Lancashire on her marriage to Francis Nicholas Blundell, of the Blundell fami…
Short Stories (All the Year Round, 1859-1863)
In 1859 Charles Dickens launched a new weekly journal, All the Year Round, to replace Household Words. Elizabeth Gaskell remained a prolific…
Short stories (Early works 1837-1852)
A collection of Elizabeth Gaskell's early short stories. Following the publication of Mary Barton in 1848, Gaskell published many of her sho…
Short Stories (Later works 1858-65)
Elizabeth Gaskell was a regular contributor to Dickens's 'Household Worlds' and 'All The Round' until he later years. From 1858 onwards, she…
The Manchester Man
Jabez Clegg, the Manchester man, floats into this historical novel in 1799, carried downstream by the River Irk in flood. Jabez's rise to co…
Travels in Lancashire
A collection of fiction, non-fiction and poetry on travels in Lancashire, England, with occasional sorties into adjacent counties. - Summary…
Doxie Dent
Following the short story collections, Clog Shop Chronicles and Beckside Lights, John Ackworth completed the adventures of clogger Jabez Cle…
Criminal Manchester: Experiences of a Special Correspondent
Follow the Manchester Evening News 'special correspondent' and his guide - recently back from a 'seven stretch' - as they take you on a tour…
Who Did It?
Following the dissolution of the New South Wales government, Henry Bryce is ready to take on the Labour Party for the seat of Balmain East. …