Mary Ann Evans, known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wrote seven novels: Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860), Silas Marner (1861), Romola (1862–1863), Felix Holt, the Radical (1866), Middlemarch (1871–1872) and Daniel Deronda (1876). Like Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy, she emerged from provincial England; most of her works are set there. Her works are known for their realism, psychological insight, sense of place and detailed depiction of the countryside.
Middlemarch was described by the novelist Virginia Woolf as "one of the few English novels written for grown-up people" and by Martin Amis and Julian Barnes as the greatest novel in the English language.
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The girls were delighted to host acclaimed Australian writer Claire Zorn to Bennies last term where she spoke to them about her life as a writer and where she get he writing inspiration from. Claire recently wrote about her visit to Bennies on her blog All The Kings Horses where she also attached 3 of our year 8 girls' book trailers for her book 'The sky so heavy'
The picture of Dorian Gray
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Enthralled by his own exquisite portrait, Dorian Gray exchanges his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Influenced by his friend Lord Henry Wotton, he is drawn into a corrupt double life, indulging his desires in secret while remaining a gentleman in the eyes of polite society. Only his portrait bears the traces of his decadence. The Picture of Dorian Gray was a succès de scandale. Early readers were shocked by its hints at unspeakable sins, and the book was later used as evidence against Wilde at the Old Bailey in 1895.
The tenant of Wildfell Hall
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Gilbert Markham is deeply intrigued by Helen Graham, a beautiful and secretive young woman who has moved into nearby Wildfell Hall with her young son. He is quick to offer Helen his friendship, but when her reclusive behaviour becomes the subject of local gossip and speculation, Gilbert begins to wonder whether his trust in her has been misplaced. It is only when she allows Gilbert to read her diary that the truth is revealed and the shocking details of the disastrous marriage she has left behind emerge. Told with great immediacy, combined with wit and irony, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is a powerful depiction of a woman's fight for domestic independence and creative freedom.
Anne of Green Gables
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The celebrated classic about a red-headed orphan and the family who falls in love with her. The Cuthberts are in for a shock. They are expecting an orphan boy to help with the work at Green Gables - but a skinny red-haired girl turns up instead. Highly spirited Anne Shirley charms her way into the Cuthberts' affection with her vivid imagination and constant chatter, and soon it's impossible to imagine life without her. A favourite classic with cover and introduction by the inimitable Lauren Child, award-winning creator of Clarice Bean and the hugely popular Charlie and Lola series.
The Outsiders
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Two gangs, the Greasers and the Socs, are fighting on the streets of Tulsa. Fourteen year old Ponyboy is a loyal Greaser. Then a deadly catastrophe turns his life, and everything he believes in, upside down.
Besties prank war
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Between helping with their friend Tyler's RPG campaign, catching streams of pro skateboarder Trixie Sampson's new video series, and—oh yeah—homework, Trent and Sawyer are more than a little busy … but when Trixie announces a competition that might result in the boys getting to meet her and her crew, how could they resist entering?! The duo become single-minded in their quest to be the lucky "Trixsters" to win the prize, but it's not easy pulling off the perfect prank and capturing it on video. With their friends growing resentful of being unwilling targets and after drawing the ire of the class prank queen, Nat, the buddies soon find themselves losing at their own game. As an all-out prank war spins out of control, Trent and Sawyer realize they might have pranked themselves by starting it.
Hooky Volume 1
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When twelve-year-olds Dani and Dorian missed the bus to magic school, they didn't expect to be declared traitors to their own kind. But thanks to a mishap with a dragon egg, a broken broom, and a high-profile prisoner, their faces are on wanted posters throughout the country! Chased by powerful families seeking the prophesied King of Witches and royals and searching for missing princes, the twins don't know whom to trust. Luckily, they aren't alone. With a local troublemaker, a princess, and a teacher who can see the future on their side, the twins might just clear their names... but can they heal their torn kingdom?
Primer
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Thirteen-year-old Ashley Rayburn is an upbeat girl with a decidedly downbeat past. With a father in prison, Ashley has buonced from foster home to foster home and represents a real challenge to the social workers who try to help her—not because she's inherently bad, but because trouble always seems to find her.
Things start looking up for Ashley when she finds new, loving parents, a best friend, and an outlet for her creative skills. But her life quickly gets more complicated when she also finds a suitcase full of specially enhanced body paints, changing her from artist to the world's newest superhero. It's the greatest thing to happen in her life so far, until Ashley finds herself pursued by a governement agency that wants those paints back. Now she has to make hard choices to protect her new parents and learn what it truly means to be a family.
Hope
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'Hope' is the revelatory first-ever autobiography to be published by a sitting Pope. Beginning in the early years of the twentieth century, Pope Francis tells the story of his life from his childhood in Buenos Aires to his calling and the whole of his papacy to the present day, while reflecting on controversial questions from global conflicts to the future of the Church, and discussing his personal passions from football to tango.
Raising Hare
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When lockdown led busy professional Chloe to leave the city and return to the countryside of her childhood, she never expected to find herself custodian of a newly born hare. Yet when she finds the creature, endangered, alone and no bigger than her palm, she is compelled to give it a chance at survival. In this book she chronicles their journey together and the challenges of caring for the leveret and preparing for its return to the wild.
We witness an extraordinary relationship between human and animal, rekindling our sense of awe towards nature and wildlife. This improbable bond of trust serves to remind us that the most remarkable experiences, inspiring the most hope, often arise when we least expect them.
Gathering sticks : lighting up small fires
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Margaret Heffernan's desire, in telling this story, has been to pass on to her children and future generations of her family, the story of her life, a life in transition from traditional culture to a very different world that is still unfolding.
Dealing with Dragons
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Cimorene is everything a princess isnotsupposed to be: headstrong, tomboyish, smart. . . . And bored. So bored that she runs away to live with a dragon . . . and finds the family and excitement she's been looking for.
Snow Drowned
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There's a saying on Fall Island- the snow will get you. Gracie Hutchinson has lived here her whole life and knows there's some truth to those words. Every few years someone dies in a snowstorm, or loses their mind, or disappears without a trace. Sometimes it seems like more than just New England weather. Now, a hundred-year-storm is approaching, and while most of the locals have taken the ferry to the mainland, Gracie must stay behind. But she's intrigued to find someone else her age has stayed too-Joseph Wescott, whose mysterious family lives in Wescott Manor, descendants of the legendary first settlers of Fall Island. Together, they stumble across something even more unsettling than the coming storm- the body of a stranger, murdered in a grim ritual. Someone on the island believes the old Fall superstitions have a dark power-and now, they have Gracie in their sights. As the hours count down to the blizzard's landfall, it seems the only safe place to go is Westcott Manor. But Gracie wonders if there's another reason why she's been brought there, one that has to do with Joseph. She'll discover secrets that have been kept for generations, a hidden history, and the terrifying truth about Fall Island. Because even when the storm ends, there's no escape from the horror beneath the snow.
This Is How I Roll: a Wish Novel
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Let the good times roll with this rom-com about sushi rolls, secret crushes, and chasing your dreams! Susannah Mikami dreams of becoming a famous sushi chef like her dad. And this summer, she plans to learn everything about his traditional kitchen. Only he refuses to teach her, and won't tell her why. Is it because he doesn't want her to embarrass him in front of the documentary crew filming at his restaurant? Or worse, because she's a girl? Either way, Sana decides he's not the only one who can keep secrets. So when she meets Koji, a cute boy who wants to help her cook up some trouble in the kitchen -- and film online tutorials to show the world her mad skills -- Sana is all in. But sneaking around means lying to her parents, something Sana's never done before. Can she take the heat, or will she get out of the kitchen for good?
Anne of Green Gables
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The celebrated classic about a red-headed orphan and the family who falls in love with her. The Cuthberts are in for a shock. They are expecting an orphan boy to help with the work at Green Gables - but a skinny red-haired girl turns up instead. Highly spirited Anne Shirley charms her way into the Cuthberts' affection with her vivid imagination and constant chatter, and soon it's impossible to imagine life without her. A favourite classic with cover and introduction by the inimitable Lauren Child, award-winning creator of Clarice Bean and the hugely popular Charlie and Lola series.
Anne of Avonlea
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At sixteen, Anne is grown up...almost. Her gray eyes shine like evening stars, but her red hair is still as peppery as her temper. In the years since she arrived at Green Gables as a freckle-faced orphan, she has earned the love of the people of Avonlea and a reputation for getting into scrapes. But when Anne begins her job as the new schoolteacher, the real test of her character begins. Along with teaching the three Rs, she is learning how complicated life can be when she meddles in someone else's romance, finds two new orphans at Green Gables, and wonders about the strange behaviour of the very handsome Gilbert Blythe. As Anne enters womanhood, her adventures touch the heart and the funny bone.
Anne of the Island
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New adventures lie ahead as Anne Shirley packs her bags, waves good-bye to childhood, and heads for Redmond College. With her old friend Prissy Grant waiting in the bustling city of Kingsport and her frivolous new friend Philippa Gordon at her side, Anne tucks her memories of rural Avonlea away and discovers life on her own terms, filled with surprises . . . including a marriage proposal from the worst fellow imaginable, the sale of her very first story, and a tragedy that teaches her a painful lesson. But tears turn to laughter when Anne and her friends move into an old cottage and an ornery black cat steals her heart. Little does Anne know that handsome Gilbert Blythe wants to win her heart, too. Suddenly Anne must decide whether she's ready for love.