LOVES ME NOT -Illustrated with ten vintage Valentines -Three of the greatest ever love stories -Introduction by Beth Boyd "Three of the most compelling novels ever written about love. Lovely old Valetines illustrating them reminding you of past romances. A must read collection." Includes complete and unabridged: FIRST LOVE by Ivan Turgenev WUTHERING HEIGHTS by Emily Brontë MY ÁNTONIA by Willa Cather Read three of the greatest romances ever written, all three were included in The Guardian’s ‘1000 novels everyone should read (love).’ This collection is illustrated with beautiful Valentines from the 19th and early 20th century. FIRST LOVE “Ivan Turgenev's novella First Love is one of the most perfect things ever written.” H. Matar, The Guardian MY ÁNTONIA "No romantic novel ever written in America, by man or woman, is one half so beautiful as 'My Antonia’” H.L Mencken WUTHERING HEIGHTS “If he loved you with all the power of his soul for a whole lifetime, he couldn’t love you as much as I do in a single day.” From Beth Boyd’s Introduction "From Russia with love we have Turgenev’s beautifully written novella ‘First Love’ which I found heart-breaking as a teenager, it now reminds me of that lost and irrecoverable innocence of hopes being dashed when you are young. The Yorkshire Moors are the location of ‘Wuthering Heights’ which is of course well known in its many film and television adaptations but the original text is so lively and full of brilliant full blown language you should read or re-read it if you haven’t already. The Brontë sisters were heroines of mine, although none of my sisters have pursued a literary career. Finally ‘My Ántonia’ is set in the prairies of Nebraska and captures the hard lives and loves of female pioneers."
Authors
Emily Jane Brontë was an English novelist and poet, now best remembered for her only novel Wuthering Heights, a classic of English literature. Emily was the second eldest of the three surviving Brontë sisters, being younger than Charlotte Brontë and older than Anne Brontë. She published under the masculine pen name Ellis Bell. Emily was born in Thornton, near Bradford in Yorkshire to Patrick Brontë and Maria Branwell. She was the younger sister of Charlotte Brontë and the fifth of six children. In 1824, the family moved to Haworth, where Emily's father was perpetual curate, and it was in these surroundings that their literary oddities flourished. In childhood, after the death of their mother, the three sisters and their brother Patrick Branwell Brontë created imaginary lands (Angria, Gondal, Gaaldine, Oceania), which were featured in stories they wrote. Little of Emily's work from this period survived, except for poems spoken by characters (The Brontës' Web of Childhood, Fannie Ratchford, 1941). In 1842, Emily commenced work as a governess at Miss Patchett's Ladies Academy at Law Hill School, near Halifax, leaving after about six months due to homesickness. Later, with her sister Charlotte, she attended a private school in Brussels. They later tried to open up a school at their home, but had no pupils. It was the discovery of Emily's poetic talent by Charlotte that led her and her sisters, Charlotte and Anne, to publish a joint collection of their poetry in 1846, Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. To evade contemporary prejudice against female writers, the Brontë sisters adopted androgynous first names. All three retained the first letter of their first names: Charlotte became Currer Bell, Anne became Acton Bell, and Emily became Ellis Bell. In 1847, she published her only novel, Wuthering Heights, as two volumes of a three volume set (the last volume being Agnes Grey by her sister Anne). Its innovative structure somewhat puzzled critics. Although it received mixed reviews when it first came out, the book subsequently became an English literary classic. In 1850, Charlotte edited and published Wuthering Heights as a stand-alone novel and under Emily's real name. Like her sisters, Emily's health had been weakened by the harsh local climate at home and at school. She caught a chill during the funeral of her brother in September, and, having refused all medical help, died on December 19, 1848 of tuberculosis, possibly caught from nursing her brother. She was interred in the Church of St. Michael and All Angels family capsule, Haworth, West Yorkshire, England.
