Beloved British poet John Keats died in 1821 at age 25. What was his life really like? Did he find love? What experiences led to his great poetry? This captivating novel reimagines Keats at the moment of death as he undergoes a series of heart-wrenching trials that offer answers to these questions. It is February 23, 1821. John Keats' time on earth has come to an end, and he finds himself in a "way station" somewhere above Rome, where he spent the last months of his life. Alongside him is a mysterious spirit who seems to wish to communicate with him but is unable to speak. Keats receives short, dramatic visits from spirits out of his past. Cruel critics. The tight-fisted guardian of his grandfather's estate. His brother and sister. A painter who hounded him for loans. And Fanny Brawne, his off-and-on love. Meanwhile, key memories from his life unfold for his review. The moment when his grandmother died and he and his siblings were left orphans. A time he stood up for his brother Tom when he was bullied by a school official. Tom's death from consumption. A pivotal hike through the Lake District, the home of Keats' hero William Wordsworth. His dramatic meeting and courtship of Fanny Brawne. Along the way he undergoes three judgments from the universe on his relations with his siblings, with his peers, and finally on his life and accomplishments in sum. He also learns the surprising identity of his spirit guide and-in the breathtaking conclusion-he is witness to the stunning secret that will decide his fate.

Special Box Set of Three of Natasha Mostert's suspense novels, including SEASON OF THE WITCH, winner of the World Book Day, Book to Talk About Award. SEASON OF THE WITCH: Gabriel Blackstone is a cool, hip, thoroughly twenty-first century Londoner. A computer hacker by trade, he is also a remote viewer: able to 'slam a ride' through the minds of others. But he uses his gift only reluctantly -- until he is contacted by an ex-lover who begs him to find her step-son, last seen months earlier in a mysterious house in Chelsea. Gabriel becomes increasingly bewitched by the house, and by its owners, the beautiful and mysterious Monk sisters. But even as he falls in love, he knows that one of them is a killer. But which one? "e;a brain-squeezing thriller"e; Kirkus (starred review) THE MIDNIGHT SIDE: Natasha Mostert's critically acclaimed debut thriller starts with a phone call from a dead woman and keeps the reader guessing until the end. "e;Bedtime reading for the brave"e; The Times (London) WINDWALKER: A story of murder, redemption and eternal love, WINDWALKER will keep you on the edge of your seat - and break your heart. "e;Hauntingly elegant"e; Booklist

“Whose Name was Writ in Water” contains a fantastic collection of poetry by various authors written in dedication to English Romantic poet John Keats (1795–1821). Together with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, he was a key figure during the second generation of Romantic poets most famous for such poems as "Sleep and Poetry", “Ode to a Nightingale", and "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer". Keats died at the age of 25 from tuberculosis, only four years after the first publication of his works. Despite not being praised by critics during his short life, Keats has since become one of the most celebrated English poets to have ever lived. Contents include: "Adonais, by Percy Bysshe Shelley”, “Keats, by Frances A. Fuller”, “The Poet Keats”, “Keats, by Richard Watson Gilder”, “For the Anniversary of John Keats's Death, by Sara Teasdale”, and “Keats – A Sonnet, by Florence Earle Coates”. A beautiful collection of classic poems that will appeal to poetry lovers and those with a particular interest in the life and work of this incredible English literary figure. Ragged Hand is publishing this brand new collection of classic poetry now complete with a specially-commissioned new biography of the author.

A dazzling new look into the short but intense, tragic life and remarkable work of John Keats, one of the greatest lyric poets of the English language, seen in a whole new light, not as the mythologized Victorian guileless nature-lover, but as the subversive, bawdy complex cynic whose life and poetry were lived and created on the edge. In this brief life, acclaimed biographer Lucasta Miller takes nine of Keats's best-known poems—"Endymion"; "On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer"; "Ode to a Nightingale"; "To Autumn"; "Bright Star" among them—and excavates how they came to be and what in Keats's life led to their creation. She writes of aspects of Keats's life that have been overlooked, and explores his imagination in the context of his world and experience, paying tribute to the unique quality of his mind. Miller, through Keats’s poetry, brilliantly resurrects and brings vividly to life, the man, the poet in all his complexity and spirit, living dangerously, disdaining respectability and cultural norms, and embracing subversive politics. Keats was a lower-middle-class outsider from a tragic and fractured family, whose extraordinary energy and love of language allowed him to pummel his way into the heart of English literature; a freethinker and a liberal at a time of repression, who delighted in the sensation of the moment. We see how Keats was regarded by his contemporaries (his writing was seen as smutty) and how the young poet’s large and boisterous life—a man of the metropolis, who took drugs, was sexually reckless and afflicted with syphilis—went straight up against the Victorian moral grain; and Miller makes clear why his writing—considered marginal and avant-garde in his own day—retains its astonishing originality, sensuousness and power two centuries on.

A rich and fascinating exploration of the Volga--the first to fully reveal its vital place in Russian history The longest river in Europe, the Volga stretches over three and a half thousand km from the heart of Russia to the Caspian Sea, separating west from east. The river has played a crucial role in the history of the peoples who are now a part of the Russian Federation--and has united and divided the land through which it flows. Janet Hartley explores the history of Russia through the Volga from the seventh century to the present day. She looks at it as an artery for trade and as a testing ground for the Russian Empire's control of the borderlands, at how it featured in Russian literature and art, and how it was crucial for the outcome of the Second World War at Stalingrad. This vibrant account unearths what life on the river was really like, telling the story of its diverse people and its vital place in Russian history.

"When I say this book is a love story, I mean it is about things that cannot be gotten over-like this world, and some of the people in it." In 1819, the poet John Keats wrote six poems that would become known as the Great Odes. Some of them-"Ode to a Nightingale," "To Autumn"-are among the most celebrated poems in the English language. Anahid Nersessian here collects and elucidates each of the odes and offers a meditative, personal essay in response to each, revealing why these poems still have so much to say to us, especially in a time of ongoing political crisis. Her Keats is an unflinching antagonist of modern life-of capitalism, of the British Empire, of the destruction of the planet-as well as a passionate idealist for whom every poem is a love poem. The book emerges from Nersessian's lifelong attachment to Keats's poetry; but more, it "is a love story: between me and Keats, and not just Keats." Drawing on experiences from her own life, Nersessian celebrates Keats even as she grieves him and counts her own losses-and Nersessian, like Keats, has a passionate awareness of the reality of human suffering, but also a willingness to explore the possibility that the world, at least, could still be saved. Intimate and speculative, this brilliant mix of the poetic and the personal will find its home among the numerous fans of Keats's enduring work.

Inspired by John Cheever's classic short story, 'The Swimmer', Roger Deakin set out from his home in Suffolk to swim through the British Isles. The result of his journey is this personal view of an island race.

“A lively debut biography of the flamboyant Irish writer . . . focusing on the women who loved and supported him” (Kirkus Reviews). In this essential work, Eleanor Fitzsimons reframes Oscar Wilde’s story and his legacy through the women in his life, including such scintillating figures as Florence Balcombe; actress Lillie Langtry; and his tragic and witty niece, Dolly, who, like Wilde, loved fast cars, cocaine, and foreign women. Fresh, revealing, and entertaining, full of fascinating detail and anecdotes, Wilde’s Women relates the untold story of how a beloved writer and libertine played a vitally sympathetic role on behalf of many women, and how they supported him in the midst of a Victorian society in the process of changing forever. “Fitzsimons reminds us of the many writers, actresses, political activists, professional beauties and aristocratic ladies who helped shape the life and legend of the era’s greatest wit, esthete and sexual martyr . . . provide[s] a potted biography of the multitalented writer and gay icon . . . highly enjoyable.” —The Washington Post “Fitzsimons brilliantly calls attention to the progressive ideas and beliefs which drew the most daring and interesting women of the time to his side. The depth and painstaking care of Fitzsimons’ research is a fitting tribute to Wilde’s fascinating life and exquisite writing—and really, what better compliment is there than that?” —High Voltage

In 648 CE, Tang imperial authorities collected every copy of the Writ of the Three Sovereigns (Sanhuang wen) from the four corners of the empire and burned them. The formidable talismans at its core were said not only to extend their owners’ lifespan and protect against misfortune, but also propel them to stratospheric heights of power, elevating them to the rank of high minister or even emperor. Only two or three centuries earlier, this controversial text was unknown in most of China with the exception of Jiangnan in the south, where it was regarded as essential local lore. In the span of a few generations, the Writ of the Three Sovereigns would become the cornerstone of one of the three basic corpora of the Daoist Canon, a pillar of Daoism—and a perceived threat to the state. This study, the only book-length treatment of the Writ of the Three Sovereigns in any language, traces the text’s transition from local tradition to empire-wide institutional religion. The volume begins by painting the social and historical backdrop against which the scripture emerged in early fourth-century Jiangnan before turning to its textual history. It reflects on the work’s centerpiece artifacts, the potent talismans in celestial script, as well as other elements of its heritage, namely alchemical elixirs and “true form” diagrams. During the fifth and sixth centuries, with Daoism coalescing into a formal organized religion, the Writ of the Three Sovereigns took on a symbolic role as a liturgical token of initiation while retaining its straightforward language of sovereignty and strong political overtones, which eventually led to its prohibition. The writ endured, however, and later experienced a revival as its influence spread as far as Japan. Despite its central role in the development of institutional Daoism, the Writ of the Three Sovereigns has remained an understudied topic in Chinese history. Its fragmentary textual record combined with the esoteric nature of its content have shrouded it in speculation. This volume provides a lucid reconstruction of the text’s hidden history and enigmatic practices while shedding light on its contributions to the religious landscape of medieval China.

Looks at the time the poet spent in Rome, before his death at the age of twenty-five, and his love affair with Fanny Brawne