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Contains 'The Rescuers', 'Miss Bianca' & 'The Turret'. Miss Bianca devises a plan to rescue a poor, languishing poet from the dark walls of the Black Castle. A little girl of eight is kidnapped by the wicked Grand Duchess. Can the Rescuers save her? Though the rest of the Prisoners' Aid Society vote against her, Miss Bianca is still determined to rescue the notorious tyrant, Mandrake. But does he repent his evil deeds?
Originally published: Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1937.
The protagonist manages his finances with a strict weekly allowance, carefully allocating funds for various personal expenses such as cigarettes, laundry, and transportation. This meticulous budgeting reflects his resourcefulness and satisfaction with his modest lifestyle, showcasing a theme of contentment despite limited means. Through this approach, he demonstrates a pragmatic attitude towards life and personal responsibility.
"It's in my mind to put an end to this heathen wickedness that's stalking abroad through Gillenham. It's in my mind to terrify that evil man from his morrow's sinful doings." "We'll be going to Old Manor, then?" "Not yet," said Mrs. Pye grimly. "We go first to the village. To rouse the women . . ." Professor Pounce arrives in the idyllic village of Gillenham, along with his sister-in-law, his nephew Nicholas, and Carmen, his voluptuous assistant, in single-minded pursuit of the Stone of Chastity, a stepping stone in the local stream reputed to trip up impure women. His interest is cold-bloodedly scientific, but his researches, including putting the village women to the test and documenting the results, are taken rather more personally by some, including the Vicar's wife, who enlists the Boy Scouts to help suppress his efforts, and stern Mrs. Pye, possessed with the soul of an inquisitor. Ultimately, it's young Nicholas who must try to assuage the villagers' outrage, all the while coping with the repercussions of his own amorous impulses. The Stone of Chastity, first published in 1940 and inexplicably out of print for decades, is perhaps the deftest (and daftest) of Margery Sharp's many dazzling, witty social comedies. 'Miss Margery Sharp's witticisms lift the otherwise flat and unprofitable life of the village of Gillenham to the level of a bubbling champagne-glass full of laughter' New York Times
Lisbeth Campion was engaged, as usual, in resisting advances. Arthur Alfred Partridge, a middle-aged widower with a drab job and a frustrated sense of adventure, gets more than he bargained for when he encounters the irresistible Lisbeth Campion, whose troubles go well beyond her plethora of suitors. She's particularly concerned about her wastrel brother Ronny, fresh from six months in prison for peddling cocaine (he thought it was baking powder, really he did!), with whom her stern, upright Army fiancé, expected back from India soon, has forbidden her further contact. In a gloriously implausible but deliciously entertaining sequence of events, Mr Partridge gets swept up in Lisbeth's unusual efforts to get Ronny safely squared. In the meantime, these three eccentric souls set up makeshift housekeeping in London and work at odd jobs (some very odd indeed) to make ends meet. Harlequin House, first published in 1939 and out of print for more than 60 years, has all the glitter and wit readers expect from the incomparable Margery Sharp. This new edition features an introduction by twentieth-century women's historian Elizabeth Crawford.
Bianca and Bernard, agents for The Prisoners' Aid Society of Mice, rescue prisoners and outwit villains in this enchanting story, made world-famous by the Walt Disney film.
A parlor maid upends the lives of an aristocratic family in prewar England in this "entertaining" novel by aNew York Times-bestselling author (Kirkus Reviews). Cluny Brown has committed an unforgivable sin: She refuses to know her place. Last week, she took herself to tea at the Ritz. Then she spent almost an entire day in bed eating oranges. To teach her discipline, her uncle, a plumber who has raised the orphaned Cluny since she was a baby, sends her into service to be a parlor maid at one of England's stately manor houses. At Friars Carmel in Devonshire, Cluny meets her employers: Sir Henry, the quintessential country squire, and Lady Carmel, who oversees the management of her home with unruffled calm. Their son, Andrew, newly returned from abroad with a Polish emigre writer friend, is certain that the world is once again on the brink of war. Then there's Andrew's beautiful fiancee and the priggish pharmacist. While everyone around her struggles to keep pace with a rapidly changing world, Cluny continues to be Cluny, transforming the lives of those around her with her infectious zest for life.
