Dodie Smithová se proslavila svým jedinečným vypravěčským stylem a schopností zachytit podstatu lidských emocí. Její díla se často zabývají tématy rodiny, domova a hledání vlastního místa ve světě. Smithová dokázala mistrně propojit humor s dojemnými momenty, čímž oslovila široké publikum. Její příběhy zůstávají nadčasové a inspirativní.
Set in an old castle, the story follows the Mortmain family, particularly focusing on sisters Rose and Cassandra. Rose yearns for a wealthy husband, while Cassandra aspires to be a writer. Their lives take a turn when they encounter their affluent neighbors, Simon and Neil Cotton. Designed for English language learners, this Level 4 Reader features adapted text with illustrations and exercises that enhance comprehension and vocabulary. Online resources, including a digital book and audio edition, complement the print edition for a comprehensive learning experience.
Celebrate World Book Day 2019 with this wonderful new picture book, based on the much-loved characters from The Hundred and One Dalmatians. When Cadpig gets lost playing hide-and-seek, she stumbles into the path of evil Cruella de Vil …But can her new furry friends help her to escape?
A hundred and one dalmatians and more! This bumper Modern Classic edition includes the original Hundred and One Dalmatians and Dodie Smith's sequel, Starlight Barking. Cruella de Vil is enough to frighten the spots off a Dalmatian puppy. So when she steals a whole family of them, the puppies' parents, Pongo and Missus, lose no time in mounting a daring rescue mission. Will they be in time to thwart Cruella's evil scheme, or have they bitten off more than they can chew? Perfect for fans of the classic Disney film.
We first meet Roger and Dorothy at the unprepossessing hour of 8 a.m. when Vera wakes them with the early morning tea. We say farewell to them, less than sixteen hours later, as they turn out the lights and go to sleep. But in between there has been more excitement than most people manage to crowd into sixteen months. Roger falls in and out of love with an actress/client of his sober accountancy business in the Temple; Dorothy half yields her heart to a lonely rubber planter. One daughter quite yields hers to a philandering painter with a watchful wife, only to find it returned, battered, but unbroken. The other achieves the (momentary) desire of her life "a Rossetti drawing." Their son experiences love-at-first-sight with the new neighbor over the garden wall. And, all the time, below stairs, Cook and Vera not to mention the daily help are living and loving (occasionally breaking the china) with equal zest and joie de vivre.
Successfully produced in London and New York. Dear Octopus is the family from which none of its members are either able or quite willing to escape. And on the occasion of a golden wedding anniversary the children and grandchildren gather to reminisce and acquaint each other more fully with their activities. The life of this English family is shown in terms of the chatter of the youngsters, the careers and nursery memories of the middle-aged and the sense of the swift passing of the years, the sweetness of an old nurse, the minor frictions and abiding loyalty of brothers and sisters, the feast-day toast and the benevolent tyranny of the grandmother, Woven throughout the proceedings is a love story between fenny, companion to Mrs. Randolph, and Nicholas Randolph.
From the author of I Capture the Castle comes a delightful, funny tale of complicated sibling relationships, friendship, and forbidden love, set in 1970s England Suspecting her husband, George, of dalliances in the city, May decides it is high time the family moved to the country. Determined to create the perfect home there, she finds an idyllic country house set in a lilac grove and sets about furnishing it properly and cooking enormous meals. She even manages to convince her less well-off sister, June, to move into a cozy cottage on the grounds with her husband Robert. This new set-up is very much a family affair as June’s husband Robert just happens to be George’s brother: the two sisters are married to two brothers. At first both families seem to be settling in well, sharing delicious meals and having fun times together. Their grown-up children, Hugh and Corinna, visit from London and there even seems to be a hint of romance in the air for them, while the surviving grandparents from both sides of the family move into the big house and forge new friendships. But the arrival of a cantankerous great aunt will reveal the cracks in the family’s tangled relationships and will even threaten to unveil the greatest secret of all—while May thought moving George to the country would put a stop to his affairs, he has begun to fall in love with his sister-in-law, June. The death of a beloved character will, however, turn the tables again and lead to the ultimate, happy, denouement.
London's theatre world of the 1920's provides a glittering backdrop for Mouse, an eighteen-year-old Lancashire girl intent on a stage career. She tells the story herself with the utmost frankness and with an authenticity which derives from Dodie Smith's own wide experience as both actress and playwright. Mouse never felt that her nickname fully suited her; tiny she might be, but timid never. Within a day of her arrival in town she had bluffed her way into an audition at a famous theatre, infuriated its forceful young stage director, amused its kind if quite amoral actor-manager, Rex Crossway, and finally landed not a part but a toehold as a junior secretary. From then on she was involved in the engrossing affairs of the Crossway Theatre. She was also involved with her friends at the club where she lived -- Molly, a baby-faced six-footer, and elegant, ambitious LIlian who was fated to clash disastrously with Mouse, though even then they could find something to laugh at together. And later there was Zelle, rich, generous, enigmatic, and responsible for an outing to a Suffolk village pageant which proved a turning point for them all.
Reissue of this lost classic from an instantly recognised name in children's literature. Twins Pam and Tom embark on a night time adventure, when 4 mysterious kittens appear at midnight to drink the milk they've left out for the hedgehogs.
During a summer festival in an English spa town Miles Quentin, a distinguished
actor, and his devoted wife become friendly with the local MP Geoffrey
Thornton, and his young daughters Robin and Kit. All of these people seem
untroubled at first. But the surface of their lives conceals problems which
start to come to light. schovat popis