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Souls for Sale

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Published 1900 onward
Chapter: 61 | Listen: 5

Perhaps the most commercially successful Hollywood novel of the 1920s, Rupert Hughes’ Souls for Sale is a direct response to contemporaneous charges of the film industry’s moral laxities and predilections toward vice. Remember “Mem” Steddon, the pious and steadfast daughter of a religious firebrand who preaches about the sins of Hollywood, is forced to migrate to the west coast after discovering that she’s become pregnant out of wedlock. On her journey, Mem runs into the inhabitants of a movie colony and soon befriends many of these delightful (if somewhat peculiar) “film folk.” She finds temporary employment as a film extra and soon develops aspirations to become a star herself. But Mem soon discovers that Hollywood is a far different place than she had originally imagined and that the road to film stardom is not straightforward or easy to navigate. This novel was the basis for the popular 1923 film adaptation, which starred an up-and-coming Eleanor Boardman and was directed by Rupert Hughes himself. (Summary by ChuckW) [chương_files]

Emperor of Portugallia

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Published 1900 onward
Chapter: 26 | Listen:

Selma Lagerlöf was born in Vaermland, Sweden, in 1858 and enjoyed a long and very successful career as a writer, receiving the Nobel-Prize in Literature in 1909. She died in Vaermland in 1940. The Emperor of Portugallia was first Published 1914 in Sweden, and 1916 in English, translated by Velma Swanston Howard. The Story i set in Vaermland around 1860 or 1870. In the centre is Jan of Ruffluck Croft. He loves his daughter more than anything, but when she moves to Stockholm and never sends a word home about her doings, he sinks into a dream-world where she is a noble Empress of Portugallia. And he believes himself to be Emperor too. His whole world and all his thoughts are dominated by the thoughts of her return and what will happen then. In the role of Emperor in the poor forest country where he lives he can question the social hierarchies around him, and dressed in his Royal regalia he sits in the frontbench in the Church, and he takes the place of honour at Parties etc. After 15 years his daughter returns home and is shocked to see what a mad clown her father has become and …. (Summary by Lars Rolander) [chương_files]

We of the Never-Never

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Published 1900 onward
Chapter: 26 | Listen: 7

We of the Never Never is the second book written by Jeannie Gunn under the name of “Mrs Aeneas Gunn”. It is considered by many as a classic of Australian writing. The book was published as a novel but draws on the author’s own experience in settling on the Elsey Station way out in the “back blocks” of the Katherine region of the Northern Territories of Australia early in the 20th century. The primary concession to fiction was that she fictionalised the names of many of the real-life characters that featured in her life at the time, giving them names like “the Sanguine Scott”, “the Fizzer”, “the Quiet Stockman” and “the Dandy”. Shortly after their marriage, Jeannie Gunn (to be dubbed “the Missus”) and her husband, Aeneas Gunn “the Maluka”, travelled to Darwin then into the Katherine to take up the management of the Elsey Cattle Station. The idea of introducing a white woman into the outback of the Northern Territory of the time met with opposition from all directions, and with flurries of telegrams from the men of the Elsey, but on she travelled, proving to be resilient and energetic. What follows is a rural romance, punctuated with occasional lyrical descriptions of the surrounds of the Elsey. We of the Never Never covers the time that Jeannie and Aeneas Gunn lived at the Elsey in 1902 and 1903. NOTE: The book is a product of its time and the descriptions of aboriginal people and their treatment reflect the attitudes […]

Golden Canyon

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Action & Adventure, Action & Adventure Fiction, Historical Fiction
Chapter: 17 | Listen:

In August, 1856, times were hard in San Diego. Dick, who worked on the ship, “Northampton”, was attacked by a ruthless gang – the next morning he found that his ship had sailed off without him. In no time, his closest friends came to him and nursed him back to health. In talking about the events, they decided it was time for a change, to make a better life for themselves, and that meant they would plan to leave and travel together in the quest to find gold in the “Gold Canyon”. Along the way, they find themselves on the most dangerous adventure they will ever encounter in their lifetime, which includes a whole lot of “the unexpected” throughout the journey, and meeting up with savagely brutal Apache’s. Will there be casualties in this quest? And does there really exist a “Golden Canyon”? A quick paced action adventure awaits! (Summary by Laurie Banza) [chương_files]

Whirligigs

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Published 1900 onward, Short Stories
Chapter: 26 | Listen: 3

A collection of short stories. – Summary by Richard Kilmer [chương_files]

Mollie of the Movies

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Published 1900 onward
Chapter: 8 | Listen: 3

This is a story of a girl who tries to make it big in the world of show business. McGaffey gives us the heroine’s first-person account. He writes in an epistolary style and gives us a comic, slice-of-life look at a girl’s attempts to become a film star. This was serialized in Photoplay Magazine, the premier fan magazine of the 1910s and 20s. Photoplay would go on to publish a wide array of fiction about the film industry. This was one of their first concerted efforts to create a long-form narrative about Hollywood. (Summary by ChuckW) Text sources : First Reel Second Reel Third Reel Fourth Reel Fifth Reel Sixth Reel. Seventh Reel. Eighth Reel [chương_files]

Aunt Jane’s Nieces On The Ranch

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Published 1900 onward
Chapter: 22 | Listen: 4

Aunt Jane’s Nieces On The Ranch sees the reappearance of Louise and Arthur Weldon after the birth of their first child, Jane. The family lives in California and hire a nurse, a local Mexican woman, much to Uncle John’s disapproval. Racial tension is explored as a New York woman is brought in to care for the child. Meanwhile, the Mexican nurse, Inez, is certain the ranch is haunted. – Summary by Lynne Thompson [chương_files]

Buried Alive

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Published 1900 onward
Chapter: 12 | Listen: 5

The hero is Mr Priam Farll, a painter of considerable ability. He is, however, extremely shy – so shy that when his valet, Henry Leek, dies suddenly, the doctor believes the dead man to be Priam Farll and the live man the valet. The artist does not try to disabuse him. After the funeral (in Westminster Abbey), Priam Farll marries a widow and lives a happy life until the loss of his wife’s money means he has to take up painting again. A connoisseur of art recognises his style but thinks the paintings are by an imposter. He makes a fortune by buying his works through a small dealer and selling them in America as genuine. Meanwhile Priam Farll refuses through his obstinate shyness to prove his own identity. (Summary by Simon Evers) [chương_files]

Adventures of Paddy the Beaver (Version 2)

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Action & Adventure, Animals & Nature
Chapter: 22 | Listen: 3

When Paddy the Beaver moves into the Green Forest and wants to build his home, he never quite expected it would cause so much commotion! Being a focal point of attention, the forest animals watch him carefully and scrutinized his work, make fun of and question his building project, someone screams at him saying unkind things, and one forest animal sets his sights on hunting him to have him for lunch! That’s an awful lot for a little beaver to overcome – do you think he can do it? (Summary by Laurie Banza) [chương_files]

History of Mr. Polly

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Published 1900 onward
Chapter: 23 | Listen: 2

A funny and touching account of the imaginative Mr. Polly who, bored and trapped in his conventional life, makes a U-turn –- and changes everything. H.G. Wells’ early life as the son of a semi-insolvent shopkeeper and as a draper’s apprentice fueled his novels of the lower middle class: The Wheels of Chance (1896), Kipps (1905), and The History of Mr. Polly (1910). These works evoke the desperation of apprentices, clerks, and small traders in their monotonous toil behind shop counters. And, like Mr. Polly, his protagonists make a break from their mundane lives with more or less success. H. G. Wells (1866-1946) was a prolific writer in history, general and science fiction, and politics. He was a lifelong socialist. (Summary by Adrian Praetzellis) [chương_files]