Alexander's Bridge
Author:Willa Cather
Tag:Willa CatherAlexander's BridgeEnglish
This book is the first novel by American author Willa Cather.
Bartley Alexander is a construction engineer and world-renowned builder of bridges going through what's known today (but not in 1912) as a mid-life crisis. Although married to his wife Winifred, Bartley resumes his acquaintance with a former lover, Hilda Burgoyne, in London. The affair proves to gnaw at Bartley's sense of propriety and honor.
Professor Wilson arrives at the Alexanders' house in Boston, after Mr Alexander has talked him into attending a Congress of Psychologists there. He is greeted by Mrs Alexander; later her husband comes home and they have a talk; his wife plays the piano for them. The next day, she tells him how she met her husband through her aunt.
In London, Bartley Alexander meets with Maurice Mainhall to see a play starring Hilda Burgoyne, an erstwhile lover of his. Back in his hotel room, he thinks back to how he broke up with her in a letter after he met Winifred in Canada. Later, he walks to her house to see where she lives and reminisces about his youth. At a party at Lady Warford's, he talks to her after many years apart and she says she has been reading in the newspapers about his success with bridges in Japan and Canada. Later, he goes to another party also held by Lady Warford. The following Thursday, he takes Hilda to dinner and they reminisce about Madame Anger and Angel, and a beggar they had seen in the street once. He asks her to sing for him and she asks if he will let her love him.
On Christmas Eve, the Alexanders are getting ready for the Christmas dinner, and Bartley tells Wilson he is in trouble with the bridge in Canada. Later, he gives his wife pearl earrings. On New Year's Day, Alexander is getting ready to leave for London again. Later, on the ship, he battles with sharp gales and goes into a bar, where he gambles at bridge. Once in London, Bartley visits Hilda and tells her he cannot go on having two relationships; she must forget about him and leave him alone. She is distressed. The day before he is due to return to America however, he takes her out to dinner.
Later, Hugh MacConnell walks Hilda back to her house on a foggy day, and she says she isn't attracted to him because they are just close friends. Back in her house, she receives a letter from Bartley, saying he is going mad away from her. This prompts her to visit him in America to tell him she will marry another man and thence be bound to someone else; he doesn't like the idea. They spend one last evening together.
Soon after, Bartley is called to Canada by Philip Horton to inspect the bridge. Bartley discovers that one of the lower chords of the bridge was failing, compromising the structural integrity of the entire bridge. Horton was afraid to halt construction, but had first attempted to contact Bartley even earlier - the very day Bartley was with Hilda. As Bartley is on the bridge stopping the work crews, the bridge collapses, killing many of the workers. Bartley's body is recovered the next day and taken to Horton's house. Winifred comes back to look after the dead body. Finally, Wilson visits Hilda. The latter expresses her jealousy over Winifred, but Wilson reminds her that she will not live again, she will be haunted by her husband's death. Hilda concludes that she will be too.
I Say No
Author:Wilkie Collins
Tag:Willa CatherI Say NoEnglish
Emily Brown is an orphan girl that almost no one can help but love when they meet her. She is pursued by two worthy men: Mr. Alban Morris, the drawing master at her school; and Rev. Miles Mirabel, a clergyman. However, one of them is lying to her after she discovers that her father's death wasn't natural, as she was led to believe.
The Haunted Hotel
Author:Wilkie Collins
Tag:Willa CatherThe Haunted HotelEnglish
'Have you ever heard of the fascination of terror?' This is a unique collection of strange stories from the cunning pen of Wilkie Collins, author of The Woman in White and The Moonstone. The Star attraction is the novella The Haunted Hotel, a clever combination of detective and ghost story set in Venice, a city of grim waterways, dark shadows and death. The action takes place in an ancient palazzo coverted into a modern hotel that houses a grisly secret. The supernatural horror, relentless pace, tight narrative, and a doomed countess characterise and distinguish this powerful tale. The other stories present equally disturbing scenarios, which include ghosts, corpses that move, family curses and perhaps the most unusual of all, the Devil's spectacles, which bring a clarity of vision that can lead to madness.
The Law and the Lady
Author:Wilkie Collins
Tag:Willa CatherEnglish
The book was published in 1875, by Wilkie Collins, although still in print, is largely forgotten now. Not quite as sensational in style as The Moonstone and The Woman in White, it is still a detective story.
Valeria Brinton marries Eustace Woodville despite objections from Woodville's family leading to disquiet for Valeria's own family and friends.
Just a few days after the wedding, various incidents lead Valeria to suspect her husband is hiding a dark secret in his past and she discovers that he has been using a false name. He refuses to discuss it leading them to curtail their honeymoon and return to London where Valeria learns that he was on trial for his first wife's murder by arsenic. He was tried in a Scottish court and the verdict was 'not proven' rather than 'not guilty' implying his guilt but without enough proof for a jury to convict him.
Valeria sets out to save their happiness by proving her husband innocent of the crime. In her quest, she comes across the disabled character Miserrimus Dexter, a fascinating but mentally unstable genius, and his devoted female cousin, Ariel. Dexter will prove crucial to uncovering the disturbing truth behind the mysterious death.