Author: Victor Hugo
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0143107569
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 1458
Book Description
The first new Penguin Classics translation in forty years of Victor Hugo’s masterpiece, the subject of The Novel of the Century by David Bellos—published in a stunning Deluxe edition. Winner of the French-American Foundation & Florence Gould Foundation’s 29th Annual Translation Prize in Fiction. The subject of the world’s longest-running musical and the award-winning film, Les Misérables is a genuine literary treasure. Victor Hugo’s tale of injustice, heroism, and love follows the fortunes of Jean Valjean, an escaped convict determined to put his criminal past behind him, and has been a perennial favorite since it first appeared over 150 years ago. This exciting new translation with Jillian Tamaki’s brilliant cover art will be a gift both to readers who have already fallen for its timeless story and to new readers discovering it for the first time. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Les Miserables
Author: Victor Hugo
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0143107569
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 1458
Book Description
The first new Penguin Classics translation in forty years of Victor Hugo’s masterpiece, the subject of The Novel of the Century by David Bellos—published in a stunning Deluxe edition. Winner of the French-American Foundation & Florence Gould Foundation’s 29th Annual Translation Prize in Fiction. The subject of the world’s longest-running musical and the award-winning film, Les Misérables is a genuine literary treasure. Victor Hugo’s tale of injustice, heroism, and love follows the fortunes of Jean Valjean, an escaped convict determined to put his criminal past behind him, and has been a perennial favorite since it first appeared over 150 years ago. This exciting new translation with Jillian Tamaki’s brilliant cover art will be a gift both to readers who have already fallen for its timeless story and to new readers discovering it for the first time. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0143107569
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 1458
Book Description
The first new Penguin Classics translation in forty years of Victor Hugo’s masterpiece, the subject of The Novel of the Century by David Bellos—published in a stunning Deluxe edition. Winner of the French-American Foundation & Florence Gould Foundation’s 29th Annual Translation Prize in Fiction. The subject of the world’s longest-running musical and the award-winning film, Les Misérables is a genuine literary treasure. Victor Hugo’s tale of injustice, heroism, and love follows the fortunes of Jean Valjean, an escaped convict determined to put his criminal past behind him, and has been a perennial favorite since it first appeared over 150 years ago. This exciting new translation with Jillian Tamaki’s brilliant cover art will be a gift both to readers who have already fallen for its timeless story and to new readers discovering it for the first time. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Ladybird Classics: The Three Musketeers
Author: Alexandre Dumas
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0723278857
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 47
Book Description
This beautiful Ladybird Classic ebook edition of The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas is a perfect first illustrated introduction to the classic story for younger readers. It has been sensitively abridged and retold to make it suitable for sharing with young children from 5+, whilst retaining all the key parts of the story including D'Artagnan's adventures with the Musketeers, his efforts to help the Queen, and fascinating details about life in France. Detailed full-colour illustrations throughout also help to bring this classic tale to life. Other exciting titles in the Ladybird Classics series include Alice in Wonderland, Gulliver's Travels, The Secret Garden, Oliver Twist, Black Beauty, Treasure Island, A Christmas Carol, Peter Pan, Heidi, The Jungle Book and The Wind in the Willows.
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0723278857
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 47
Book Description
This beautiful Ladybird Classic ebook edition of The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas is a perfect first illustrated introduction to the classic story for younger readers. It has been sensitively abridged and retold to make it suitable for sharing with young children from 5+, whilst retaining all the key parts of the story including D'Artagnan's adventures with the Musketeers, his efforts to help the Queen, and fascinating details about life in France. Detailed full-colour illustrations throughout also help to bring this classic tale to life. Other exciting titles in the Ladybird Classics series include Alice in Wonderland, Gulliver's Travels, The Secret Garden, Oliver Twist, Black Beauty, Treasure Island, A Christmas Carol, Peter Pan, Heidi, The Jungle Book and The Wind in the Willows.
Penguin Readers Level 5: The Three Musketeers (ELT Graded Reader)
Author: Alexandre Dumas
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0241542685
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 91
Book Description
Penguin Readers is an ELT graded reader series. Please note that the eBook edition does NOT include access to the audio edition and digital book. Written for learners of English as a foreign language, each title includes carefully adapted text, new illustrations and language learning exercises. Titles include popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction, introducing language learners to bestselling authors and compelling content. The eight levels of Penguin Readers follow the Common European Framework of Reference for language learning (CEFR). Exercises at the back of each Reader help language learners to practise grammar, vocabulary, and key exam skills. Before, during and after-reading questions test readers' story comprehension and develop vocabulary. The Three Musketeers, a Level 5 Reader, is B1 in the CEFR framework. The text is made up of sentences with up to four clauses, introducing present perfect continuous, past perfect, reported speech and second conditional. It is well supported by illustrations, which appear regularly. When the young d'Artagnan leaves his home in Gascony with the hope of becoming one of the king's musketeers, it is the start of a wonderful adventure. D'Artagnan soon meets the three musketeers, Athos, Porthos and Aramis. Together they cry, "All for one and one for all!" Visit the Penguin Readers website Register to access online resources including tests, worksheets and answer keys. Exclusively with the print edition, readers can unlock a digital book and audio edition (not available with the eBook).
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0241542685
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 91
Book Description
Penguin Readers is an ELT graded reader series. Please note that the eBook edition does NOT include access to the audio edition and digital book. Written for learners of English as a foreign language, each title includes carefully adapted text, new illustrations and language learning exercises. Titles include popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction, introducing language learners to bestselling authors and compelling content. The eight levels of Penguin Readers follow the Common European Framework of Reference for language learning (CEFR). Exercises at the back of each Reader help language learners to practise grammar, vocabulary, and key exam skills. Before, during and after-reading questions test readers' story comprehension and develop vocabulary. The Three Musketeers, a Level 5 Reader, is B1 in the CEFR framework. The text is made up of sentences with up to four clauses, introducing present perfect continuous, past perfect, reported speech and second conditional. It is well supported by illustrations, which appear regularly. When the young d'Artagnan leaves his home in Gascony with the hope of becoming one of the king's musketeers, it is the start of a wonderful adventure. D'Artagnan soon meets the three musketeers, Athos, Porthos and Aramis. Together they cry, "All for one and one for all!" Visit the Penguin Readers website Register to access online resources including tests, worksheets and answer keys. Exclusively with the print edition, readers can unlock a digital book and audio edition (not available with the eBook).
The Story of a Nutcracker
Author: Alexandre Dumas
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1473545781
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 149
Book Description
Discover the real story behind Disney’s latest blockbuster adaptation The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, and the iconic Nutcracker Christmas ballet, as told by Alexandre Dumas ‘How could you imagine, silly child, that this toy, which is made of cloth and wood, could possibly be alive?’ The nutcracker doll that mysterious Godfather Drosselmeyer gives to little Marie for Christmas is no ordinary toy. On Christmas Eve, as the clocks strike midnight, Marie watches as the Nutcracker and her entire cabinet of playthings come to life and boldly do battle against the evil Mouse King and his armies. But this is only the start of the tale. Read on for enchantment and transformation; enter a world by turns fantastical and sinister, a kingdom of dolls and spun-sugar palaces, and learn the true history of the brave little Nutcracker.
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1473545781
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 149
Book Description
Discover the real story behind Disney’s latest blockbuster adaptation The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, and the iconic Nutcracker Christmas ballet, as told by Alexandre Dumas ‘How could you imagine, silly child, that this toy, which is made of cloth and wood, could possibly be alive?’ The nutcracker doll that mysterious Godfather Drosselmeyer gives to little Marie for Christmas is no ordinary toy. On Christmas Eve, as the clocks strike midnight, Marie watches as the Nutcracker and her entire cabinet of playthings come to life and boldly do battle against the evil Mouse King and his armies. But this is only the start of the tale. Read on for enchantment and transformation; enter a world by turns fantastical and sinister, a kingdom of dolls and spun-sugar palaces, and learn the true history of the brave little Nutcracker.
The Novel of the Century
Author: David Bellos
Publisher:
ISBN: 0374223238
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 337
Book Description
Putting a century of scholarship on one of the world's most enduring popular novels into accessible, narrative form, this new approach to a classic of world literature is written for a wide general readership. Packed full of information about the book's origins and later career on stage and screen, The Novel of the Century brings to life the extraordinary story of how Victor Hugo managed to write his novel of the downtrodden despite a revolution, a coup d'�tat, and political exile; how he pulled off the deal of the century to get it published; and how he set it on course to become the novel that epitomizes the grand sweep of history in the nineteenth century. This biography of a masterpiece also shows how and why the moral and social messages of Les Mis�rables are full of meaning for our time.
Publisher:
ISBN: 0374223238
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 337
Book Description
Putting a century of scholarship on one of the world's most enduring popular novels into accessible, narrative form, this new approach to a classic of world literature is written for a wide general readership. Packed full of information about the book's origins and later career on stage and screen, The Novel of the Century brings to life the extraordinary story of how Victor Hugo managed to write his novel of the downtrodden despite a revolution, a coup d'�tat, and political exile; how he pulled off the deal of the century to get it published; and how he set it on course to become the novel that epitomizes the grand sweep of history in the nineteenth century. This biography of a masterpiece also shows how and why the moral and social messages of Les Mis�rables are full of meaning for our time.
The Women's War
Author: Alexandre Dumas
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0141912030
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 879
Book Description
The Baron des Canolles is a man torn apart by the civil war that dominates mid-seventeenth century France. For while the naïve Gascon soldier cares little for the politics behind the battles, he is torn apart by a deep passion for two powerful women on opposing sides of the war: Nanon de Lartigues, a keen supporter of the Queen Regent Anne of Austria, and the Victomtesse de Cambes, who supports the rebellious forces of the Princess de Condé. Set around Bordeaux during the first turbulent years of the reign of Louis XIV, The Women's War sees two women taking central stage in a battle for all France. Humorous, dramatic and romantic, it offers a compelling exploration of political intrigue, the power of redemption, the force of love and the futility of war.
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0141912030
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 879
Book Description
The Baron des Canolles is a man torn apart by the civil war that dominates mid-seventeenth century France. For while the naïve Gascon soldier cares little for the politics behind the battles, he is torn apart by a deep passion for two powerful women on opposing sides of the war: Nanon de Lartigues, a keen supporter of the Queen Regent Anne of Austria, and the Victomtesse de Cambes, who supports the rebellious forces of the Princess de Condé. Set around Bordeaux during the first turbulent years of the reign of Louis XIV, The Women's War sees two women taking central stage in a battle for all France. Humorous, dramatic and romantic, it offers a compelling exploration of political intrigue, the power of redemption, the force of love and the futility of war.
Conversation Casanova
Author: Dave Perrotta
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781539502081
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
Do you freeze up when you see an attractive girl? Do you run out of things to say? Do you struggle to attract women through conversation? It doesn't have to be this way... What if you could effortlessly strike up a conversation with any women, at any time, in any environment? What if you knew exactly how to keep the conversation going (so you never ran out of things to say)? What if you could command women's attention and instantly connect with them? What if you could turn any conversation from boring to "sexual"? That would all make your life a lot more fun, right? Well, it's not out of your reach. All of this is very possible. And you'll discover exactly how to do it in Conversation Casanova . It's a proven system for effortlessly starting conversations, flirting & connecting with women, and leading conversations to sex. Here's what you'll learn in Conversation Casanova How to confidently approach women at any time and in any environment 5 fool-proof ways to start a conversation with any girl How to get past small talk and connect with her How to flirt with (and without) your words The 4 "Casanova Mindsets" that make you a sexy conversationalist 20 questions to ask a girl on the first date How to tell a kick-ass story that hooks her in And much, much more... Plus, there are action tips in every section, so you can immediately implement all of the conversation tactics. In doing so, you'll unlock the power of conversation... YOU'LL be the guy who the other guys look at with jealousy, as you effortlessly attract women with your words. Your dating life will be abundant, your relationships will flourish, and you'll have more opportunities than you can imagine. So, what are you waiting for? Pick up your copy right now by clicking the BUY NOW button at the top of this page!
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781539502081
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
Do you freeze up when you see an attractive girl? Do you run out of things to say? Do you struggle to attract women through conversation? It doesn't have to be this way... What if you could effortlessly strike up a conversation with any women, at any time, in any environment? What if you knew exactly how to keep the conversation going (so you never ran out of things to say)? What if you could command women's attention and instantly connect with them? What if you could turn any conversation from boring to "sexual"? That would all make your life a lot more fun, right? Well, it's not out of your reach. All of this is very possible. And you'll discover exactly how to do it in Conversation Casanova . It's a proven system for effortlessly starting conversations, flirting & connecting with women, and leading conversations to sex. Here's what you'll learn in Conversation Casanova How to confidently approach women at any time and in any environment 5 fool-proof ways to start a conversation with any girl How to get past small talk and connect with her How to flirt with (and without) your words The 4 "Casanova Mindsets" that make you a sexy conversationalist 20 questions to ask a girl on the first date How to tell a kick-ass story that hooks her in And much, much more... Plus, there are action tips in every section, so you can immediately implement all of the conversation tactics. In doing so, you'll unlock the power of conversation... YOU'LL be the guy who the other guys look at with jealousy, as you effortlessly attract women with your words. Your dating life will be abundant, your relationships will flourish, and you'll have more opportunities than you can imagine. So, what are you waiting for? Pick up your copy right now by clicking the BUY NOW button at the top of this page!
Stop What You’re Doing and Read...Epic Page-turners: The Count of Monte Cristo & Les Miserables
Author: Alexandre Dumas
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1448130700
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 1740
Book Description
To mark the publication of Stop What You're Doing and Read This!, a collection of essays celebrating reading, Vintage Classics are releasing 12 limited edition themed ebook 'bundles', to tempt readers to discover and rediscover great books. THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO Imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit, Edmond Dantès spends fourteen bitter years in a dungeon. When his daring escape plan works he uses all he has learnt during his incarceration to mastermind an elaborate plan of revenge that will bring punishment to those he holds responsible for his fate. No longer the naïve sailor who disappeared into the dark fortress all those years ago, he reinvents himself as the charming, mysterious and powerful Count of Monte Cristo... LES MISERABLES Sensational, dramatic, packed with rich excitement and filled with the sweep and violence of human passions, Les Misérables is one of the greatest adventure stories ever told. It is a novel peopled by colourful characters from the nineteenth-century Parisian underworld; the street children, the prostitutes and the criminals. In telling the story of escaped convict Jean Valjean, and his efforts to reform his ways and care for the little orphan girl he rescues from a life of cruelty, Victor Hugo drew attention to the plight of the poor and oppressed. Les Miserables is a masterful detective story, a comic and tragic story of romance and revolution and, ultimately, a tale of redemption and hope.
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1448130700
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 1740
Book Description
To mark the publication of Stop What You're Doing and Read This!, a collection of essays celebrating reading, Vintage Classics are releasing 12 limited edition themed ebook 'bundles', to tempt readers to discover and rediscover great books. THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO Imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit, Edmond Dantès spends fourteen bitter years in a dungeon. When his daring escape plan works he uses all he has learnt during his incarceration to mastermind an elaborate plan of revenge that will bring punishment to those he holds responsible for his fate. No longer the naïve sailor who disappeared into the dark fortress all those years ago, he reinvents himself as the charming, mysterious and powerful Count of Monte Cristo... LES MISERABLES Sensational, dramatic, packed with rich excitement and filled with the sweep and violence of human passions, Les Misérables is one of the greatest adventure stories ever told. It is a novel peopled by colourful characters from the nineteenth-century Parisian underworld; the street children, the prostitutes and the criminals. In telling the story of escaped convict Jean Valjean, and his efforts to reform his ways and care for the little orphan girl he rescues from a life of cruelty, Victor Hugo drew attention to the plight of the poor and oppressed. Les Miserables is a masterful detective story, a comic and tragic story of romance and revolution and, ultimately, a tale of redemption and hope.
Ramayana: The Game of Life – Book 1: Roar with Courage
Author: Shubha Vilas
Publisher: Jaico Publishing House
ISBN: 9352792165
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 238
Book Description
Publisher: Jaico Publishing House
ISBN: 9352792165
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 238
Book Description
I Know This Much Is True
Author: Wally Lamb
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780060391621
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 884
Book Description
With his stunning debut novel, She's Come Undone, Wally Lamb won the adulation of critics and readers with his mesmerizing tale of one woman's painful yet triumphant journey of self-discovery. Now, this brilliantly talented writer returns with I Know This Much Is True, a heartbreaking and poignant multigenerational saga of the reproductive bonds of destruction and the powerful force of forgiveness. A masterpiece that breathtakingly tells a story of alienation and connection, power and abuse, devastation and renewal--this novel is a contemporary retelling of an ancient Hindu myth. A proud king must confront his demons to achieve salvation. Change yourself, the myth instructs, and you will inhabit a renovated world. When you're the same brother of a schizophrenic identical twin, the tricky thing about saving yourself is the blood it leaves on your bands--the little inconvenience of the look-alike corpse at your feet. And if you're into both survival of the fittest and being your brother's keeper--if you've promised your dying mother--then say so long to sleep and hello to the middle of the night. Grab a book or a beer. Get used to Letterman's gap-toothed smile of the absurd, or the view of the bedroom ceiling, or the influence of random selection. Take it from a godless insomniac. Take it from the uncrazy twin--the guy who beat the biochemical rap. Dominick Birdsey's entire life has been compromised and constricted by anger and fear, by the paranoid schizophrenic twin brother he both deeply loves and resents, and by the past they shared with their adoptive father, Ray, a spit-and-polish ex-Navy man (the five-foot-six-inch sleeping giant who snoozed upstairs weekdays in the spare room and built submarines at night), and their long-suffering mother, Concettina, a timid woman with a harelip that made her shy and self-conscious: She holds a loose fist to her face to cover her defective mouth--her perpetual apology to the world for a birth defect over which she'd had no control. Born in the waning moments of 1949 and the opening minutes of 1950, the twins are physical mirror images who grow into separate yet connected entities: the seemingly strong and protective yet fearful Dominick, his mother's watchful "monkey"; and the seemingly weak and sweet yet noble Thomas, his mother's gentle "bunny." From childhood, Dominick fights for both separation and wholeness--and ultimately self-protection--in a house of fear dominated by Ray, a bully who abuses his power over these stepsons whose biological father is a mystery. I was still afraid of his anger but saw how he punished weakness--pounced on it. Out of self-preservation I hid my fear, Dominick confesses. As for Thomas, he just never knew how to play defense. He just didn't get it. But Dominick's talent for survival comes at an enormous cost, including the breakup of his marriage to the warm, beautiful Dessa, whom he still loves. And it will be put to the ultimate test when Thomas, a Bible-spouting zealot, commits an unthinkable act that threatens the tenuous balance of both his and Dominick's lives. To save himself, Dominick must confront not only the pain of his past but the dark secrets he has locked deep within himself, and the sins of his ancestors--a quest that will lead him beyond the confines of his blue-collar New England town to the volcanic foothills of Sicily 's Mount Etna, where his ambitious and vengefully proud grandfather and a namesake Domenico Tempesta, the sostegno del famiglia, was born. Each of the stories Ma told us about Papa reinforced the message that he was the boss, that he ruled the roost, that what he said went. Searching for answers, Dominick turns to the whispers of the dead, to the pages of his grandfather's handwritten memoir, The History of Domenico Onofrio Tempesta, a Great Man from Humble Beginnings. Rendered with touches of magic realism, Domenico's fablelike tale--in which monkeys enchant and religious statues weep--becomes the old man's confession--an unwitting legacy of contrition that reveals the truth's of Domenico's life, Dominick learns that power, wrongly used, defeats the oppressor as well as the oppressed, and now, picking through the humble shards of his deconstructed life, he will search for the courage and love to forgive, to expiate his and his ancestors' transgressions, and finally to rebuild himself beyond the haunted shadow of his twin. Set against the vivid panoply of twentieth-century America and filled with richly drawn, memorable characters, this deeply moving and thoroughly satisfying novel brings to light humanity's deepest needs and fears, our aloneness, our desire for love and acceptance, our struggle to survive at all costs. Joyous, mystical, and exquisitely written, I Know This Much Is True is an extraordinary reading experience that will leave no reader untouched.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780060391621
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 884
Book Description
With his stunning debut novel, She's Come Undone, Wally Lamb won the adulation of critics and readers with his mesmerizing tale of one woman's painful yet triumphant journey of self-discovery. Now, this brilliantly talented writer returns with I Know This Much Is True, a heartbreaking and poignant multigenerational saga of the reproductive bonds of destruction and the powerful force of forgiveness. A masterpiece that breathtakingly tells a story of alienation and connection, power and abuse, devastation and renewal--this novel is a contemporary retelling of an ancient Hindu myth. A proud king must confront his demons to achieve salvation. Change yourself, the myth instructs, and you will inhabit a renovated world. When you're the same brother of a schizophrenic identical twin, the tricky thing about saving yourself is the blood it leaves on your bands--the little inconvenience of the look-alike corpse at your feet. And if you're into both survival of the fittest and being your brother's keeper--if you've promised your dying mother--then say so long to sleep and hello to the middle of the night. Grab a book or a beer. Get used to Letterman's gap-toothed smile of the absurd, or the view of the bedroom ceiling, or the influence of random selection. Take it from a godless insomniac. Take it from the uncrazy twin--the guy who beat the biochemical rap. Dominick Birdsey's entire life has been compromised and constricted by anger and fear, by the paranoid schizophrenic twin brother he both deeply loves and resents, and by the past they shared with their adoptive father, Ray, a spit-and-polish ex-Navy man (the five-foot-six-inch sleeping giant who snoozed upstairs weekdays in the spare room and built submarines at night), and their long-suffering mother, Concettina, a timid woman with a harelip that made her shy and self-conscious: She holds a loose fist to her face to cover her defective mouth--her perpetual apology to the world for a birth defect over which she'd had no control. Born in the waning moments of 1949 and the opening minutes of 1950, the twins are physical mirror images who grow into separate yet connected entities: the seemingly strong and protective yet fearful Dominick, his mother's watchful "monkey"; and the seemingly weak and sweet yet noble Thomas, his mother's gentle "bunny." From childhood, Dominick fights for both separation and wholeness--and ultimately self-protection--in a house of fear dominated by Ray, a bully who abuses his power over these stepsons whose biological father is a mystery. I was still afraid of his anger but saw how he punished weakness--pounced on it. Out of self-preservation I hid my fear, Dominick confesses. As for Thomas, he just never knew how to play defense. He just didn't get it. But Dominick's talent for survival comes at an enormous cost, including the breakup of his marriage to the warm, beautiful Dessa, whom he still loves. And it will be put to the ultimate test when Thomas, a Bible-spouting zealot, commits an unthinkable act that threatens the tenuous balance of both his and Dominick's lives. To save himself, Dominick must confront not only the pain of his past but the dark secrets he has locked deep within himself, and the sins of his ancestors--a quest that will lead him beyond the confines of his blue-collar New England town to the volcanic foothills of Sicily 's Mount Etna, where his ambitious and vengefully proud grandfather and a namesake Domenico Tempesta, the sostegno del famiglia, was born. Each of the stories Ma told us about Papa reinforced the message that he was the boss, that he ruled the roost, that what he said went. Searching for answers, Dominick turns to the whispers of the dead, to the pages of his grandfather's handwritten memoir, The History of Domenico Onofrio Tempesta, a Great Man from Humble Beginnings. Rendered with touches of magic realism, Domenico's fablelike tale--in which monkeys enchant and religious statues weep--becomes the old man's confession--an unwitting legacy of contrition that reveals the truth's of Domenico's life, Dominick learns that power, wrongly used, defeats the oppressor as well as the oppressed, and now, picking through the humble shards of his deconstructed life, he will search for the courage and love to forgive, to expiate his and his ancestors' transgressions, and finally to rebuild himself beyond the haunted shadow of his twin. Set against the vivid panoply of twentieth-century America and filled with richly drawn, memorable characters, this deeply moving and thoroughly satisfying novel brings to light humanity's deepest needs and fears, our aloneness, our desire for love and acceptance, our struggle to survive at all costs. Joyous, mystical, and exquisitely written, I Know This Much Is True is an extraordinary reading experience that will leave no reader untouched.