Jordan

Bruna Guedes

Husain Kothari

FRNK

Uendi Prifti

Abdul Hasib

Loughlin Sullivan

Delaney Knopp

Auriel W

Blake Molmen

Dani Shahar

Luis Javier Campos nieto

It is strange when there is a connection found between dissimilar things in our everyday life. While I was reading this book by Frederick Marryat, I read on a plaque on my nightly rounds at the museum that the artist Thomas Chambers used Marryat's naval writings as an inspiration for some of his seascapes. It shows how famous Marryat was back in the 1800s. Now he has been forgotten, although there is much that is sweet and charming about this story of 4 orphan children who have to make a life from scratch after their father is killed in a war between the Roundheads (those in favor of Cromwell) and the Cavaliers (who wanted to keep the monarchy in place) of England and their ancestral home is burned by the Roundheads, as their father fought for King Charles.A kind and loyal forrester of Colonel Beverley (the children's father) takes them into his forest home and they are incognito as they were thought to have perished in the conflagration. The Forrester teaches the 2 boys and 2 girls how to survive and live off of the forest. Marryat is not a great wordsmith and it is simply told, the worst errors come in the conversations between the brothers, who don't talk in a natural manner, but seem to be making lists of things to each other. The girl's characters are underdeveloped and not as interesting as the boys are so I think this would be enjoyed by boys more than by girls.

This is a novel I like a lot, which I've experienced in different ways at different points in my life. I first read it when I was six or seven, and thought it was a great story. There are these kids, and they find a castle, and a magic ring. At first they think it's an invisibility ring. Then, to their surprise, they find it can make inanimate objects come to life, or make you rich. After a while, they come to a truly startling conclusion: the ring can do anything at all! When its latest power wears off, the owner can just tell it what new power it is to acquire. They come up with some creative ideas, which are a lot of fun; one of the best ones is where they find that the statues in the castle's grounds come to life at night, and they can themselves become living statues. One of the statues is a life-size brontosaurus. Like many seven year olds, I loved dinosaurs. This ring was amazing! The rest of this review is available elsewhere (the location cannot be given for Goodreads policy reasons) 

Note: I didn't read this; I saw it on "Sammy's Story Shop." This story is appalling! Rose, an old woman, and John Brown, her dog, live together happily, until one day the Midnight Cat begins lurking around the house. Rose likes the cat and makes overtures towards it, but John Brown feels threatened and is afraid that (a) Rose might not have enough love for both him and the cat, and (b) the balance of their happy relationship will be changed if the cat moves in, and maybe not for the better. Understandable, yes? But no! Poor John Brown is presented as a villain as he tries to keep the cat from encroaching further. Rose demonstrates no empathy for his position. Then she resorts to pure manipulation in order to trick John Brown into accepting the cat: She claims to be ill, takes to her bed, and refuses to get up and feed John Brown or let him out, until he asks, "Would you feel better if the cat came in?" Oh, yes, of course she would! She leaps out of bed, lets the cat in, and they all live happily ever after. WTF?! What is supposed to be the message from this book? John Brown deserves to have his feelings recognized, acknowledged, and addressed by Rose, who is clearly the "adult" in this scenario. Instead, his emotions are ignored and his attempts to express how he feels through his behaviour are demonized, by Rose and the author. What kind of a relationship is modelled here? Not a healthy one, that's for sure. If Rose is representing a mother, John Brown a child, and the Midnight Cat a new member of the family (baby, step-parent, whatever), I can guarantee you that John Brown is probably going to be suffering from depression and emotional confusion, and will end up messing up most of his own relationships down the road as a result of this kind of manipulative, invalidating, abusive (refusing to feed him? really?) "parenting" by Rose, and its discouragement/avoidance of any genuine, honest communication. I would be willing to read this to children as an example of what not to do, followed by a discussion of how to handle the Midnight Cat situation honestly and openly, without resorting to lying and trickery. But the book itself sucks, and is possibly toxic for children living in families with this kind of manipulative interaction, because the story says it's great and even leads to a happy ending. NOT recommended.

I read this because it was available free on Kindle (now I am on a "Kindle"-ing spree).This book carries with it a childhood memory for me. I used to buy comics from the Higginbothams' bookstall in the railway station (they still have stalls all over railway stations in South India, but carry mostly magazines) - Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Bugs Bunny... freely available in those days and costing the lordly sum of one rupee. My father on this occasion, however, decided to "improve" my reading and picked up a few children's books from the shelf. This book was one of them.It was a beautiful edition with a glossy cover and enthralling pictures, but my dad was not impressed. He told me there were much better books by Kipling (true!) and put it back on the shelf, and I went for my comic. But the book remained in memory.However, I am glad I did not get it then - I would have been totally lost! Because in this series of connected stories, Kipling does a masterly job of weaving together England's mythology, legend and history. Compered by the fairy "Puck" from The Midsummer Night's Dream, the narrators range from Puck himself, a knight, a roman soldier and a Jew. The timeline shifts between the mythic, sylvan past of the Island through the Roman occupation and medieval intrigues up to the signing of the Magna Carta.It is typical Kipling - each story is sandwiched between a couple of poems (which are sometimes much better than the tales). The mundane and the magical seamlessly weave together to create a brilliant tapestry, familiar to all Kipling fans. But the tales were, I felt, rather mediocre. From the creator of The Jungle Book one expected a bit more.The author's intention here - made explicit in the last poem - is to inculcate pride and love for the motherland in the heart of youngsters and maybe get them to study the culture of their country in detail. Very laudable, but it has not aged well like The Jungle Book or Just So Stories.

Basil--famous sleuth of mousedom--lived in the cellar of Sherlock Holmes' house. A devoted admirer of the great detective, he had learned his craft by listening at the feet of Holmes himself. The Mystery of the Missing Twins was one of the strangest cases in Basil's career. He had only a few crumbs of clues with which to find solutions to such baffling questions as: Who had masterminded the plot? Where were the twins, Angela and Agatha, being kept?

Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE, was a comic writer who enjoyed enormous popular success during a career of more than seventy years and continues to be widely read over 40 years after his death. Despite the political and social upheavals that occurred during his life, much of which was spent in France and the United States, Wodehouse's main canvas remained that of prewar English upper-class society, reflecting his birth, education, and youthful writing career.An acknowledged master of English prose, Wodehouse has been admired both by contemporaries such as Hilaire Belloc, Evelyn Waugh and Rudyard Kipling and by more recent writers such as Douglas Adams, Salman Rushdie and Terry Pratchett. Sean O'Casey famously called him "English literature's performing flea", a description that Wodehouse used as the title of a collection of his letters to a friend, Bill Townend.Best known today for the Jeeves and Blandings Castle novels and short stories, Wodehouse was also a talented playwright and lyricist who was part author and writer of fifteen plays and of 250 lyrics for some thirty musical comedies. He worked with Cole Porter on the musical Anything Goes (1934) and frequently collaborated with Jerome Kern and Guy Bolton. He wrote the lyrics for the hit song Bill in Kern's Show Boat (1927), wrote the lyrics for the Gershwin/Romberg musical Rosalie (1928), and collaborated with Rudolf Friml on a musical version of The Three Musketeers (1928).

Recipe for a Wodehouse Novel1. Take one English country house.2. Insert the following, stirring gently: (a) Eccentric or curmudgeonly peer (b) devoted/ overbearing wife/ sister (c) a couple of sundered hearts and (optional) (d) domestic help with their own affairs of the heart. Stir gently. Bring to boil and set to simmer on low humour.3. Add situations for seasoning. Lovers' misunderstandings, pilferage in the night, midnight rambles through the shrubbery... (For the full list, maybe Jeeves can be consulted. Too long to provide here.)4. Insert key ingredient while the mixture simmers: Bertie and Jeeves, Galahad Threepwood and Uncle Fred are the most commonly used ones. Bring to boil.5. Garnish with grumpy village policemen and irate magistrates. Serve hot.---BTW, this novel has a village cop named Harold Potter - though he is never called Harry. It also has a Hermione!

Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, Fifth Earl of Ickenham, better known as Uncle Fred, is back “to spread sweetness and light” wherever he goes. At the request of Lord Emsworth, Uncle Fred journeys to Blandings Castle to steal the Empress of Blandings before the ill-tempered, egg-throwing Duke of Dunstable can lay claim to her. Disguised as the eminent nerve specialist Sir Roderick Glossop, and with his distressed nephew Pongo in tow, Uncle Fred must not only steal a pig but also reunite a young couple and diagnose various members of the upper class with imaginary mental illnesses, all before his domineering wife realizes he’s escaped their country estate.

Frederick, Earl of Ickenham, remains young at heart. So it is for him the act of a moment to lean out of the Drones Club window with a catapult and ping the silk top hat off his grumpy in-law, the distinguished barrister Sir Raymand Bastable.Unfortunately things don’t end there.The sprightly earl finds that his action has inspired a scandalous bestseller and a film script—but this is as nothing compared with the entangled fates of the couples that surround him and which only his fabled sweetness and light can unravel.

What must a man do in order to put an end to his bachelorhood? For George Finch, one of nature's white mice and probably the worst artist ever to put brush to canvas, there are many obstacles. Undoubtedly the greatest is his beloved Molly's fearsome stepmother, Mrs. Waddington, who has her eye on an eligible English lord for a son-in-law. Luckily, George has an ally in sharp-witted Hamilton Beamish, an old family friend of the Waddingtons, not to mention George's butler, Mullett, and his light-fingered girlfriend, Fanny, whose valuable skills are of particular interest to the would-be father-in-law.  Wodehouse is the greatest comic writer ever. (Douglas Adams) Mr. Wodehouse's idyllic world can never stale. He has made a world for us to live in and delight in. (Evelyn Waugh) Author Bio: P.G. Wodehouse (1881-1975) grew up in England and came to the United States just before World War I, when he married an American. He wrote more than 90 books, and his works, translated into many languages, have won him worldwide acclaim.

This volume contains three of the novels - Mapp and Lucia, Lucia's Progress and Trouble for Lucia – by E.F. Benson takes the reader to the gossipy and snobby upper-middle England of the 20s and 30s. The humorous incidents that happen when Lucia and Elisabeth Mapp battle for social and cultural supremacy in the village of Tilling will leave you glowing with the ultimate delight of reading a sparkling satire.

Three of Lord Peter Wimsey's most baffling cases demonstrate his unique detction skills at their most spectacular.The engima of a house numbered thirteen in a street of even numbers; an indignant child accused of theft, a dream about a game of chess that uncovers the true story behind a violent death. Each of the stories introduces a different side of the twentieth century's most ingenious detective hero.This book also features a biographical essay by Janet Hitchman, Sayers' first biographer.

Darlings, you simply must join us for...A BATTLE ROYALE AT TILLING VILLAGE!We have a scintillating lineup of local dignitaries pitted one against the other, prepared for fierce battle through tea time and perhaps up until a light supper, served buffet style on the sideboard. The stakes are high: losers risk a decided loss of self-esteem, diminished social cachet, quickly extinguished laughter from clusters of villagers idling in front of the market, and a range of droll expressions made at their expense from their former peers; their servants will no doubt report a surprising absence of invitations to various select garden parties. Blood shall be spilt to avoid such catastrophic consequences; teeth shall be gnashed and the chilliest of smiles shall be frozen on our combatants' faces. It shall be an entrancing affair!Our Players:The formidable Miss Mapp versus the intrepid Godiva "Diva" Plaistow. Whose dress shall be the most au courant? Who shall best reconfigure those charming flowers cut from old draperies into pleasing bits of flair? Who shall become the bestest of friends with that visiting Contessa? Who shall capture the juiciest, most current morsel of gossip - to be shared confidentially with only the closest of acquaintances?The redoubtable Major Flint versus the cunning Captain Puffin. 'Tis Army versus Navy on the golf links! Who shall be entitled to that extra bit of whiskey, and more to the point, whose turn is it to pay?The fearsome Miss Mapp versus the forever-bantering tag-team duo of Flint and Puffin. Shall the eagle-eyed Miss Mapp catch them out during their secret late-night tippling by each other's fireside? Of even more importance: shall Mapp best puffin-shaped Puffin to capture the heart of flinty Flint?The eccentric Quaint Irene versus The Moral Standards of Tilling Village as represented by the censorious Miss Mapp. Should, shall we say, "rather queer" eccentrics - no matter how wealthy - be allowed to paint their beloved, amply proportioned maid - au naturel? Let alone the local fish merchant! Quaint Irene's sharp talent at mimicry makes her a terrifying opponent.The parsimonious Miss Mapp versus the pecunious Isabel Poppit. Shall brash newcomer Mrs. Poppit best her opponent using her carefully honed talents of having more money, more servants, and certainly a much larger home?The Rubenesque Miss Mapp versus The Entire Village of Tilling. Shall the quite natural moral superiority of Mapp triumph over small-minded and lamentably nosy villagers who have certain questions concerning the hoarding of tinned food and coal, and who have certain feelings about the appropriate way to oh-so-casually greet a member of the Royal Family who may or may not be making a brief stop in Tilling? The odds are stacked against the Tillingites. As the song goes, "only the good die young"... and Miss Mapp is far from young. Place your bets wisely. Our money is on Mapp!

Darlings, you simply must visit London! The charmed village of Riseholme may be a country seat of unsurpassed delicacy and dignity when compared to the stridently au courant London Town of the 1920s... but with Riseholme's very own Queen Lucia spending her summer season at 25 Brompton Square, that notorious city of faddish layabouts has at last been given a sheen of class and taste. However temporarily that may be! For despite her quick accumulation of Lords and Duchesses and Rich London Eccentrics added to her table and parlour, surely her heart must still dwell within graceful Riseholme? Surely it must! It cannot be that the Empress of that delicious village, its doyenne of style, its mistress of manipulation, its swift trouncer of all rivals... couldn't be throwing over Riseholme in favour of the dubious pleasures and unusual smells of the former Londinium? Yes, it is true, we have all heard the rumours... she has remade herself, crimped her hair and shortened her skirt, all the better to keep up with those too-fashionable London wags and tarts... she has even acquired and deputized her own London version of Riseholme's precious Georgie - complete with Georgie's fluttering hands and his sailor's trousers and even his daring little cape - to be her own London lady-in-waiting. Poor, sweet Georgie - has he been supplanted? Has fair Riseholme itself been superseded? It cannot be! Well, as we sort out this dreadful mystery, at least we are still able to sit back and enjoy Lucia make short work of London's tarsome social mores and strictures. No one knows how to climb more swiftly than Lucia!Dearest Lucia may be incorrigible when it comes to her forever-burning desire for social dominance, for recognition as the ultimo word on what is or is not in vogue, for all others to pay homage at the altar of High Culture that she has constructed... but all that said, Queen Lucia is certainly no common snob. What Lucia loves is Life Itself, in all of its quaint smallness and all of its grand largeness. Lucia equals Living! Her mind may be narrow but her appetite for life is wide and all-encompassing. Nothing is too small for Lucia to domineer over! Let us enjoy the spectacle of Lucia devouring whatever crosses her path.So it is for both the residents of Riseholme and the crème de la crème of London. All must love Lucia, because she makes things so very interesting. And so it is for the readers of "Lucia in London"... Lucia and the world around her may be viewed with a certain sarcastic sharpness, an eyeroll or a snort or a disdainful curl of the lip at the ongoing misadventures of this exquisitely monstrous woman... but there must be a measure of generosity within that viewpoint as well. Or even admiration! E.F. Benson has a sure way with words, his prose dainty and his tone arch, his narrative one that parodies superficiality and upward mobility and the relentless chasing of fads and fashions, the entire endeavor a stiletto pricking the inflated egos and petty ambitions of the Riseholmites, his story even daring to pop the gaudy balloon of La Lucia herself... but Mr. Benson also adores her, and all of his creations. There may not be much of substance in these glorious human macaroons, but they are wonderfully delectable. Lucia most of all!Darlings, you simply must visit Lucia in London. She's so frightfully picturesque!

Mrs. Lucas, Lucia to her intimates, resides in the village of Riseholme, a pretty Elizabethan village in Worcestershire, where she vigorously guards her status as "Queen" despite occasional attempts from her subjects to overthrow her. Lucia’s dear friend Georgie Pillson both worships Lucia and occasionally works to subvert her power.

E. F. Benson apparently had two obsessions: ghost stories, and high society, with an unrelenting hatred of social climbers. The distant rumbles of Bolshevism and the nearer-at-home threat of Black Shirts and incipient Nazis don't stir him to the heat of indignation that he reserves for middle class people pretending to a rank to which they are not entitled; a great many of his short stories are savage satires of bumptious mushrooms trying to shoulder their way into society, to the extent of certain plots being revisited repeatedly.His stories about the tempests in the teapots of Riseholme and Tilling are not silver fork novels. The denizens of these two towns all have cooks and maids, but the people are decidedly bourgeois, and get flustered in the presence of noble titles, whether the humans wearing the titles deserve it or not. There is nothing silver fork about the gleefully funny satire of Mrs. Poppit returning in triumph to Tilling with her Order of the British Empire, and her description of her triumphant visit to the king and queen.The Lucia and Mapp stories are twenties and thirties English comedy of manners, whereas his early novel about Dodo was very much in the silver fork tradition. In fact, in some ways I think Mapp and Lucia define twenties and thirties comedies of manners in a way that even Noel Coward didn't quite achieve, judging by the number of references I've picked up in collections of letters, memoirs, diaries, and the occasional obscure reference in a cozy mystery or other type of novel of the period.I end up taking these out and rereading them whenever, like now, I've got a cold and can't wrap my brain around anything else, but I've reread all my Austens and PG Wodehouse too recently.I also don't read them all the way through. For example, I usually skip over Lucia in London, which is an entire novel about Lucia playing the snob and being made fun of behind her back. I can only stand humiliation stories if I have no sympathy whatever with the victim, and I like silly Lucia (who does have a good heart in the clinch) too much to enjoy her being slow roasted by this smug collection of duchesses and countesses. And the ultimate chapter (view spoiler)[ which plot Benson reuses several times in his short stories, in which a homosexual society journalist is tricked into the bedroom of a social climber who is actually quite prudish (hide spoiler)]

Delightful read for all fans of pleasant social satire. This volume, which contains 3 titles - Queen Lucia, Miss Mapp and Lucia in London – along with it’s companion volume is a bargain to own for all those fans of the witty, malicious comedy which happens between Lucia and her archrival Ms Mapp.

In Trouble for Lucia, Lucia learns to ride a bicycle, and we live through the saga of Blue Birdie (Mrs. Wyse's dead budgerigar [parakeet] invoked in a seance). Lucia and Georgie renew their acquaintance with the operatic diva Olga Braceley and the composer Cortese, but nobody in Tilling believes her when she claims to have entertained a duchess overnight. Lucia becomes Mayor of Tilling and Miss Mapp is appointed her Mayoress. This is the sixth volume in the Lucia Series.

Subtly brilliant comedy of social rivalry between the wars. Emmeline Lucas (known universally to her friends as Lucia) is an arch-snob of the highest order. In Miss Elizabeth Mapp of Mallards Lucia meets her match. Ostensibly the most civil and genteel of society ladies, there is no plan too devious, no plot too cunning, no depths to which they would not sink, in order to win the battle for social supremacy. Using as their deadly weapons garden parties, bridge evenings and charming teas, the two combatants strive to outcharm each other - and the whole of Tilling society - as they vie for the position of doyenne of the town.

Harry Potter's life is miserable. His parents are dead and he's stuck with his heartless relatives, who force him to live in a tiny closet under the stairs. But his fortune changes when he receives a letter that tells him the truth about himself: he's a wizard. A mysterious visitor rescues him from his relatives and takes him to his new home, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.After a lifetime of bottling up his magical powers, Harry finally feels like a normal kid. But even within the Wizarding community, he is special. He is the boy who lived: the only person to have ever survived a killing curse inflicted by the evil Lord Voldemort, who launched a brutal takeover of the Wizarding world, only to vanish after failing to kill Harry.Though Harry's first year at Hogwarts is the best of his life, not everything is perfect. There is a dangerous secret object hidden within the castle walls, and Harry believes it's his responsibility to prevent it from falling into evil hands. But doing so will bring him into contact with forces more terrifying than he ever could have imagined.Full of sympathetic characters, wildly imaginative situations, and countless exciting details, the first installment in the series assembles an unforgettable magical world and sets the stage for many high-stakes adventures to come.

The mysterious man hanging about at the research department of a big TV network proves to be engineer Richard Sumner, who's been ordered to keep his real purpose secret: computerizing the office. Department head Bunny Watson, who knows everything, needs no computer to unmask Richard. The resulting battle of wits and witty dialogue pits Bunny's fear of losing her job against her dawning attraction to Richard.

Laura Partridge (Judy Holliday) is a very enthusiastic small stockholder of 10 shares in International Projects, a large corporation based in New York City. She attends her first stockholders meeting ready to question the board of directors from their salaries to their operations. These are not the questions which the board expected to be asked of them, especially since they are all crooked, except for Edward McKeever (Paul Douglas), the current CEO who has resigned in order to take an advisory position at the Pentagon. Following the meeting, he bumps into Laura and offers to drive her home. On the way there, Laura displays her enthusiasm for being a stockholder, as a result, Edward takes a liking to her. With Edward in Washington, D.C., John Blessington (John Williams) and Clifford Snell (Fred Clark) establish their hold on International Projects. They see greater riches now that Edward has influence with the U.S. Senate, especially with the awarding of federal contracts; unfortunately for them, he is honest, and won't do their bidding. In the meantime, Laura continues to be a nuisance to the board. Blessington believes the only way to silence her is to give her a high-paying position with the company. The idea is for her to do absolutely nothing, but Laura has other plans. She begins to correspond with other small stockholders in the company, a problem for the board. They decide to use her influence on Edward and send her to Washington, D.C. to get contracts. Laura, now knowing their true intentions for her, has her own agenda, that is, get Edward back in charge of the company.

Terry Randall, rich society beauty, has decided to see if she can break into the Broadway theatre scene without her family connections. She goes to live in a theatrical boarding house and finds her life caught up with those of the other inmates and the ever-present disappointment that theatrical hopefuls must live with. Her smart-mouth roommate, Jean, is approached by a powerful producer for more than just a role. And Terry's father has decided to give her career the shove by backing a production for her to star in, in which she's sure to flop. But his machinations hurt more than just Terry.

Dizzy society matron Emily Kilbourne has a habit of hiring ex-cons and hobos as servants. Her latest find is a handsome "tramp" who shows up at her doorstep and soon ends up in a chauffeur's uniform. He also catches the eye of her pretty Geraldine.

Escaping to England from a French embezzlement charge, widower Henry Scarlett is accompanied by daughter Sylvia who, to avoid detection, "disguises" herself as a boy, "Sylvester." They are joined by amiable con man Jimmy Monkley, then, after a brief career in crime, meet Maudie Tilt, a giddy, sexy Cockney housemaid who joins them in the new venture of entertaining at resort towns from a caravan. Through all this, amazingly no one recognizes that Sylvia is not a boy...until she meets handsome artist Michael Fane, and drama intrudes on the comedy.

Polly Parrish, a clerk at Merlin's Department Store, is mistakenly presumed to be the mother of a foundling. Outraged at Polly's unmotherly conduct, David Merlin becomes determined to keep the single woman and "her" baby together.

When a former child actor is dumped by his fiancé days before the wedding, his excitable German best man takes him on the honeymoon instead: a backcountry trek in the remote mountains of Oregon.

What if Apollo 11 never actually made it? What if, in reality, Stanley Kubrick secretly shot the famous images of the moon landing in a studio, working for the US administration? This is the premise of a totally plausible conspiracy theory that takes us to swinging sixties London, where a stubborn CIA agent will never find Kubrick but instead is forced to team up with a lousy manager of a seedy rock band to develop the biggest con of all time, in this riotous, high-tempo action-comedy.

In honor of Rebecca (Rachel Dratch)'s 50th birthday, Abby (Amy Poehler) plans a scenic Napa getaway with their best, longtime friends. Workaholic Catherine (Ana Gasteyer), post-op Val (Paula Pell), homebody Jenny (Emily Spivey), and weary mom Naomi (Maya Rudolph) are equally sold on the chance to relax and reconnect. Yet as the alcohol flows, real world uncertainties intrude on the punchlines and gossip, and the women begin questioning their friendships and futures. A hilarious and heartfelt comedy directed by Poehler, Wine Country co-stars Tina Fey, Jason Schwartzman and Cherry Jones.

American comedy film directed by Amy Poehler

A retired widow who hits the jackpot when she receives a life insurance check mistakenly made out for five million dollars instead of fifty thousand dollars. She and her best friend then take off, only to become media sensations and fugitives from justice.

Two business partners are having woman trouble. One wants to marry his secretary and the other is set to marry a wealthy aristocrat. When the partner who wants to marry his secretary lets her go before he proposes to her, the woman confused woman tries to commit suicide by jumping into a river. Complications ensue.

Clemson Reade, a business tycoon with marriage on his mind, and Effie, a U.S. diplomat, are a modern couple. Unfortunately there seems to be too much business and not enough pleasure on the part of Effie. When Clem meets Tarji, a princess trained in all the arts of pleasing men, he decides he wants an old fashioned girl. Princess Tarji's father is king of oil-rich Bukistan. Because of the oil situation and to maintain good political relations during the courtship between Clem and Tarji, the State Department assigns a diplomat to maintain protocol until the wedding - Effie.

In the depths of the Depression, a party game brings dizzy socialite Irene Bullock to the city dump where she meets Godfrey, a derelict, and ends by hiring him as family butler. He finds the Bullocks to be the epitome of idle rich, and nutty as the proverbial fruitcake. Soon, the dramatizing Irene is in love with her 'protege'...who feels strongly that a romance between servant and employer is out of place, regardless of that servant's mysterious past...

Ellen Arden arrives 7 years after being given up for dead in a shipwreck, to find her husband Nick just remarried to Bianca. The overjoyed Nick awkwardly tries to break the news gently to Bianca. But before he can do that, an unpleasant surprise--news that Ellen has spent the 7 years on a deserted island with fellow-survivor Burkett. Nick's jealousy tries to find out the truth. Hilarious confusion reigns before Nick chooses his favorite wife.

On a quick trip to the city, young university professor Peter Morgan falls in love with nightclub performer Francey Brent and marries her after a whirlwind romance. But when he goes back home, he can't bring himself to tell his conservative, ultra-respected family about it.

Auto magnate James Buchanan has a fiancée who doesn't love him and a board of directors who won't listen to him. Brooding on a park bench, he meets unemployed Joan Hawthorne, a fine cook who needs a partner to apply for a 'couple' butler/cook job with gourmet ex-bootlegger Mike Rossini. Bemused, Buchanan goes along with the gag, taking lessons from his own butler. But there's sure to be a day of reckoning...

The Blandings live in New York in a tiny apartment. They decide to move to the country and find that buying and building and living in their own home is easier said than done.

Before their divorce becomes final, Jerry and Lucy Warriner both do their best to ruin each other's plans for remarriage, Jerry to haughty socialite Barbara Vance, she to oil-rich bumpkin Daniel Leeson. Among their strategies: Jerry's court-decreed visitation rights with Mr. Smith, their pet fox terrier, and Lucy doing her most flamboyant Dixie Belle Lee impersonation as Jerry's brassy "sister" before his prospective bride's scandalized family.

Free-thinking Johnny Case finds himself betrothed to a millionaire's daughter. When her family, with the exception of black-sheep Linda and drunken Ned, want Johnny to settle down to big business, he rebels, wishing instead to spend the early years of his life on "holiday." With the help of his friends Nick and Susan Potter, he makes up his mind as to which is the better course, and the better mate.

The funloving Kerbys, stockholders in the bank of which henpecked, stuffy Cosmo Topper is president, drive recklessly once too often and become ghosts. In limbo because they've never done either good or bad deeds, they decide to try a good one now: rehabilitating Topper. Lovely, flirtatious Marion takes a keen personal interest in the job. Will Topper survive the wrath of jealous ghost George? Will Mrs. Topper find that a scandalous husband isn't all bad?

British comedy series about the Harper family. Father Ben is a dentist who'd like to see his children move out of the house as soon as possible because all he wants is peace and quiet. His eldest son Nick - who later on in the series does move out - is a complete idiot and a no-good who can't hold on to any of the various jobs he has. Daughter Janey is very shallow and not very picky when it comes to boys while son Michael is way too smart for Ben and doesn't feel the need to communicate much with his father. His curious wife Susan clearly makes all the decisions in the household. Later on in the series Ben gets an assistant at work, goofy and naive Roger, and when Janey finally moves out, no-brainer Abby moves in, while Janey keeps visiting, sometimes bringing along her little son, Kenzo. So much for Ben's peace and quiet.

British sitcom about the misadventures of two high-powered career women, active on the London fashion scene. Edina "Eddy" Monsoon is a professional public relations agent, who owns her own PR firm. Patricia "Patsy" Stone is the fashion director in a top British magazine. In their professional lives, they are rather successful. They spend their free time by constantly indulging in cigarettes, alcohol and recreational drugs, while trying to stay young and to relive their glory days in the Mod subculture.

Interconnected dramas about the lives of a group of workers at a Manchester textile factory, with each episode focusing on the home life of a different character.

Career criminal Jimmy Rose has spent the last twelve years in prison for armed robbery. Jimmy has to face up to commitment as a husband, father and grandfather. That means being around for his children, staying out of trouble and out of prison.

Margaret Wells struggles to reconcile her roles as brothel owner and mother to her daughters. When her business comes under attack from a rival madam with a ruthless streak, Margaret must fight back even if it means losing her family and possibly her life.

The numerous adventures of a friendly staff at a country veterinarian practice in 1930s to 1940s Yorkshire.

Set against the sweeping grandeur of the Himalayas and tea plantations of Northern India, the drama tells the rich and explosive story of the decline of the British Empire and the birth of modern India, from both sides of the experience. But at the heart of the story lie the implications and ramifications of the tangled web of passions, rivalries and clashes that define the lives of those brought together in this summer which will change everything. It's the summer of 1932. India dreams of Independence, but the British are clinging to power. In the foothills of the Himalayas stands Simla; a little England where every summer the British power-brokers of this nation are posted to govern during the summer months.

Reggie Perrin has a cushy job as head of innovation in a men's body care products firm, but philosophically hates meaningless office life. He's equally unhappy with commuting, his dull marriage, his parents, his colleagues and especially his cry boss Chris. Yet he never does anything about this life, even tends to help his hated significant others out of a pickle.

It follows the stories and fall out for Maggie Cole, played by French, who doesn't pay attention to the cautionary adage that 'those in glass houses shouldn't throw stones'.

A comedy series about three groups of friends coming to terms with retirement.

Paul Slippery (Hugh Laurie), a forty-something doctor, lives with his wife Estelle and three sex-obsessed sons Rory, Daniel and Edwin in the west London suburb of Putney. On top of coping with family pressures and a mid-life crisis, Paul discovers his unusual ability to hear other peoples' inner thoughts.

Journalist David Farrier goes on a quest to small town New Zealand to find the average Kiwi. What he finds in this mockumentary series, is a lovable bunch of people who are anything but ordinary or average. Each week he meets a new local, all played by Rhys Darby.

Hyacinth Bucket (whose name she insists is pronounced "bouquet") continually looks for opportunities to climb the social ladder, though she's wedged on a rung just below her sister Violet (whose house has a swimming pool, sauna, and room for a pony) and just above her working class sisters Daisy and Rose. Hyacinth's passion for flawless entertaining unnerves her neighbor Elizabeth, who is often invited to the Bucket home for coffee. Elizabeth's divorced brother Emmet, who also lives next door to the Buckets, tries to avoid Hyacinth because she breaks into song in his presence in the hope he'll cast her in one of his "little theater" musical productions.

The 100-something vicar of the small English village of Dibley has passed on. A new vicar has been requested for a replacement. What they get is Geraldine Granger, a non-traditional, chocolate loving, rock n' roll playing vicar. That is not what gets the citizens of Dibley in a uproar though. It's because she is a woman. Still, that doesn't stop Geraldine from proving her worthiness to the village. After time, the villagers (with the exception of influential David Horton) accept Geraldine as The Vicar of Dibley.

Desmond, his non-conforming family and the regulars of his hairdressers in Peckham, London.

In 1927, Lord Meldrum is a wealthy widower who owns a rubber factory. He lives with his brother Teddy, mother-in-law Lady Lavender, and daughters Poppy and Cissy. Meldrum is having an affair with Lady Agatha, wife of his rival Sir Ralph. He is trying to persuade Teddy to marry socialite Madge Cartwright, but Teddy fancies servant girls more than the upper-class ladies, so he's reluctant to marry Madge. Poppy is a flapper who often flirts with servant James. She's very different from her sister Cissy in appearance as well as attitude. Cissy fancies women more than men, wears men's clothes, and is a member of the workers' movement and a workers' political party. Lady Lavender is extravagant, owns a parrot, and likes to throw food at servants. The servants live downstairs: Mrs. Lipton, the cook; James, a snobbish servant; Henry, the youngest servant, who usually gets clipped behind the ear by James or Mrs. Lipton. The butler Stokes was the last to join the servants, with his daughter Ivy, the maid. He is shady and despises the rich. During WWI, he and James were in the trenches with Teddy and saved his life, so Stokes gets the position of butler upon his arrival at the house. The lowest-ranked of the servants is poor washing lady Mabel; she doesn't live with the Meldrums.

UK television series airing betweeen 1988-1993

This BBC comedy skit show is the brainchild of longtime comedy duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. Each episode featured satire on British life, television, and parodies on big box-office movies such as Batman Forever (1995) and Pulp Fiction (1994). The duo also invited notable Brits such as Patsy Kensit, Lulu, and Kate Moss.

This show tells the story of partners Freddie Thornhill (Sir Ian McKellen) and Stuart Bixby (Sir Derek Jacobi), who have lived together in a small central London flat for nearly fifty years. Constantly picking each other apart and holding on to petty slights for decades, Freddie and Stuart are always at each other's throats, cracking snide remarks aimed at the other's age, appearance, and flaws. However, underneath their vicious, co-dependent fighting, they have a deep love for one another. Freddie and Stuart are often joined by feisty best friend Violet Crosby (Frances de la Tour) and Ash Weston (Iwan Rheon), their young, upstairs neighbor.

British television sitcom, showing on ITV between 2013-2016

As the title suggests, "A Bit of Fry and Laurie" is less of a specific format than a 'coat-hanger' for short sketches, starring the comical duo in various, recurring or unique roles: Stephen Fry, the sophisticated giant who usually plays the smug one, and comparatively small Hugh Laurie, usually playing the patsy.

Two hangmen (Matt Berry and Rich Fulcher) compete for women, money and happiness, venturing deeper in the ocean of depravity than any friends should in a whisky-fuelled, cross-cultural friendship.

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