Merlyn Cantelo returns to Leeds to claim the house of a late aunt, an aunt who adopted him after a tormented early childhood. As a clairvoyant, she had predicted violence in his future life and had suggested he live overseas with her distant family in Italy. Now he's back and is about to find out the real truth of his aunt's precognition.
Robert Barnard returns to contemporary Leeds for the memorably downscale story of The Centre, a temporary hostel for homeless young people. Ben Marchant, who opened The Centre after winning the lottery, allows his charges to remain only a fortnight, all except for Alan Coughlan and Katy Bourne, two fellow-students who'd barely heard of each other till they ran away together, and who are now ensconced in The Centre indefinitely. But Alan and Katy's unusual status doesn't bother black copper Charlie Peace as much as the possibility that The Centre may be no refuge from the indolence of the streets.
Elizabeth Allen is back at Whyteleafe School, and although she's vowed to be good and not get into trouble, she can't help herself when new boy Robert starts bullying smaller kids. And when Kathleen makes matters worse when she starts playing tricks on Elizabeth and her friend, Robert is wrongly blamed and everything becomes a muddle!
As a country club is due to open on Witches' Hill, a body is discovered with its throat cut. The next day a fragment of a legendary witches' curse upon anyone who desecrates their place of worship is sent to a local paper. As Robert Skinner begins his grizzly investigation, a second murder occurs.
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell
Added by: Kahena | Karma: 11525.33 | Fiction literature | 2 October 2010
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The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists is a novel by Robert Tressell first published in 1914 after his death in 1911. An explicitly political work, it is widely regarded as a classic work of working-class literature.
