Olive is the most unlikely of secret agents, a professional assassin in her sixties who's known only as "The Knit Lady." When Islamic terrorists take control of the cruise ship on which she's traveling, Olive decides to fight back, with knitting needle, scalpel--and plastic explosives. Don't underestimate Little Old Ladies!

First published in 1932, A Scarlet Pansy is an extraordinarily vivid and richly textured depiction of American queer life in the early twentieth century, tracing the coming-of-age of androgynous Fay Etrange. Born in small-town Pennsylvania and struggling with her difference, Fay eventually accepts her gender and sexual nonconformity and immerses herself in the fairy subculture of New York City. A self-proclaimed “oncer”—never tricking with same man twice—she immerses herself in the nightclubs, theaters, and street life of the city, cavorting with kindred spirits including female impersonators, streetwalkers, and hustlers as well as other fairies and connoisseurs of rough trade. While reveling in these exploits she becomes a successful banker and later attends medical school, where she receives training in obstetrics. There she also develops her life’s ambition to find a cure for gonorrhea, a disease supposedly “fastened on mankind as a penalty for enjoying love.” A Scarlet Pansy stands apart from similar fiction of its time—as well as that of the ensuing decades—by celebrating rather than pathologizing its effeminate and sexually adventurous protagonist. In this edition, republished for the first time in its original unexpurgated form, Robert J. Corber examines the way in which it flew in the face of other literature of the time in its treatment of gender expression and same-sex desire. He places the novel squarely within its social and cultural context of nearly a century ago while taking into account the book’s checkered publication history as well as the question of the novel’s unknown author. Much more than cultural artifact, A Scarlet Pansy remains a uniquely delightful and penetrating work of literature, resonating as much with present-day culture as it is illuminating of our understanding of queer history and challenging our notions of what makes a man a woman, and vice-versa.

Selected works of Emmuska Orczy from the series "Best of the Best" is the book that everyone should read to understand themselves and each other. The authors and works for this book series were selected, as a result of numerous studies, analysis of the texts over the past 100 years and the demand for readers. It must be read in order to understand the world around us, its history, to recognize the heroes, to understand the winged expressions and jokes that come from these literary works. Reading these books will mean the discovery of a world of self-development and self-expression for each person. These books have been around for decades, and sometimes centuries, for the time they recreate, the values they teach, the point of view, or simply the beauty of words. This volume of the Best of the Best series includes famous works • THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL • I WILL REPAY • THE ELUSIVE PIMPERNEL • EL DORADO • LORD TONY'S WIFE • THE LEAGUE OF THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL • THE LAUGHING CAVALIER • THE OLD MAN IN THE CORNER • PETTICOAT RULE • THE BRONZE EAGLE • BEAU BROCADE • CASTLES IN THE AIR • THE NEST OF THE SPARROWHAWK • THE TANGLED SKEIN • A SHEAF OF BLUEBELLS • "UNTO CÆSAR" • THE END A BRIDE OF THE PLAINS • THE HEART OF A WOMAN • LEATHERFACE • HIS MAJESTY'S WELL-BELOVED

An iconic novel dressed in a fierce design by acclaimed fashion illustrator Ruben Toledo. Other titles in the couture-inspired collection include Jane Eyre, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dracula, Wuthering Heights and Pride and Prejudice.Ruben Toledo’s breathtaking drawings have appeared in such high-fashion magazines as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and Visionaire. Now he’s turning his talented hand to illustrating the gorgeous deluxe editions of three of the most beloved novels in literature. Here Elizabeth Bennet’s rejection of Mr. Darcy, Hester Prynne’s fateful letter “A”, and Catherine Earnshaw’s wanderings on the Yorkshire moors are transformed into witty and surreal landscapes to appeal to the novels’ aficionados and the most discerning designer’s eyes. For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 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.

This Emma Orczy collection includes the complete Scarlet Pimpernel series and other historical, adventure and romance classics. Baroness Emmuska Orczy, Hungarian-born British novelist chiefly remembered as author of The Scarlet Pimpernel, set in the times of the French Revolution, one of the greatest popular successes of the 20th century. The only child of Baron Felix Orczy, a noted composer and conductor, she was educated in Brussels and Paris, then studied art in London. She later exhibited some of her work in the Royal Academy. She became famous in 1905 with the publication of The Scarlet Pimpernel. Contents: - THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL - I WILL REPAY - THE ELUSIVE PIMPERNEL - EL DORADO - LORD TONY'S WIFE - THE LEAGUE OF THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL - THE LAUGHING CAVALIER - THE OLD MAN IN THE CORNER - PETTICOAT RULE - THE BRONZE EAGLE - BEAU BROCADE - CASTLES IN THE AIR - THE NEST OF THE SPARROWHAWK - THE TANGLED SKEIN - A SHEAF OF BLUEBELLS - "UNTO CÆSAR" - THE END A BRIDE OF THE PLAINS - THE HEART OF A WOMAN - LEATHERFACE - HIS MAJESTY'S WELL-BELOVED