On the eve of 1848 as small revolutions begin all over Europe, thirteen-year-old Catherine Ayre finds herself involved in dangerous political intrigue in the small but troubled country of Letzenstein where her grandfather, the Grand Duke Edmond, is ruler.

Seemingly the simplest of stories—a passing anecdote of village life— Rock Crystal opens up into a tale of almost unendurable suspense. This jewel-like novella by the writer that Thomas Mann praised as "one of the most extraordinary, the most enigmatic, the most secretly daring and the most strangely gripping narrators in world literature" is among the most unusual, moving, and memorable of Christmas stories. Two children—Conrad and his little sister, Sanna—set out from their village high up in the Alps to visit their grandparents in the neighboring valley. It is the day before Christmas but the weather is mild, though of course night falls early in December and the children are warned not to linger. The grandparents welcome the children with presents and pack them off with kisses. Then snow begins to fall, ever more thickly and steadily. Undaunted, the children press on, only to take a wrong turn. The snow rises higher and higher, time passes: it is deep night when the sky clears and Conrad and Sanna discover themselves out on a glacier, terrifying and beautiful, the heart of the void. Adalbert Stifter's rapt and enigmatic tale, beautifully translated by Elizabeth Mayer and Marianne Moore, explores what can be found between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day—or on any night of the year.

In 1849, fourteen-year-old Catherine leaves England for a return visit to Letzenstein, home of her mother's family, where she becomes involved in political upheaval, along with her unconventional artist cousin, Rafael le Marre.

Rafael le Marre collects three companions whom he leads on an adventurous journey from Paris to Letzenstein. The Revolution of February, 1848, has erupted in France. Paul and Christie, both English, and Jeanne d'Estel of Valmay, have concerns of their own to pursue. But when the generous-hearted Rafael is arrested by political enemies, harrowing days follow. Important truths of character come to light, and Rafael's stature emerges: the "Phoenix" arises again from the ashes. Original Book: 191 pages This is the second book in the Letzenstein Chronicles. The first book in the series is The Crystal Snowstorm. The third book in the series is Angel and Dragon. The fourth book in the series is The Rose and Crown.

While staying with their aunt in an ancient English house, three children discover a strange snowstorm paperweight which takes them back in time, bringing them face-to-face with ancestors who help them find a long lost treasure trove.

In 1849, young Melisande and several other children share adventures with artist Rafael le Marre, cousin of the Grand Duke of Letzenstein, when he comes to London to reunite a seven-year-old orphan with his various relatives.

Vladimir Sorokin is one of Russia's most popular novelists, and one of its most provocative as well. In Sorokin's scabrous dystopian satire, Day of the Oprichnik, American readers were introduced to his distinctive style, which combines an edgy avant-garde sensibility with a fondness for the absurd and even grotesque—all in the service of bringing out stinging truths about life in modern-day Russia. In The Blizzard, we are immediately immersed in the atmosphere of a 19th century Russia familiar to us from the works of Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Dostoyevsky. District doctor Garin is desperately trying to reach the village of Dolgoye, where a mysterious epidemic called the “Chernukha” is raging and threatens to spread throughout the country, turning people into zombies. The doctor carries with him a vaccine that will prevent the spread of this terrible disease, but is stymied in his travels by an all-consuming snow storm, an impenetrable blizzard that turns a drive that should last only a few hours into a voyage of days, and finally, a journey into eternity. The Blizzard dramatizes a timeless metaphysical predicament. The characters in this nearly post-apocalyptic world are constantly in motion, and yet somehow trapped and frozen—spending day and night fighting their way through the storm on an expedition filled with extraordinary encounters, dangerous escapades, torturous imaginings, and amorous adventures. In the fantastical realm Sorokin has invented, the reader also loses her bearings, subject to the vicissitudes of time and change, to both the movement of life and its stagnancy. Hypnotic, fascinating, and richly descriptive, The Blizzard is a seminal work from one of the most inventive writers working today.