Emma Fenney

"The Secret Adversary," published in 1922, marks a significant milestone in Agatha Christie's early career as her second published novel and the first to introduce the charismatic duo of Tommy and Tuppence Beresford. This work represents a departure from the traditional detective story format of her debut novel, "The Mysterious Affair at Styles," instead embracing elements of the thriller and espionage genres popular in the post-World War I era. Set...

"The Princess and the Pea" is a short tale of a young woman whose royal identity is proven by an unusual test. A prince who wants to marry a princess, has difficulty finding the perfect match, and finds it difficult to ascertain whether a princess is an authentic one. On a stormy night, a bedraggled young woman claiming to be a princess seeks shelter in the prince's castle. The Prince's mother tests the girl's claim by placing three peas underneath...

In "The Red Shoes" a peasant girl is adopted by a rich old lady and grows up vain and spoiled. Karen is so enamored of a pair of new red shoes that she wears them to church, in spite of her foster mother who warns her she must only wear black shoes in church. A mysterious old soldier admires the shoes and charms them with a tap of his hand. From this point on, she becomes unable to stop dancing and eventually comes to realize she is being punished...

Andersen's fairy tales, which have been translated into more than 125 languages, have become culturally embedded in the West's collective consciousness, readily accessible to children, but presenting lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity for mature readers as well. This title is part of "Andersen's Fairy Tales, Volume 2, published by Dreamscape Media. LLC.

In "The Naughty Boy" and old poet welcomes a wet and shivering boy into his home to warm up. It transpires that the boy has an ulterior motive. One involving a bow and arrow. This short tale by Hans Christian Andersen is a meditation on the naughtiness and ubiquity of Cupid.

In "The False Collar" a fine gentleman's collar decides to marry. He follows this with a series of proposals to various female objects, embroidering his accomplishments and good qualities at every turn. At one point, he presumes the iron is red-hot because of its passion for himself. A fable about what happens to liars and boasters.

Andersen's fairy tales, which have been translated into more than 125 languages, have become culturally embedded in the West's collective consciousness, readily accessible to children, but presenting lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity for mature readers as well. This title is part of "Andersen's Fairy Tales, Volume 2, published by Dreamscape Media. LLC.

There was once a merchant who was so rich that he could have paved the whole street with gold, and would even then have had enough for a small alley. But he did not do so; he knew the value of money better than to use it in this way. So clever was he, that every shilling he put out brought him a crown; and so he continued till he died. Andersen's fairy tales, which have been translated into more than 125 languages, have become culturally embedded...

In "The Old House" a boy is invited to meet the old man across the street. Offering a gift of a toy soldier, the boy spends some time with the old man exploring the decaying old house and its treasures with walls of leather. The tin soldier, unhappy with his new surroundings, flings himself through a hole in the floor and disappears. After the old man dies and the old house is torn down, and a new one is built. The boy grows up and eventually moves...

Out in the country, close by the side of the road, there stood a country house; you yourself have certainly seen many just like it. In front of it was a little flower garden, with a painted fence around it. Close by the fence, in the midst of the most beautiful green grass beside a ditch, there grew a little daisy. The sun shone just as warmly and brightly on her as on the beautiful flowers inside the garden, and so she grew every hour. Until at last...