Antiquities & Oddities

//Antiquities & Oddities
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  • A tale set in the reign of Charles II - kings and princes, cavaliers and courtesans, flashing blades and raking shot from tall ships. There are plots and counter-plots simmering under the glittering mask of court life and all Englishmen see a deadly threat in the ambitions of Louis XIV pf France. First published as Whitehall in 1931.
  • This was originally written in 1928 as a play by the famous actress. It was considered so raunchy it was shut down by the censors before it appeared. The story is set backstage in vaudeville and dramatises the career of handsome headliner of Rodney Terrill, whose wild sex affairs with women lead to an unexpected - but probably well deserved - ending. A very 'ripping yarn' full of sauce with a very unexpected ending.

  • The sequel to The Broad Highway. This is the story of the fiery Charmian's love for her husband and reckless son - and the passion her beauty arouses in two ruthless men. Charmian, now in her forties and a great deal more wary and wise, is still a great beauty and not afraid to gamble life and honor in a sinister and perilous game. While in Paris, young Richard Vibart, son of Sir Peter and Lady Charmian, receives a challenge from Henri Willoughby-Gafton, a famous duelist whom Richard has slapped for speaking lightly of Lady Charmian. When Sir Peter hears of it he hurries to Paris, while Charmian - with a plan of her own - follows secretly. But is  Henri Willoughby-Gafton the real villain? Mr. Bob Meadows, the valet from The Broad Highway also makes a reappearance. Set during the Regency.

  • This book contains the sort of things one might expect to come up on QI...Such as... the worst computer ever invented, the shortest-lived newspaper, the least successful round the world cyclist and the shortest period of marital bliss. Great fun to dip into at random.
  • Set in an orphanage founded by an archbishop, the story opens on the No 14 bus trundling through London.  The reader is given the background on most of the bus passengers -  shadowy figures that play but a brief role - save one. A young woman who leaves the bus and disappears into the fog to the orphanage where she leaves a warmly wrapped baby on the doorstep. She kisses the child and leaves and all that is left is this new born child with a label attached to the shawl saying "Sweetie". And so Sweetie's life in St Mark's Orphanage begins.  It is not a harsh, Dickensian place - the children are well cared for and it is run by Canon Mallow, sweet-natured, kind and slightly inept. He loves all the children but he is soon to retire and his place is taken by a new appointee, Dr Samuel Trump who is determined that St Mark's will be run efficiently - on proper lines - and he is appalled at the inefficiency and disorganisation he sees before him.  Sweetie and Ginger, a real holy terror, strike up a friendship. Ginger is always up to all sorts of mischief and tricks who even manages to climb over the wall at night and go 'up West' on forays into the big wide world.   He is the bane of Dr Trump's life as no amount of punishment or detentions seem to have any effect on him whatsoever and Sweetie, who has an adventurous streak in her as well, causes a lot of upset for the new Warden.  https://cosmiccauldronbooks.com.au/p/london-belongs-to-me-norman-collins-2/
  • The plays of Noel 'The Master' Coward still draw audiences today.  This is a compilation of the Mermaid Theatre's Cowardy Custard which brought together the best of Noel Coward, as well as some of his less well-known songs and poems.  Beautifully illustrated with colour and black and white drawings and photos.
  • Sub-title: How To Live in Australia - And Like It. This is actually one of those books that tells you what's right about Australia. Kit Denton, author of  The Breaker and father of television's Andrew Denton, came to Australia in the late 1940s and worked as a gold miner, an itinerant worker, a radio and television interviewer. he covers his mining days, the old ABC television studios in Perth, landladies, characters such as Captain Sundial and Uncle Charlie, his search for the Big Bronzed Anzac Hero and so many other wonderful memories. His last book.
  • Quite a rollicking tale of corrupt soldiers and starving convicts, set in a South Pacific penal colony in 1790.  Into this alien world comes Corporal Phelim Halloran: Innocent and lover, poet and scholar and soldier-by-accident who attempts to make a world for himself in this non-conducive setting. First published in 1967.