“It happens that I want you, and so I just haven’t room for any other desires.”
The most glittering orbs have the sharpest edges, and the most shinning lives the darkest truths.
Anthony Patch is a Harvard-educated, aspiring socialite. Gloria Gilbert is a beautiful but narcissistic dancer living in New York. Stunned by Gloria’s beauty, Anthony falls in love with her; and they are soon married. Gloria is a reveller who wants the fine life, and Anthony a spoilt brat who doesn’t want to work in life.
The passionate and glamorous couple await Anthony’s inheritance, till they run out of money and the joy in each other’s company. What happens as their marriage begins to fail in the face of reality? Will they be able to make the life they want or their laziness will be the crux of their falling.
Fitzgerald weaves a reminder of the follies of human ambition set against lots of glamor, jazz music, cigars and glittery gowns. This story is a grown-up fairy-tale with realities of the hustle looming nearby.
‘But people themselves alter so much, that there is something new to be observed in them for ever.’
A sensitive story about the loves and lives of the five Bennet sisters, especially Elizabeth Bennet the unusual heroine. Elizabeth is neither too pretty nor too talented but has a strong sense of self; it was fireworks when she met Mr. Darcy who finally clashed with someone as strong-willed as him.
Mrs Bennet wants to marry her daughters off and devises schemes to set them up with prosperous men at the ball hosted by the Bingley family. All her daughters find love, but not the easiest route to marriage.
Their journeys take them through unexpected betrayals and surprises. As life pits Darcy and Elizabeth against each other, Darcy is the saviour at every turn squashing every reason for Elizabeth’s hesitance. Can Elizabeth overcome her pride to seek love?
‘Let us learn to show our friendship for a man when he is alive and not after he is dead.’
Jay Gatsby, a former army lieutenant, lives lavishly in a mansion on the Long Island shore. He appeared from nowhere, with no family history. His wealth caused envy in the old families of affluent New York, who thought they owned the American dream.
Gatsby hosted extravagant parties every weekend, yet no guest could claim they’d seen the infamous Mr. Gatsby.
He seems he has everything that’s desired, but Gatsby is lonelier than others know, longing for a conquest that is most unattainable: Daisy Buchanan, the ultimate desire for the dream life he plans.
Daisy, married to Tom but in love with Gatsby, knows she is a dream he desires, but is afraid of losing rank.
Love, wealth, and dreams are at crossheads in Gatsby’s glamourous world, will Daisy hold his hand, will he be able to save the dream?
“There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature.”
Catherine Morland is a seventeen-year-old romantic at heart, fond of reading Gothic novels. One weekend she is invited by friends to spend a season in Bath, and for the first time participates in glamorous balls unique to the nineteenth century London lifestyle.
So it happens, at one ball she meets the intriguing and wealthy Henry Tilney, her over-active imagination leads her to expect dramatic twists at every turn.
However, the truth turns out to be far more complicated and lot more mundane; and love happens to be a lot simpler than her novel obsessed young heart had imagined. Will the reality be a disappointment or sweet relief for her? Young Catherine goes through many self-induced trials to learn the simple lesson of life.
“Drama is to life what ships are to the sea. A means to traverse it. To plumb its depths, breadth, and beauty.”
At the age of ten years old, Fanny Price was removed from her poverty stricken home to live with her rich cousins in Mansfield Park. Fanny was beautiful but not seeking beauty, quite but not weak, sensible but not proud. The residents of Mansfield couldn’t get themselves to show her the fondness she deserved. In the midst of it, she had only one ally in her cousin Edmund.
When the cousins grow older, suddenly the Crawfords family takes residence in the neighbourhood, and the sister-brother duo set off events of romantic encounters and heartbreak.
Will Fanny defend her bonds and protect the life she has built in Mansfield Park? Will she hide her love for Edmund or come forth?
Mansfield Park is touted as Austen’s most mature and sensitive novel, mostly in credit to her heroin who is both sensitive and brave.
“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as great and sudden change.”
The world of Frankenstein explores the depths of human nature and the consequences of great and sudden change.
Victor Frankenstein, a Swiss student of natural science breathes life into a creature made from stolen body parts. Initially seeking love and companionship, the monstrous creation instead incites revulsion in all who encounter it.
Plagued by loneliness and despair, the creature turns against its creator, leading to a devastating climax that claims lives.
Frankenstein serves as a cautionary tale, warning against the perils of scientific and creative ambition, the corrupting influence of unchecked progress, and the dangers of knowledge without true understanding.
“If I loved you less, I might be able to talk and show it more.”
In the world of Emma, love, self-discovery, and matchmaking intertwine in a charming countryside town. Emma is Austen’s most vivid heroine : beautiful, spoilt, generous, and exceptionally witty.
While caring for her demanding father, life in the quaint town becomes tiresome. Seeking amusement, Emma immerses herself in the art of matchmaking, set to unite her orphaned friend, Harriet Smith with the eligible clergyman Mr. Elton.
However, her astute neighbor, Mr. Knightley calls her out for seeking her own interest and not her friend’s. Both Emma and Mr.Knightly are attracted to one another, primarily because only they can match each other’s wit and intelligence.
Emma’s path towards maturity and self-awareness is a poignant story. A captivating exploration of personal growth, as she navigates the consequences of her meddling.
There has been explosion of knowledge in the new field of geroscience which is the study of the genetic, cellular and molecular mechanisms that drive the aging process. Recent transformative research has been translated to clinical medicine, in order to prevent, treat or even reverse aging in humans through an integrated onslaught on its hallmarks. The average person now has within his control a stronger grasp of aging better and prolonging his healthspan while living a longer life. This book, written with the layman in mind, lays down the latest scientific evidence in man’s search for healthy longevity.
Following decades of dedication as a medical practitioner, Dr Michael Khor Kok Seng shares his perspective of living agelessly by embracing and optimizing what he calls the 5 pillars of longevity: exercise, diet, sleep, happiness and having a purpose in life. Apart from this, he details how these pillars can be adopted to address the mortal maladies of the modern man: obesity, cardiovascular disease, stroke, cancer and dementia.
Through a combination of personal anecdotes and thorough research, this book aims to bridge the gap between the bench and bedside, to further Dr Michael Khor Kok Seng’s legacy of service to the community and to educate the reader by promoting healthy living and informed choices.
An owner of a furniture workshop, Jaime drops by a restaurant to cool off with a glass of beer. Working in that restaurant, Jun waits on him in that random visit. Something happens between them as their eyes meet over the glass of beer which Jaime considers an accident and Jun considers luck. Their paths will once again cross when Ria innocently hires Jun as their family driver after Jaime gets into a car accident for drunk driving.
Hidden within a network of intimate relationships, Jaime, Jun, Ria, and Maya try to forge an extraordinary family in urban Manila, as they discover that secrets also have their own joys. Ria and Maya establish a unique connection as women confronted with questions about power and emotion even as they uncover a bond between their husbands, Jaime and Jun, themselves confronted with questions about history and myth.
Told from different but interlocking points of view, their story becomes a song complete with recurring refrains and a coda, intimating that there are silences to the body that are essential to our understanding of happiness.
Smartphones, digital payments and health apps are examples of how technology is empowering women to upskill, lead or start tech companies and live healthier and greener lives. The digital revolution is dramatically transforming the role of women in the economy delivering new opportunities to work, play and learn. But women are missing out. Not enough innovative technologies are being developed ‘by women’ or ‘for women’ leading to untapped benefits for the female population and missed opportunities for businesses and government to cater to half of the world’s population.
The Female Digital Revolution provides a unique insight into the changing role of women in the digital economy which is growing at an unprecedented rate. Through a collection of powerful real-life stories and research, it brings to life current and future digital changes that are reshaping the role of women. It urges government and businesses to start consciously thinking about women as powerful digital economic agents, highlights the need to increase female participation in all aspects of our digital economy, and implores all relevant actors—investors, entrepreneurs, CEOs, public leaders, and the like—to be part of the female digital revolution.
