Showing results for "Hard Times" in Literature & Fiction

In this, Dickens' most openly political novel, we discover the terrible human consequences of a ruthlessly materialistic philosophy in the lives of Thomas Gradgrind's family, brought up to believe that only "Facts! Facts! Facts!" have any meaning. Set in Coketown, a typical Lancashire milltown, the novel graphically exposes the truth about Victorian "progress".

After Micky O’Neill is remanded in custody for breaching his court order, his already tempestuous relationship with Dan Peters is tested to the limits. Having to battle their way through a court case that could end with Micky in jail, social workers breaking up the family home, and the return of Micky’s deadbeat father, it seems everything is set to destroy their relationship before it even had the chance to start.

Years ago, Abi left Vancouver heartbroken. Now she’s back — older, wiser, and sexier. Tess won’t know what hit her. Abi Young is well acquainted with unrequited love and the void it leaves behind. While she had hoped moving to a different city would extinguish any residual feelings for her best friend’s older sister, it turns out absence really does make the heart grow fonder. As the maid of honor, all Tess Moore wants is to give her sister the wedding of her dreams. Even if it means stepping out of her comfort zone and organizing a pre-wedding bridal party adventure.

Jeremy Flynn is the newest inmate of John Cunningham Penitentiary, and he couldn’t be happier. After all, he’s young, very sexually curious, and at the front end of a two-three year prison sentence, so spending that time in the first facility exclusively for LGBTQ+ seems like the potential to fulfill all his darkest fantasies, especially if the rumors are anything close to the truth.

In the dark near future, the new regime has forbidden gay sex. So why is the very handsome Priest making 19-year-old Kyle undress and confess his most intimate, most taboo gay fantasies? The Priest takes control, helping Kyle to enact his most depraved desires, in order to "cure" him of his sin. But the more Kyle submits to the Priest’s demands, the more aroused they both become. Kyle begins to suspect that the dominant Priest is enjoying this as much as he is, as they embark on a dangerous, forbidden affair that could mean the end for them both.

Although this book is fictional, it highlights the psychological transformation of one person becoming a prison bitch.