Who that has known her books has not admired the artist's noble English, the burning love of truth, the bravery, the simplicity, the indignation at wrong, the eager sympathy, the pious love and reverence, the passionate honour, so to speak, of the woman? -- William Makepeace Thackeray It's a cracker... It is novelettish. It is Gothic. It is funny... -- Libby Purves

Inspired by a box of wooden toy soldiers given as a present to her elder brother Branwell in 1826, Charlotte Bronte and her siblings created a series of tales centred originally upon the imaginary realm of Glass Town, and its capital Verdopolis, and then later on the land of Angria. In `The Green Dwarf', against the backdrop of war between the people of Verdopolis and Senegal, the arrogant aristocrat Colonel Percy and Mr Leslie, a low-born artist, are locked in a battle for the heart of the beautiful Lady Emily. Taking the form of a work written by the character Lord Charles Wellesley as an act of revenge, `The Spell' tells of the plight of the realms of Angria and Wellingtonsland after they are left without an heir due to the death of the Marquis of Almeida. This collection includes also "The Foundling", "The Secret" and "Tales of the Islanders".