Pere Goriot is the tragic story of a father whose obsessive love for his two daughters leads to his financial and personal ruin. Interwoven with this theme is that of the impoverished young aristocrat, Rastignac, come to Paris from the provinces to make his fortune, who befriends Goriot and becomes involved with the... read more »
In 1867, Stowe settled in a small cottage in Mandarin, Florida, overlooking the St. Johns River. She had promised her Boston publisher another novel but was so taken with northeast Florida that she produced instead a series of sketches of the land and the people which she submitted in 1872 under the title Palmetto... read more »
The Warden centers on Mr. Harding, a clergyman of great personal integrity who is nevertheless in possession of an income from a charity far in excess of the sum devoted to the purposes of the foundation. On discovering this, young John Bold turns his reforming zeal to exposing what he regards as an abuse of... read more »
The rural tranquillity of the lonely, pine-girthed shores of the Maine coast is the setting for this beautiful novel of conflicting aspirations written by one of the most prolific and influential writers in American history. Here is the heartwarming story of a young girl's struggle to belong and fit in, in the face... read more »
The Nether World, generally regarded as the finest of Gissing's early novels, is a highly dramatic, sometimes violent tale of man's caustic vision shaped by the bitter personal experience of poverty. This tale of intrigue depicts life among the artisans, factory-girls, and slum-dwellers, documenting an inescapable... read more »
The twenty-six-year-old Prince Myshkin, following a stay of several years in a Swiss sanatorium, returns to Russia to collect an inheritance and be among people. Even before he reaches home he meets the dark Rogozhin, a rich merchant’s son whose obsession with the beautiful Nastasya Filippovna eventually draws all... read more »
The novel is set against the background of the Reform Bill of 1867, and focuses on an Irish Member of the British House of Commons; in it Trollope explores the relations between the distinct elements of 'the United Kingdom'. Phineas has a personal chronicle which largely dominates the political calendar and it is... read more »
Henry James's novella In the Cage tells the story of a young women, the "betrothed of Mr Mudge", who works at a post-office counter sending telegrams mostly from the "idle rich" to their fellows to arrange their meetings, parties and other affairs. Concerned, as ever, with the plight of the not so well-to-do--and... read more »
In this dark and compelling short novel, Fyodor Dostoevsky tells the story of Alexey Ivanovitch, a young tutor working in the household of an imperious Russian general. Alexey tries to break through the wall of the established order in Russia, but instead becomes mired in the endless downward spiral of betting and... read more »
With 'Can You Forgive Her?' Trollope begins his masterful series of Parliamentary novels, but here he is concerned with the politics of love and the demands of society. Alice Vavasor, lovely, intelligent and just a bit prudish, is torn between two men -- the upright if plodding John Gray, and the evasive yet... read more »
The Magic Skin (La Peau de chagrin) is set in early 19th-century Paris and tells the story of a young man who finds a magic piece of shagreen that fulfills his every desire. For each wish granted, however, the skin shrinks and consumes a portion of his physical energy. Although the novel uses fantastic elements, its... read more »
Based on the life of Paul Gauguin, The Moon and Sixpence is W. Somerset Maugham's ode to the powerful forces behind creative genius. Charles Strickland is a staid banker, a man of wealth and privilege. He is also a man possessed of an unquenchable desire to create art. As Strickland pursues his artistic vision, he... read more »
Despite his mysterious antecedents, an unscrupulous financial speculator, Ferdinand Lopez, aspires to marry into respectability and wealth and join the ranks of British society. One of the nineteenth century's most memorable outsiders, Lopez's story is set against that of the ultimate insider, Plantagenet... read more »
The Watchers is a novel by A. E. W. Mason (author of At the Villa Rose, The Prisoner in the Opal, etc.), first published in 1899 by the Frederick A. Stokes Company. read more »
This is the third part of the trilogy "The Thirteen". The story follows the decadent heir Henri de Marsay, who becomes enamored of the titular beauty, Paquita Valdes, and plots to seduce her. Though he succeeds, he becomes disillusioned when he discovers she is also involved with another lover, and plots to murder... read more »
A collection of satirical works on English society in the mid 19th century and attributed with coining the word snob in its current usage. This fascinating work is thoroughly recommended for anyone who is a fan of Thackeray or interested in the satire of the age. This humorous study begins with the assertion that... read more »
Sitting beside entrancing Lady Ragnall while the smoke of an ancient Egyptian herb grows thick around them, Allan Quatermain finds himself departing the world he know and entering into his strangest adventure. In a mystic transformation, he comes to his senses in an earlier incarnation . . . as Shabaka, hunter of... read more »
As for many of Dickens' novels, highlighting social injustices is at the heart of Little Dorrit. His father was imprisoned for debt, and Dickens' shines a spotlight on the fate of many who are unable to repay a debt when the ability to seek work is denied. Amy Dorrit is the youngest daughter of a man imprisoned for... read more »
Set in the backdrop of London, the narrative is about the protagonist Dombey who wants a son to run his business. The tale showcases human emotions and weaknesses such as infidelity and cruelty. Lives are redeemed by poetic justice, and selfish emotions are punished. read more »
Unlike other Welsh squires, the current scion of the ancient and dignified house of Headlong-ap-Headlong, Harry Headlong, Esquire, had actually suffered certain phenomena, called books, to find their way into his house; and, by dint of lounging over them after dinner, became seized with a violent passion to be... read more »
With profound moral and philosophical ideals, Melville has presented a novel that touches the heart and mind. the idiosyncratic characters are etched into the plot of the novel and fight for distinguishing between the right and wrong. an amalgamation of factors from popular fiction and gothic drama, it is a work... read more »
Upton Sinclair, one of America's foremost and most prolific authors, addresses the cultivation of the mind and the body. Sinclair's goal was to attempt to tell the reader how to live, how to find health, happiness and success, and how to develop fully both the mind and the body. Part One: The Book of the Mind covers... read more »
Laurence Sterne's revolutionary novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman plays with time, space, narrative conceits, and the very concept of the novel itself-it has dramatically affected the course of English-language fiction in the centuries since, with works from writers such as James Joyce and... read more »
Gregory Gryll, 'though he found it difficult to trace the pedigree, that he was lineally descended from the ancient and illustrious Gryllus, who maintained against Ulysses the superior happiness of the life of other animals to that of the life of man.' This sapient character was one of the men whom Circe had turned... read more »
A story of mistaken identities, courage, justice, and a journey that stretches from the depths of the city of London to the Alps and the Mediterranean. read more »
The Grand Inquisitor is a section from The Brothers Karamazov, which is a literary work by Russian author/philosopher Fyodor Dostoevsky. The central character in this work is a Grand Inquisitor who arrests Jesus. A Grand Inquisitor, or Inquisitor Generalis in German is the individual who leads an Inquisition, just... read more »
The biggest mystery of The Mystery of Edwin Drood is how it ends. It began as a serial, as nearly all of Dickens' novels did, but only six instalments were published before the author's death in 1870. What we know about Edwin Drood is this: he is betrothed to a young woman named Rosa Bud; they are fond of each... read more »
A story about a girl named Felicité. She is a servant who has lived with the same family ever since she was betrayed by her lover. She has a strong sense of loyalty and self sacrifice: she lives to help others. Flaubert provides us with a full character which exhibits a quiet, uneducated saintliness that weathers a... read more »
Robert Moore is a harsh mill-owner who pushes his workers so far that one of them tries to kill him. While dealing with the attempt on his life, Robert is also confronted with two very different women. One is Caroline Helstone, a shy girl virtually imprisoned in her uncle's rectory and in love with Robert. The other... read more »
Originally published anonymously, ostensibly by a so-called "man of fashion", the first part caused a considerable sensation in London society. Contemporary reviewers, suspicious of the numerous solecisms contained within the text, eventually identified the young Disraeli (who did not move in high society) as the... read more »