Jules Gabriel Verne (1828-1905) has been ranked alongside Hugo Gernsback and H.G. Wells for the title of «Father of Science Fiction.» The French novelist wrote about scientific and technological advancements – particularly in air, space and water travel – before they existed. His popular stories of travelers in unknown realms, known as his «voyages extraordinares», have made him the second-most translated author in the world. «The Underground Ci ...
"The Song of the Lark" is the story of Thea Kronborg, an ambitious young heroine, who leaves her home to go fulfill her dream of becoming a famous opera star. As is typical with much of Cather's work, «The Song of the Lark» is a portrayal of an independent-minded woman with a strong work ethic who will not allow anything or anyone to get in the way of her own personal achievement. ...
Dorothy Canfield Fisher's «Understood Betsy» is the story of a scrawny young 9-year-old orphan by the name of Elizabeth Ann who relocates from her city home to go and live with her cousins, the Putneys, on a farm in Vermont. In the country, Elizabeth begins to blossom as she is invigorated by her new surroundings, which bring new responsibilities and a growing sense of youthful independence. A delightful story of a young girl beginning to g ...
In Willa Cather's first novel, «Alexander's Bridge», Construction engineer and world-renowned builder of bridges, Bartley Alexander strays from his wife Winifred to resume his acquaintance with former lover Hilda Burgoyne. The consequence of infidelity is examined in this classic romantic novel. ...
Despite a decreasing popularity throughout his career, Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) has become one of the most notable and respected English novelists of the Victorian Era. His penetrating novels on political, social and gender issues of his day have placed him among such nineteenth century literary icons as Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and George Eliot. Trollope penned 47 novels in his career, in addition to various short stories, travel books ...
Lyman Frank Baum (1856-1919) was an American writer of children's books, best known for creating the marvelous Land of Oz in «The Wonderful Wizard of Oz». This fanciful kingdom was catalogued in a series of children's books beginning with the publication of «The Wonderful Wizard of Oz». Baum's Oz series compasses the first fully developed fantasy world created by an American author. In 1900, Baum and Denslow, famous illustrator wi ...
"The American" is Henry James novel about American businessman and civil war veteran Christopher Newman, a man who has found early fortune in business and having retired decides to take a tour of Europe. There he meets Claire de Cintre, a young widow from an aristocratic Parisian family, whom he falls in love with. The novel is primarily concerned with this courtship. «The American» is a melodramatic social comedy that exemplifies the stark ...
Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), dreamed since his childhood of becoming a poet. Then he produced several popular works that cemented his reputation as a great novelist of the Victorian period, and earned him the admiration of later writers like D.H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf. Hardy's stories are noted for their nuances of Romantic and Enlightenment thinking, particularly elements of the supernatural. In «Two on a Tower», a love story set agains ...
William Dean Howells (1837-1920) was born in 1837 in Martins Ferry, Ohio, one of ten children to editor and printer, William Cooper Howells. William's early education in the printing office led him to a job as a compositor on the «Ohio State Journal» at age fourteen, and a successful career as an author by his early twenties. His notoriety comes largely from his fifteen years working at «The Atlantic Monthly» as assistant and chief editor, ...
