The most well-known and well-liked of Gaskell's works, this softly humorous picture of an English country village was first serialized in a magazine edited by Charles Dickens in 1851. Based on the village of Gaskell's childhood, «Cranford» is narrated by a young woman visiting the town who describes the genteel poverty of two middle-aged spinster sisters, Miss Matty and Miss Deborah. Gaskell tells of their little adventures in a confid ...
In this collection readers will find three of Herman Melville's most popular shorter works, «Benito Cereno», «Bartleby: The Scrivener», and «The Encantadas». Considered to be one of Melville's best short stories, «Benito Cereno» is a tale of the revolt aboard a Spanish ship. «Bartleby: The Scrivener» is a moral allegory set on Wall Street in New York. And «The Encantadas» are a collection of sketches based on Melville's experience ...
Honore de Balzac (1799-1850) produced a huge collection of novels, novellas and short stories, earning him recognition as a great master of the novel, as well as one of the creators of literary realism. He collected and arranged his works under the name «La Comedie humaine», which he then divided into eight major topics. «Eugenie Grandet» was placed in the section titled, «Scenes from Provincial Life». The story takes place in the French town of ...
The fourth book in Baum's Oz series, Dorothy returns to lands of magic and fantasy with her cousin Zeb, kitten Eureka, and a cab-horse named Jim. They encounter vegetable people living under the world, and Dorothy is reunited with the Wizard of Oz when he floats down in his hot air balloon. They later are aided by invisible people in the Valley of Voe, and must escape several unfriendly mythical creatures to return to Oz. Baum's vivid ...
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 ...
"One of Ours" is Willa Cather's Pulitzer prize winning story of Claude Wheeler, a Nebraska native at the turn of the 20th century. Claude is a young man who finds himself conflicted by the constraints of his overly pious mother and the demands that his father's successful farm places on his education and life. With the country on the brink of World War One, «One of Ours» is an important document of a changing American frontier and ...
Tobias Smollett (1721-1771) was a prolific novelist of the eighteenth century, whose literary works spanned the genres of fiction, non-fiction, journalism and correspondence. Born in Scotland, Smollett attended Glasgow University before travelling to London to seek his fortune. His travels throughout Scotland, France and Italy provided inspiration for many of his stories, including his wildly funny and successful novel «The Expedition of Humphry ...
"The House of the Seven Gables" is one of Nathaniel Hawthorne's most famous works. It is the story of the Pyncheon family and the title house, the mansion where they reside. The house, which is built upon land acquired through unscrupulous circumstances, carries with it a curse on the Pyncheon family through the many generations of the family that inherit it. A classic moral tale «The House of the Seven Gables» is the story of how the ...
Henry van Dyke (1852-1933) was the son of a prominent Presbyterian minister who instilled in him as a child the ability to love and to find peace in nature. Henry studied theology and English literature at Princeton University before accepting a position as the pastor of the Brick Presbyterian Church of New York City in 1883. He gained wide popularity at this post for his energetic and compassionate style, and is particularly remembered for head ...
