Gene Stratton-Porter (1863-1924) was an American author, naturalist, photographer and movie producer who drew primarily on her Midwestern farm roots for inspiration in her work. She grew up on an Indiana farm, one of twelve children, and spent her life outdoors drawing sketches and taking notes and photographs. She began her career contributing articles and photographs to magazines including «Recreation», «Outing» and «McCalls», and debuted her ...
Published in 1928, Nella Larsen's first novel «Quicksand» regards the story of Helga Crane, the lovely and refined mixed-race daughter of a Danish mother and a West Indian black father. The character is loosely based on Larsen's own experiences and deals with the character's struggle for racial and sexual identity, a theme common to Larsen's work. In Larsen's second novel, «Passing,» published in 1929, the author revisit ...
Daniel Defoe's last novel «Roxana» is perhaps his darkest. Using his «fallen woman» archetype established in his seminal work «Moll Flanders», Defoe tracks the mercurial life of an unnamed female protagonist who adopts the pseudonym Roxana. The story of her rise and fall is a captivating account of the destructive powers of greed and seduction. Roxana begins as a deserted wife with five children. She chooses a life of prostitution for suste ...
Emile Zola (1840-1902) is perhaps the most important French writer of the 19th century. Zola dramatically shaped the course of French literature through the development of naturalism, characterized by the unsentimental and realistic portrayal of middle and lower class French life. His twenty novel cycle «Les Rougon-Macquart» is epic in scope, often drawing comparisons to the prolific output of Balzac. Here, in his 1878 novel «Une page d'amo ...
American author, journalist, and social activist Jack London is best known for his stories set during the Klondike gold rush. Drawing upon his own personal experiences in the Klondike, London's stories are embodied with realism indicative of that experience. In this collection, «The Call of the Wild, White Fang, To Build a Fire and Other Stories,» London's most famous works are brought together. «The Call of the Wild» follows the strug ...
"The Iron Heel" is Jack London's 1908 dsytopian novel about the rise of oligarchic tyranny in the United States. Playing upon the socialistic themes that were so prevalent at the beginning of the 20th century, «The Iron Heel» tells the story of a wealthy class that squeezes out the middle class and effectively rules for three centuries until a revolution ushers in the «Brotherhood of Man». As important a commentary today as when it was ...
"The Secret Garden" is the story of Mary Lennox, a sick young girl living in India with her parents. Mary rarely sees her parents though, as her sick and unsightly condition is too much for them to bother with. She is placed in the constant care of Indian servants until an outbreak of cholera kills everyone in the Lennox household except for Mary. Mary returns to Yorkshire to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven. It is here that Mary learn ...
Written in 1862 by the considerably talented sensation novelist Mary Elizabeth Braddon, «Lady Audley's Secret» is a story revolving around Robert Audley, a man determined to find out the cause of his friend George Talboys' death. As the mystery unfolds, Robert meets his uncle's wife, Lucy Audley, who he suspects of keeping secrets. With his friend's son in questionable safety and lies, deception, and treachery closing in arou ...
The classic tale of shipwrecked adventure, Daniel Defoe's 1719 novel «Robinson Crusoe» is the fictional autobiography of its title character. When cast ashore upon a tropical island, Robinson Crusoe must use his survival skills to find food and shelter and evade the native cannibals. A captivating tale of action and adventure, based in part on the real life adventures of Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish castaway who lived more than four years ...
