Fully entitled «Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty,» this novel was Dickens' first attempt at a historical novel. As such, it is the precursor to his more famous «A Tale of Two Cities,» in which his exploration of mob violence, and especially the effect of public events on individual lives, becomes apparent. This work centers on Barnaby Rudge, a mentally simple son, and his loving mother, who are a part of the small village ...
"O Pioneers!" is considered to be one of Willa Cather's greatest works. It is the story of Alexandra Bergson, a young girl who arrives in the prairie frontier of Hanover, Nebraska and grows up to build a prosperous farm. «O Pioneers!» is a classic portrayal of the struggles of immigrants in the great plains of America. It is a story of success in the face of tragedy and the growth of a young woman along the way. ...
The third volume of the 'd'Artagnan Romances', of which «The Three Musketeers» and «Twenty Years After» constitute the first and second volumes, was first serialized between October 1847 to January 1850. It has subsequently been published in three, four, and five-volume editions. Our edition follows the four-volume edition. The books in this edition in their chronological order are as follows: 1. «The Vicomte de Bragelonne» (chapt ...
"The Suicide Club" is Robert Louis Stevenson's short story cycle that details the investigations of Prince Florizel of Bohemia and his sidekick Colonel Geraldine into a secret society of people intent on losing their lives, the so-called «suicide club». Comprised of the tales «Story of the Young Man with the Cream Tarts», «Story of the Physician and the Saratoga Trunk», and «The Adventure of the Hansom Cab»; «The Suicide Club» follows ...
George Grossmith was an English comedian, writer, composer, actor and singer, who is best known for a series of nine characters in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, as well as the novel, «The Diary of a Nobody», which he wrote in collaboration with his brother, Weedon. Weedon Grossmith had been trained as a painter, but was forced to turn to the stage for financial reasons. The brothers were both successful actors and playwrights, specializing in ...
A collection of parables by Margaret Gatty which includes the following: A Lesson of Faith, The Law of Authority and Obedience, The Unknown Land, Knowledge not the Limit of Belief, Training and Restraining, The Light of Truth, Waiting, A Lesson of Hope, The Circle of Blessing, The Law of the Wood, Active and Passive, Daily Bread, Not Lost, But Gone Before, Motes in the Sunbeam, Red Snow, Whereunto?, Purring When You're Pleased, The Voices o ...
George Alfred Henty (1832-1902) was an English novelist, war correspondent and imperialist who wrote 122 books, mostly for children. As a young man, Henty volunteered for the Army Hospital Commissariat in the Crimean War. In letters to his father, he wrote vivid descriptions of the appalling conditions for British soldiers, which his father sent to be published in the newspaper. This led to his post as a Special Correspondent, and he proceeded t ...
Described as «A Novel Without a Plot» J. K. Huysman's «Against the Grain (A Rebours)» is a relatively simple story. It concerns the seclusion of one Des Esseintes, the last member of a once powerful and noble family. Having lived an extremely decadent life, Des Esseintes finds himself disgusted with human society and retreats to a house in the countryside where he is intent upon spending the rest of his days in intellectual and aesthetic co ...
Set on a communal farm called Blithedale, «The Blithedale Romance» is the story of four inhabitants of the commune: Hollingsworth, a misogynist philanthropist obsessed with turning Blithedale into a colony for the reformation of criminals; Zenobia, a passionate feminist; Priscilla, who turns out to be Zenobia's half-sister; and Miles Coverdale, the narrator of the story. The story concerns the freindship of the four at the commune, which st ...
