"The Good Soldier" is the story of two couples. The first couple is English, Edward Ashburnham, the good soldier referenced in the title, and his wife Leonora. The second couple is American, John and Florence Dowell, who have been living abroad for quite some time. In a German spa prior to World War I the two couples meet and subsequently Edward and Florence become engaged in an affair. «The Good Soldier» is a tragic tale of passion. As Joh ...
Henry James's 1904 novel «The Golden Bowl» is the story of Prince Amerigo, an impoverished but charismatic Italian nobleman who travels to London to marry Maggie Verver, only child of the wealthy American financier and art collector, Adam Verver. While in London, Prince Amerigo meets his former mistress, Charlotte Stant, and the two are soon engaged in an adulterous affair. Considered by some to be the last work of Henry James's «major ...
After a brief military career, the illustrious Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky quickly turned to writing as a profession, sparking a literary career that would eventually cement Dostoyevsky’s reputation as one of the greatest novelists of the nineteenth century. Early participation in a literary political group landed the writer in exile in Siberia for nearly a decade, an experience which had a profound influence on Dostoyevsky’s understanding ...
Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) is best known as the innovator of the English detective novel, whose sensational novels, plays, and short stories were hugely popular in the Victorian Era. Today, readers enjoy Collins' intricate and suspenseful plots, and his penetrating social commentary on the plight of women and domestic issues of the time. Unfortunately Collins suffered from rheumatic gout, for which he took the opiate laudanum, and which eve ...
A WILD, MAD, HILARIOUS AND PROFOUNDLY MOVING TALE. It is very difficult to classify «The Man Who Was Thursday.» It is possible to say that it is a gripping adventure story of murderous criminals and brilliant policemen; but it was to be expected that the author of the Father Brown stories should tell a detective story like no-one else. On this level, therefore, «The Man Who Was Thursday» succeeds superbly; if nothing else, it is a magnificent to ...
"Dubliners" is James Joyce's classic collection of tales of the lower class of Dublin. Drawing upon his experiences as a youth growing up in Dublin, Ireland, Joyce weaves an intimate portrait of the struggles of the lower classes in Ireland in the late 19th century. «Dubliners» is a collection of fifteen tales including: The Sisters, An Encounter, Araby, Eveline, After the Race, Two Gallants, The Boarding House, A Little Cloud, Counter ...
Perhaps the most famous of Balzac's novels, «Lost Illusions» paints a faithful picture of the spectacular but superficial world of contemporary society, and the indissoluble relationship between the bourgeois and aristocratic classes. Set in nineteenth century France, David Sechard is an innovative, hard-working young printer from Angouleme with aspirations to revolutionize the production of paper and provide for his new family. The victim ...
Edith Wharton was an American novelist, poet and short story writer whose works display her mastery over the realistic fiction genre. Although she grew up in a world of refined manners and fashionable people, she was also aware of its superficiality, a theme that frequently appeared in her works. She began writing short stories and poetry at a young age, impressing such literary figures as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and William Dean Howells. Her ...
Set in the time of the French Revolution, this 1921 novel tells of the romantic adventures of Andre-Louis Moreau, a man who has never known the names of his parents. Educated as a lawyer and living with his godfather, Andre-Louis becomes involved with revolutionaries after his best friend is killed in a duel with the aristocratic Marquis de la Tour d'Azyr. He gives stirring speeches to the rebels concerning wealthy men who are not brought t ...
