"The Marble Faun", the last of the four major romances that Hawthorne wrote. It is the story of four main characters: Miriam, a beautiful painter; Hilda, an innocent copyist; Kenyon, a sculptor; and Donatello, the Count of Monti Beni. Central to the novel is a theme common to Hawthorne's work, guilt and the Fall of Man. Published in 1860, «The Marble Faun» is an unusual romance and one of the great writer's classic works. ...
"Oliver Twist", Charles Dicken's second novel, is the classic story of the struggles of a young orphan in 19th century England. An early social novel, Dickens draws upon the political issues of child labor and the struggles of the poor. Originally serialized in «Bentley's Miscellany» between February 1837 and April 1839, «Oliver Twist» is one of Dickens early classics. ...
Historically recognized as the man who wrote the dictionary, Dr. Johnson amplified his literary fame with the 1759 publication of «Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia». This novel was wildly popular upon its release, despite the fact that Johnson completed the work in the evenings of a single week, donning it his «little story book.» The story is of a royal brother and sister who have been kept in a luxurious, fertile valley, where their every desire ...
In this sixth book of Baum's Land of Oz series, Dorothy takes her Aunt Em and indebted Uncle Henry on a tour of Oz. There her guardians meet a wide variety of beings, from the paper dolls of Miss Cuttenclip to the pastries of Bunbury, as well as the familiar Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow, and Billina the Yellow Hen. All is not well, however, for the jealous and vengeful Nome King Roquat wishes to seize the land of Oz. The old soldier Gulph agr ...
"North and South" is Elizabeth Gaskell's 1854 novel that contrasts the different ways of life in the two respective regions of England. In the North the emerging industrialized society is sharply contrasted with the aging gentry of the agrarian based South. The plot of «North and South» centers around the main character Margaret Hale, the daughter of a non-conformist minister who moves his family to an industrial town in the North afte ...
James Oliver Curwood (1878-1927) was an American novelist and conservationist. He studied English and journalism in his youth, and eventually saved enough money to travel to the Canadian northwest. This trip would provide inspiration for his over 30 wilderness adventure stories. By 1922, Curwood was such a success that he used his new wealth to build an 18th century French chateau in Owosso, Michigan, which remains today as a museum. «Kazan» is ...
German writer Johann Goethe's novella «Elective Affinities» is a singular book which attracts both creative minds and pragmatic minds. Romantics at heart will be drawn to the convoluted love affair; married couple Eduard and Charlotte invite two close friends to live with them on their idyllic estate for a short time. The innocent invitation takes an unexpected turn though, as each of the spouses become attracted to their guests. Eduard fal ...
Joseph Conrad's «Under Western Eyes» is the story of a young Russian student named Razumov who when returning home to St. Petersburg, Russia discovers his friend Victor Haldin, an anarchist who has just committed a political assassination, hiding from the police in his apartment. Victor Haldin calls upon his friend Razumov to help him escape and in so doing puts him in the unenviable position of choosing between his loyalties to his friend ...
Baroness Emmuska Orczy (1865-1947) was a British novelist, playwright and artist whose noble Hungarian origins afforded her an idyllic childhood and extensive education in the arts at schools in Brussels, Paris and London. In 1903, with the success of a play written by Orczy and her husband based on one of her short stories about an English aristocrat, Orczy rewrote the story as a novel that drew huge sales. As a result, «The Scarlet Pimpernel» ...
