Theodor Fontane (1819-1898) was a German realist who worked for most of his life as a journalist, poet, editor, theater critic, and travel essayist. He could not attain the financial stability to write novels until he was almost sixty, at which point he began writing historical novels. He eventually concentrated on stories about Berlin society and the decline of the aristocracy, such as «Trials and Tribulations» and «Jenny Treibel». One of his b ...
Ne'er-do-well Jimmy Crocker has never been good for much other than drinking, fighting and womanizing, however when he falls in love, and at the insistence of his Aunt Nesta, he becomes determined to reform his ways. In order to win the heart of his love he must pretend to be someone else and gets caught up in a comical kidnapping plot. «Piccadilly Jim» is a classic comedy of manners and mistaken identities in the style that fans of P. G. W ...
Jules Verne's classic science fiction sequel to «From the Earth to the Moon», «Round the Moon» is a forward-looking examination of the possibilities of space travel. One of the first books to look at the challenges and adventures of space travel, «Round the Moon» starts off where «From the Earth to the Moon» left off. We follow the crew of the projectile built by the Baltimore Gun Club on a journey towards their intended destination. Will t ...
"The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" is a classic tale of the struggle between good and evil. The good Dr. Jekyll is transformed into the evil Mr. Hyde with the drinking of a magic potion. The story is one of the duality that exists within man. In this classic tale of horror, Stevenson suggests that while man is essentially good within us all lurks an evil, violent alter ego that has the potential to destroy us and everything aroun ...
The favorite self-written work of the author, «Orley Farm» is a novel that revolves around the final will of Joseph Mason. While most of Mason's property is left to the son from his first marriage, a codicil in his second wife's handwriting bequeaths the small Orley Farm to his other son Lucius. When taken to court, the ruling favors the validity of the addition. Many years pass, and an array of characters are brought into the story wh ...
The sixth and final novel in Trollope's «Palliser» series, this 1879 work begins after the unexpected death of Plantagenet Palliser's beloved wife, Lady Glencora. Though wracked by grief over his loss, this Duke of Omnium and former Prime Minister must now become more involved in the lives of his three grown children. He soon discovers that this will be quite the challenge, for his son and heir Lord Silverbridge has been sent down from ...
Listed by the British newspaper «The Guardian» as number 12 on a list of the 100 greatest novels of all-time, Honore de Balzac's «The Black Sheep» is another installment in his magnum opus «The Human Comedy.» Agathe Rouget, who is born in Issoudun, is sent to be raised by her maternal relatives, the Descoings in Paris by her father Doctor Rouget. Agathe has two sons, Philippe and Joseph, with which the story is principally concerned. Philip ...
Ring Lardner's masterpiece, «You Know Me Al» is the story of a semi-literate, boastful, self-deceiving boob and rookie ball-player with the Chicago White Sox told through a series of letters home to his friend Al. A brilliant satire, «You Know Me Al» is a detailed portrait of the early days of baseball and America at the beginning of the 20th century. ...
Harriet Wilson (1825-1900) is the first female African American to publish a novel in North America. Her first and only work, «Our Nig: Sketches From the Life From a Free Black» was published in 1859 and was considered lost until 1982 when rediscovered by the scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. The novel is largely autobiographical, tracking the life of a free black women in the Antebellum North. At the age of three, the protagonist Frado is abandoned ...
