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James Weldon Johnson's The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man is the fictional account of the life of a young American man in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. With his bi-racial heritage, the Ex-Colored Man is faced with the choice of embracing his black culture and its ragtime music, or passing as a white man and living a mediocre middle-class existence. While not actually an autobiography, Johnson based the book on his
...Hailing from a renowned literary family, the writer Alec Waugh caused a scandal with the publication of his autobiographical novel/memoir, The Loom of Youth. The book treats the subject of homosexual relationships among British schoolboys with a degree of frankness that was unprecedented at the time, and due to its risque nature and keen insights, it went on to be a runaway bestseller.
Love Jane Austen's Emma? If so, you'll relish every page of Margaret Oliphant's Miss Marjoribanks. Part of the author's Carlingford Chronicles, this delightful novel follows the indomitable Lucilla Marjoribanks, who returns to her hometown to take care of her father. She inserts herself into the local social scene with her trademark abundance of confidence, but will her machinations and plans be well received by the townspeople?
From the author of The Last of the Mohicans comes this classic nautical adventure tale that follows a sea voyage gone horribly awry. When a group of well-born British aristocrats set sail for the United States, they couldn't possibly imagine the mishaps that lie ahead of them when they find themselves coming ashore in Africa.
Susanna Rowson's Charlotte Temple became a huge seller in America from its first publication there in 1794, subsequently going through over two hundred editions. This seduction novel tells of British schoolgirl Charlotte Temple, swept away to America by the dashing soldier John Montraville and abandoned there, sick and pregnant. Charlotte's daughter is the namesake of Rowson's sequel Lucy Temple.
Another Study of Woman is a narrative hovering between a short story and a novella in terms of length, extracted from Honore de Balzac's multi-volume masterpiece The Human Comedy. At a private dinner party, guests warmed by the flush of fine food and drink begin to banter about the qualities and attributes that characterize the ideal woman. Gradually, the guests begin to reminisce about their own experiences and encounters with perfect
...This unique work of fiction presented in the form of a year-long diary draws a wonderfully three-dimensional portrait of a woman named Ruth Privet. Though not a saint in the religious sense of the word—indeed, Ruth has a great deal of disdain for theological dogmatism—she has dedicated her life to cleaning up after the mistakes of others. It's an inspirational message and an exceedingly engaging read.
The Metamorphoses of Lucius Apuleius is the only complete Latin novel to have survived to this day. Lucius of Maudorus is insatiably curious about magic, but when he tries to magic himself into a bird, he transforms instead into a donkey. The story follows his literal and metaphorical journey, and was called by St Augustine The Golden Ass.
Lively battle scenes and profound theological truths, all wrapped up into one fascinating and engaging package. Dive into John Bunyan's long-form allegory The Holy War for a glimpse into timeless insights about Christianity, faith, purity, and perseverance from the author of the Christian classic, The Pilgrim's Progress.
This unique nineteenth-century novel, originally published in French, is the result of a fascinating literary experiment. It takes the form of an epistolary dialogue of letters exchanged among four characters, each of which is an alter ego of one of the book's four authors.
An alternate translation of Tolstoy's classic novella, Family Happiness, this tale revisits a theme that resonates throughout Tolstoy's work and is perhaps best elucidated in Anna Karenina: "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." A young woman who is still reeling from the death of her mother agrees to be wed to a much older family friend, but soon finds out that married life is not all it's
...The Golden Bowl is an intense, involved study of marriage, adultery and family ties. The central characters are a man and his daughter and James delves into their consciousness to explore the complexity of their relationship to each other and their respective spouses. The novel is often considered the completion of the "major phase" of James' career.
Renowned American author James Fenimore Cooper had a lifelong fascination with the sea—and a deep appreciation for the brave men who spent their lives traversing it. In the novel Miles Wallingford, the sequel to Cooper's Afloat and Ashore, Cooper focuses on the life story of one remarkable sailor, the Wallingford of the title, who recounts his exploits on the sea as a young man.
Evelina is the daughter of an English aristocrat, but is brought up in the country until her seventeenth birthday, because she is of dubious birth and unacknowledged. Once out in London and Bristol-Hotwells, Evelina learns through a series of humorous events how to navigate society, and a nobleman falls in love with her. This sentimental novel with its satirical remarks on society significantly influenced later, similar works, such as those by
...Booth Tarkington's first novel, The Gentleman From Indiana, lays out a number of the recurring themes that would reappear in many of the author's later works, including a Midwestern setting and a highly moral protagonist who battles against forces of evil which are often symptomatic of deeper problems in the United States. In this story, the upright John Harkness returns to his hometown after law school, only to find himself locked in conflict
...16) Long Odds
Long Odds is another entry in the list of classic Westerns produced by an unlikely master of the genre, British-born Harold Bindloss. If you like your action-adventure served up with plenty of romance, gripping plot twists, honorable but taciturn heroes, and heartrending descriptions of the vast prairie, you've come to the right place.
If you love action-adventure novels, you owe it to yourself to read H. Rider Haggard's Ayesha, one of the undisputed classics of the genre. In this sequel to the ever-popular She, intrepid explorer Allan Quatermain returns to Africa and again encounters a fascinating lost civilization ruled with an iron fist by the enchanting warrior queen Ayesha.
18) Pan
In this dreamlike parable from Norwegian writer Knut Hamsun, a disenchanted military man and the daughter of a small-town merchant cross paths one day and instantly fall prey to a heated mutual attraction. But can the passionate romance survive their drastically different backgrounds and beliefs?
Sarah Orne Jewett began publishing short stories in prominent American periodicals before she reached the age of 20, and by the middle of that decade, she had garnered many accolades, including the praise of Henry James. This collection contains an early novella, Deephaven, along with a medley of short tales and sketches.
20) Will Warburton
In the later years of his career, popular Victorian-era writer George Gissing turned his attention to the social ills and challenges of the time. His last published novel, Will Warburton, is a prime example of social realism. The story following the travails of the title character, whose fortune is depleted through a series of shady business deals and who is subsequently forced to go into business as a shopkeeper.
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