Wanda McCaddon
In postwar London, childhood friends Tommy Beresford and Prudence “Tuppence” Cowley are having a grand old time—except for the fact that they can barely afford a pot of tea between them. With no jobs to be had and no rich relations to bankroll them, they decide to form a joint venture: Young Adventurers, Ltd. They’re...
2) Emma
Emma stands a little apart from Jane Austen's other novels. It is perhaps the most self-aware, socially critical and ironic of all her works. Her protagonist, Emma Woodhouse, is a beautiful, rich girl who is also spoiled, proud and blinded by her own situation in life. She begins to understand herself and life a little better when her romantic schemes - charitable good works to those around her - become entangled in tensions of class and
...4) Romola
Victorian-era novelist George Eliot (the pen name of female writer Mary Anne Evans) is best known for her multi-layered takes on nineteenth-century British society, such as the masterpiece Middlemarch. She takes on a similarly ambitious task in the engaging tale Romola, albeit one that is set in Renaissance Italy rather than her own era. This historical novel adroitly captures the social upheaval and cultural ferment that arose during
...Dip into a classic work of fiction that many critics regard as one of the novels that helped to usher in the modern era of literature. When it was originally published, Thomas Hardy's The Return of the Native rocked Victorian England with its frank discussion of titillating subjects such as out-of-wedlock relationships. Today, the novel offers readers a fascinating glimpse into the mores and moral constraints of a bygone era.
The marriage of Marc Antony and Cleopatra is one of the greatest love stories of all time, a tale of unbridled passion with earth-shaking political consequences. When the lovers choose to die by their own hands, their three orphaned children are taken in chains to Rome; only two—the ten-year-old twins...
Catherine, a seventeen year old girl, travels with her family to Bath and makes many new acquaintance, including two young men who pursue her. She is invited to visit the country estate of one, and makes the journey with high expectations of Gothic drama, her head being full of Mrs Radcliffe's The Mystery of Udolpho.
This was the first novel completed by Austen, but was only published posthumously. It is a delightful, light-hearted comment
...10) Adam Bede
Adam Bede follows the lives of a fictional rural community. The life and expectations of the good carpenter Adam Bede are disrupted when the local lord takes liberties below his station and his conscience. The novel is a discussion of class and education and also of religion, with the female Methodist preacher Dinah Morris coming to the fore as the novel progresses.
A first-person narrative of Lilly Bere’s life, On Canaan’s Side opens as the eighty-five-year-old Irish émigré mourns the loss of her grandson, Bill. Lilly, the daughter of a Dublin policeman, revisits her eventful past, going back to the moment she was forced to flee Ireland at the end of the First...
12) Oliver Twist
Hugh Lofting created the now famous Doctor John Doolittle after having written a very large series of adventure books related to this fictional character. All started in 1920 with the publication of the first book The Story of Doctor Doolittle and ended in numerous celebrated adaptations to cartoons, cinema and music. In the present volume, the protagonist, who lives in the fictional village of "Puddleby-on-the-Marsh" in the West Country, is a
...When Mr. Dashwood dies, he leaves his second wife and her three daughters at the mercy of his son and heir, John. John's wife convinces him to turn his step-mother and half-sisters out, and they move to a country cottage, rented to them by a distant relative. In their newly reduced circumstances Elinor and Marianne, the two eldest daughters, wrestle with ideas of romance and reality and their apparent opposition to each other. Elinor struggles
...This wonderful classic combines three unbeatable elements: a sea story, lively and dynamic characters, and a protagonist who undergoes a transformation.
Harvey Cheyne is the pampered son of a multimillionaire who falls off an ocean liner and is rescued by a small fishing boat. After being punched in the nose by the captain of the small vessel for smart-mouthing him, Harvey quickly learns respect, toughness, and gratitude. He steps up from
...17) Silas Marner
Silas Marner, a gentle linen weaver, is framed by his best friend for a heinous theft. Exiled from his small community, Marner retreats into bitter and miserly reclusion, caring only for the gold he receives for his work. When his small treasure horde is stolen, Marner feels betrayed by life yet again—until one fateful New Year's Eve, an abandoned golden-haired child appears mysteriously on his doorstep. Through his unselfish love for this
...The real-life inspiration and setting for the Emmy Award-winning Downton Abbey, Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey tells the story behind Highclere Castle and the life of one of its most famous inhabitants, Lady Almina, the 5th Countess of Carnarvon.
Drawing on a rich store of materials from the archives of Highclere Castle, including diaries, letters, and photographs, the current Lady Carnarvon has
...Unlike quite a number of people, Agatha has not given up on Christmas. To have the perfect Christmas had been a childhood dream while surviving a rough upbringing in a Birmingham slum. Holly berries glistened, snow fell gently outside, and inside, all was Dickensian jollity. And in her dreams, James Lacey kissed her under the mistletoe, and like a middle-aged sleeping beauty, she would awake to passion once more.
Agatha Raisin is bored. Her
...Beatrix Potter's charming stories have enchanted children for over a hundred years. She brilliantly evokes the beauty of nature and country life, and each story brings to life characters listeners will remember and love for years to come. This collection includes eighteen favorite tales about Peter Rabbit, Tom Kitten, Squirrel Nutkin, Mrs. Tittlemouse, and the others. Let your children share in the tradition of Beatrix Potter and her animal family,
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