Description Theodore Gumbril Junior is fed up with his job as a teacher, and tries a new tack as an inventor of pneumatic trousers. The development and marketing of these is set against his attempts to find love, and the backdrop of his friends’ and acquaintances’ similar quest for meaning in what seems to them a meaningless world. Aldous Huxley, although primarily known these days for his seminal work Brave New World, gained fame in the 1920s as a writer of social satires such as this, his
Description The Three Musketeers is the first of three adventure novels written by Alexandre Dumas featuring the character of d’Artagnan. The young d’Artagnan leaves home in Gascony for Paris to join the King’s Musketeers. On his way to Paris, the letter which will introduce him to the commander of the Musketeers is stolen by a mysterious man in the town of Meung. This “Man of Meung” turns out to be a confidant of the infamous Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister of the government of France.
Description Lady Audley’s Secret was the most successful of a long series of novels written by Mary Elizabeth Braddon in what was then called the “sensation” genre because of the inventive and slightly scandalous plots of such works. Published in 1862, Lady Audley’s Secret was immediately popular and is said to have made a fortune for its author. It has never been out of print and has been the basis for a number of dramas and movies. The novel begins with the return from the Australian
Description Ingred Saxon grew up in luxury in Rotherwood, a large house in southern England, and is looking forwards to moving back in after its wartime usage as a Red Cross hospital. Unfortunately for her, her family is weathering unforeseen financial troubles, and has had to let it out to a different family while they cram into their dramatically smaller bungalow. Even more unfortunately, the popular new girl at Grovebury College is the new tenant, leaving Ingred to remake previous bonds
Description Horothgar, King of the Danes, invites warriors from neighboring kingdoms to his great mead hall with the hope that one of them will solve his problem. A monster named Grendel has been terrorizing the land and killing his people. One of the warriors who answers this call is our epic hero, Beowulf. The Beowulf Manuscript, also known as the Nowell Codex, dates back to the late 10th century or early 11th century and is the only copy in existence. In 1731, the manuscript was damaged from
Description The best-selling novel Black Beauty by Anna Sewell was published in 1877. The story is a first person narrative told from the perspective of the horse Black Beauty. This unique narrative perspective enables readers to empathize with the lives of working horses and to reflect upon the cruel treatment that has been inflicted upon them. As a result, the novel serves as a strenuous and timeless statement against animal cruelty and exploitation.
Description “George Eliot” was the pen-name of Mary Ann Evans, one of the greatest of English novelists of the Victorian era. Her long novel Middlemarch, subtitled A Study of Provincial Life, is generally considered to be her finest work. Published in eight installments between 1871 and 1872, Middlemarch tells the intertwined stories of a variety of people living in the vicinity of the (fictional) midlands town of Middlemarch during the early 1830s, the time of the great Reform Act. The novel
Description After a ferry accident on San Francisco Bay, literary critic Humphrey Van Weyden is swept out to sea only to be rescued by the seal-hunting schooner Ghost. Wolf Larsen, the captain of the Ghost, is brutal and cynical but also highly intelligent, and he has no intention of returning Van Weyden to shore. Van Weyden is forced to serve on the Ghost, leaving behind his comfortable world ashore and entering into a psychological battle with Larsen on the sea. Jack London wrote The Sea-Wolf
Description Fyodor Sologub was a Russian poet, novelist and playwright, working in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His work generally has a downcast outlook with recurring mystical elements, and often uses anthropomorphic objects or fantastical situations to comment on human behaviour. As well as novels (including the critically acclaimed The Little Demon ), Sologub wrote over five hundred short stories, ranging in length from half-page fables to nearly novella-length tales.
"Star Born" by Andre Norton is a thrilling science fiction novel that captures the imagination of readers with its imaginative world-building, engaging characters, and intriguing plot. The novel takes place on a distant planet, where a small colony of humans has established a new home after fleeing from their war-torn world. Among the first generation of children born on this new world are two siblings, who embark on a perilous journey to discover the secrets of an ancient
Description Theodore Gumbril Junior is fed up with his job as a teacher, and tries a new tack as an inventor of pneumatic trousers. The development and marketing of these is set against his attempts to find love, and the backdrop of his friends’ and acquaintances’ similar quest for meaning in what seems to them a meaningless world. Aldous Huxley, although primarily known these days for his seminal work Brave New World, gained fame in the 1920s as a writer of social satires such as this, his
Description The Three Musketeers is the first of three adventure novels written by Alexandre Dumas featuring the character of d’Artagnan. The young d’Artagnan leaves home in Gascony for Paris to join the King’s Musketeers. On his way to Paris, the letter which will introduce him to the commander of the Musketeers is stolen by a mysterious man in the town of Meung. This “Man of Meung” turns out to be a confidant of the infamous Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister of the government of France.
Description Lady Audley’s Secret was the most successful of a long series of novels written by Mary Elizabeth Braddon in what was then called the “sensation” genre because of the inventive and slightly scandalous plots of such works. Published in 1862, Lady Audley’s Secret was immediately popular and is said to have made a fortune for its author. It has never been out of print and has been the basis for a number of dramas and movies. The novel begins with the return from the Australian
Description Ingred Saxon grew up in luxury in Rotherwood, a large house in southern England, and is looking forwards to moving back in after its wartime usage as a Red Cross hospital. Unfortunately for her, her family is weathering unforeseen financial troubles, and has had to let it out to a different family while they cram into their dramatically smaller bungalow. Even more unfortunately, the popular new girl at Grovebury College is the new tenant, leaving Ingred to remake previous bonds
Description Horothgar, King of the Danes, invites warriors from neighboring kingdoms to his great mead hall with the hope that one of them will solve his problem. A monster named Grendel has been terrorizing the land and killing his people. One of the warriors who answers this call is our epic hero, Beowulf. The Beowulf Manuscript, also known as the Nowell Codex, dates back to the late 10th century or early 11th century and is the only copy in existence. In 1731, the manuscript was damaged from
Description The best-selling novel Black Beauty by Anna Sewell was published in 1877. The story is a first person narrative told from the perspective of the horse Black Beauty. This unique narrative perspective enables readers to empathize with the lives of working horses and to reflect upon the cruel treatment that has been inflicted upon them. As a result, the novel serves as a strenuous and timeless statement against animal cruelty and exploitation.
Description “George Eliot” was the pen-name of Mary Ann Evans, one of the greatest of English novelists of the Victorian era. Her long novel Middlemarch, subtitled A Study of Provincial Life, is generally considered to be her finest work. Published in eight installments between 1871 and 1872, Middlemarch tells the intertwined stories of a variety of people living in the vicinity of the (fictional) midlands town of Middlemarch during the early 1830s, the time of the great Reform Act. The novel
Description After a ferry accident on San Francisco Bay, literary critic Humphrey Van Weyden is swept out to sea only to be rescued by the seal-hunting schooner Ghost. Wolf Larsen, the captain of the Ghost, is brutal and cynical but also highly intelligent, and he has no intention of returning Van Weyden to shore. Van Weyden is forced to serve on the Ghost, leaving behind his comfortable world ashore and entering into a psychological battle with Larsen on the sea. Jack London wrote The Sea-Wolf
Description Fyodor Sologub was a Russian poet, novelist and playwright, working in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His work generally has a downcast outlook with recurring mystical elements, and often uses anthropomorphic objects or fantastical situations to comment on human behaviour. As well as novels (including the critically acclaimed The Little Demon ), Sologub wrote over five hundred short stories, ranging in length from half-page fables to nearly novella-length tales.
"Star Born" by Andre Norton is a thrilling science fiction novel that captures the imagination of readers with its imaginative world-building, engaging characters, and intriguing plot. The novel takes place on a distant planet, where a small colony of humans has established a new home after fleeing from their war-torn world. Among the first generation of children born on this new world are two siblings, who embark on a perilous journey to discover the secrets of an ancient