Charles W. Chesnutt (1858-1932) was an author, essayist and political activist whose works addressed the complex issues of racial and social identity at the turn of the century. Chesnutt's early works explored political issues somewhat indirectly, with the intention of changing the attitudes of Caucasians slowly and carefully. However, «The Marrow of Tradition» marked a turning point in Chesnutt's career, with its direct and overt trea ...
"Herland" is Charlotte Perkins Gilman's utopian novel about a fictitious society of women who reproduce by asexual means resulting in an ideal society that is free of conflict and war. Originally published in serial form in Gilman's self-published monthly magazine «Forerunner» from 1909 to 1916, the title nation of «Herland» is symbolic of the argument for social reform in the area of woman's rights that took place in the ear ...
The masked avenger immortalized by countless films began as pulp fiction in 1919. The dashing hero Zorro first appeared in Johnston McCulley's story, «The Curse of Capriano», serialized in the American pulp magazine Argosy, later republished as a novella in 1924 as «The Mark of Zorro». Set in Spanish Colonial California, Zorro moonlights as a robin-hood like adventurer, saving the oppressed from the tyrannical hands in power. This iconic ou ...
Lyman Frank Baum (1856-1919) was an American writer of children's books, best known for creating the marvelous Land of Oz in «The Wonderful Wizard of Oz». This fanciful kingdom was catalogued in a series of children's books beginning with the publication of «The Wonderful Wizard of Oz». Baum's Oz series compasses the first fully developed fantasy world created by an American author. In 1900, Baum and Denslow, famous illustrator wi ...
One of Jane Austen's shortest works, «Lady Susan» is an epistolary novel, a novel told entirely in the letters of its title character, her friends and family. «Lady Susan» is the story of a recently widowed woman who is actively searching for a new marriage while trying to play matchmaker for her daughter as well. ...
George Alfred Henty (1832-1902) was an English novelist, war correspondent and imperialist who wrote 122 books, mostly for children. As a young man, Henty volunteered for the Army Hospital Commissariat in the Crimean War. In letters to his father, he wrote vivid descriptions of the appalling conditions for British soldiers, which his father sent to be published in the newspaper. This led to his post as a Special Correspondent, and he proceeded t ...
David Herbert Lawrence (1885-1930) was a versatile and visionary author of novels, short stories, poetry, essays and translations whose reputation has been overshadowed by early censorship and sensationalist memoirs of the 1930s and 40s. He rejected Victorian prudishness and promoted the idea of sexual liberation in a Utopia he wished to see take form. This led to works that were viewed as obscene and pornographic by both literary critics and go ...
George Eliot was considered one of the greatest writers of the Victorian era and in this classic 1876 work, the last that she had completed, we find the only novel set in that era. «Daniel Deronda» begins by exploring the romantic relationship of its title character with Gwendolen Harleth and then through two separate flashbacks explores the history of the two characters. The novel, which was controversial for its exploration of the Jewish Zioni ...
A moving account of poverty set in 1840s Manchester, Gaskell's first novel follows the young and beautiful Mary Barton, daughter of a factory worker, who is eventually caught up in the class struggle of her time. She attracts the attention of a wealthy mill-owner's son, Henry Carson, although she soon discovers her love for the poor, hard-working Jem Wilson. When a brutal shooting leaves a man dead, Mary must decide if she wishes to he ...
