The second novel of Anthony Trollope’s “Chronicles of Barsetshire” series and widely considered one of his best and most popular works, “Barchester Towers” was published in 1857 and continues the story of Mr. Harding and his daughter Eleanor in the beautiful cathedral city of Barchester. Upon the death of the popular and beloved bishop, the citizens fully expect his son, Archdeacon Grantly, to fill the vacancy. Much to their consternation, howev ...
Originally published in Polish in 1896 by Nobel Prize-winning author Henryk Sienkiewicz, “Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero" is the story of a love that develops in Rome between a young Christian woman, Lygia, and Marcus Vinicius, a Roman patrician, during the reign of Nero in 64 AD. The title “Quo Vadis” is translated from Latin as “Where are you going?” The quote is a reference to the New Testament verse John 13:36, which states “Simo ...
One of the most famous of Honore de Balzac’s novels, “Lost Illusions” paints a faithful picture of the spectacular but superficial world of mid-19th century French society, and the indissoluble relationship between the bourgeois and aristocratic classes. Originally published serially from 1837 to 1843, the story features the main characters Lucien Chardon, a vain and naive poet and journalist, and his friend and brother-in-law David Sechard, an ...
“The Underdogs: A Novel of the Mexican Revolution” is Mariano Azuela’s fictional account of the Mexican Revolution. Originally published as a newspaper serial in 1915, then as a complete novel in 1920, it was first translated into English in 1929 and was a critical and financial success. Based closely on Azuela’s own experiences, it is the story of Demetrio Macias, a peasant who is mistreated by government soldiers and must flee his home. He run ...
First published in 1923, “The Murder on the Links” is Agatha Christie’s second novel featuring her most famous character, Belgian detective Hercule Poirot and his assistant, Arthur Hastings. Poirot and Hastings have traveled to France to meet Paul Renauld, who has recently requested their help. They are too late however and arrive to find him brutally murdered and buried in a newly dug grave near a local golf course. Poirot notices many things a ...
First published in 1923, “Cane” by Jean Toomer, is one of the most significant books to come out of the Harlem Renaissance. Jean Toomer, born Nathaniel Pinchback Toomer in Washington D. C. in 1894, was raised by his mother and her wealthy parents after being abandoned by his father as a baby. While he spent much of his life on the East Coast and at various colleges in Chicago and Wisconsin, he worked for several months in 1921 as a principal at ...
Renowned English novelist, poet, playwright, and literary critic, Dorothy L. Sayers’s “Whose Body?” was first published in 1923. In this novel we are introduced to her most famous character, the aristocratic amateur detective Lord Peter Wimsey. Lord Wimsey has developed an interest in solving crimes and joins in to help his friend Inspector Charles Parker and the official investigation into the disappearance of a famous financier. A naked body i ...
“The Prophet”, by Lebanese-American poet and artist Kahlil Gibran, is one of the world’s most famous books. Published in 1923, it has been translated into over one hundred languages and has sold nearly ten million copies in the United States. Gibran was born to a poor, Christian family in Lebanon in 1883 and emigrated to America with his mother and siblings at age 12. While he received little education as a child, he became a serious art student ...
An important work of Spain’s Golden Age of literature as well as the first known picaresque novel, “Lazarillo de Tormes” portrays the clever ploys of a young Salamancan boy determined to outsmart his long string of masters. This Spanish novella was first published in 1554, during the Spanish Inquisition, by an author who wished to remain anonymous due to the work’s heretical content. Young Lazarillo is an improbable hero of his time, for he come ...