First published in 1748, «Clarissa» is the long and tragic tale of the ever-virtuous Miss Clarissa Harlowe. Though her family, newly wealthy, wishes to enter the aristocracy, they can only do so by marrying Clarissa to an unrefined and loveless man. She is soon offered protection from the selfish motives of her family by Robert Lovelace, who tricks Clarissa into running away with him. Though witty and urbane, Lovelace soon proves himself a villa ...
Kate Douglas Wiggin (1856-1923) was an important reformer of children's education at the turn of the century. During a period when children's place in society was little other than cheap labor, Kate Douglas Wiggin was dedicated to the betterment of youth. She was the first person to found a free kindergarten school in San Francisco in 1878. Her passion for children's rights carried over to her successful career as an author of chi ...
John Fox (1862-1919) was an American novelist, journalist and short story writer. Though he occasionally wrote for periodicals, Fox dedicated much of his attention to fiction in his later years. Influenced by his childhood in the Kentucky's Bluegrass Region and his life among the coal miners of Big Stone Gap, Virginia, most of his works reflected the naturalist style. Fox's novels were historical romances or period dramas set in that r ...
"The Heart of Darkness" is the story of Charlie Marlow's voyage from the civilized world of Europe into the primitive interior of the Congo of Africa. As a manager of a Belgian ivory company, Marlow travels into the interior of Africa up the Congo River to meet Kurtz, an agent of the ivory company. Deep in the interior of Africa Marlow finds Kurtz living among the savage natives who revere him as a God. In «The Heart of Darkness,» The ...
"Kim" is the story of Kim (Kimball) O'Hara, the orphaned son of a British soldier. Set against the backdrop of «The Great Game» a political conflict between Russia and Great Britain in central Asia, the novel traces the life of the title character from begging and errand running on the streets of Lahore to his schooling at a top English school in Lucknow, where he is trained in espionage, and ultimately to a government appointment wher ...
Despite a decreasing popularity throughout his career, Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) has become one of the most notable and respected English novelists of the Victorian Era. His penetrating novels on political, social and gender issues of his day have placed him among such nineteenth century literary icons as Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and George Eliot. Trollope penned 47 novels in his career, in addition to various short stories, travel books ...
"Howards End" is E. M. Forster's classic story of the varying struggles of members of different strata of the English middle class. The story centers around three families; the Wilcoxes, who made their fortune in the American colonies; the Schlegels, three siblings who represent the intellectual bourgeoisie; and the Basts, a young struggling lower middle-class couple. «Howards End», one of Forster's greatest works, is a classic dr ...
Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) is best known as the innovator of the English detective novel, whose sensational novels, plays, and short stories were hugely popular in the Victorian Era. Today, readers enjoy Collins' intricate and suspenseful plots, and his penetrating social commentary on the plight of women and domestic issues of the time. Unfortunately Collins suffered from rheumatic gout, for which he took the opiate laudanum, and which eve ...
"The Sea Hawk" is Raphael Sabatini's classic tale of nautical adventure set in the late 16th century. It is the story of Sir Oliver Tressilian who is villainously betrayed by a jealous half-brother. Being forced into slavery aboard a Spanish galley, Sir Oliver is subsequently freed by Barbary pirates whom he joins and gains the name «Sakr-el-Bahr», or the hawk of the sea. A gripping tale of action and adventure set aboard the high seas ...
