Agatha Christie’s second novel, “The Secret Adversary”, which was first published in 1922, introduces the world to the adventures of intrepid detectives Tommy and Tuppence, or as they are more formally known, Thomas Beresford and Prudence Cowley. The two young friends find themselves out of work after the end of the first world war and form the partnership “The Young Adventures, Ltd.” They are immediately hired by a mysterious individual by the ...
The second book in Booth Tarkington’s “Growth” trilogy, “The Magnificent Ambersons”, is considered by many to be his greatest novel. The novel depicts Mid-Western life from the post-Civil War era to the early twentieth century. First published in 1918, and awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1919, this novel follows, through three generations, the decline of the Ambersons, an aristocratic family of the upper-class society of Indianapolis. Following th ...
The last novel written by Leo Tolstoy, “Resurrection” was first published in 1899 amidst huge anticipation. What surprised the world was Tolstoy’s story of a guilt-ridden nobleman, haunted by the sins of his past and seeking a way to atone for them. The aristocratic Prince Dmitri Ivanovich Nekhlyudov serves on a jury of a murder trial, only to discover that the accused prostitute is Maslova, a maid he seduced and abandoned years before. Though h ...
First published in 1823, “The Pioneers” was the debut novel in James Fenimore Cooper’s famous “Leatherstocking Tales”. While published first, it is the fourth chronologically of Cooper’s five “Leatherstocking Tales” and follows the later life of his central character, Natty Bumppo. Well-known to Cooper’s readers as the archetypal American frontiersman and friend to Indians, Natty struggles with hunting and maintaining his way of life amid a grow ...
First published in 1912, Jean Webster’s “Daddy-Long-Legs” is the tale of Jerusha “Judy” Abbott, raised in the John Grier House, a bleak orphanage, and left as a baby without even a name from her parents. Told in a series of letters, this modern girls’ fairy tale follows Judy, a plucky young woman without ties and unsure of her future, as she comes of age. After a visit from the trustees of the orphanage when she is 17, Judy is told that one of t ...
“The Princess and Curdie” is Scottish author George MacDonald’s 1883 sequel to his classic children’s fairy tale “The Princess and the Goblin”. In this beautiful and exciting tale, the reader finds Princess Irene and Curdie a year or two older. Life has returned to normal for Irene and Curdie until they must overthrow a set of corrupt ministers who are poisoning Irene’s father, the king. When Curdie finally meets Irene’s mysterious and magical G ...
“At the Back of the North Wind” is a classic children’s story first serialized in England in 1868 and published into a book in 1871 by the Scottish author George MacDonald. This enchanting fairy tale follows Diamond, a sweet, innocent, and joyful young stable boy in Victorian London who goes on adventures with the majestic North Wind. The North Wind is personified as a lovely and mysterious woman, both severe and kind, who teaches young Diamond ...
First published in 1852, “The Blithedale Romance” is the third of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s romantic novels. Set in the utopian communal farm called Blithedale in the 1840’s, the novel tells the story of four inhabitants of the commune: Hollingsworth, a misogynist philanthropist obsessed with turning Blithedale into a colony for the reformation of criminals; Zenobia, a passionate feminist; Priscilla, a mysterious lady with a hidden agenda who turns ...
First published in 1688, “Oroonoko” follows the tragic love story of Oroonoko, an African prince, and his beloved Imoinda. When the king hears of Imoinda’s beauty he demands that she become one of his wives, giving her a sacred veil, thus forcing her to become a member of his harem. Oroonoko, believing that the king is too old to consummate their marriage, secretly plans a romantic rendezvous with Imoinda, an action which consequently results in ...
