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The classic religious allegory by the seventeenth-century English author—one of the most significant works of theological fiction ever written. Largely written while John Bunyan was imprisoned for offenses against the Conventicle Act of 1664, which prohibited the holding of religious services outside the auspices of the Church of England, The Pilgrim's Progress is the author's dream of the trials and temptations a man named Christian encounters on his journey to the Celestial City. Traveling along a road filled with spiritual obstacles, Christian seeks to rid himself of the burden of his sins. “In Hollywood terms, the novel has a perfect ‘arc.'It also contains a cast of unforgettable characters, from Mr Worldly Wiseman to Lord Hategood, Mr Stand-fast and Mr Valiant-for-Truth.... The Pilgrim's Progress is the ultimate English classic, a book that has been continuously in print, from its first publication to the present day, in an extraordinary number of editions. There's no book in English, apart from the Bible, to equal Bunyan's masterpiece for the range of its readership, or its influence on writers as diverse as William Thackeray, Charlotte Bronte, Mark Twain, CS Lewis, John Steinbeck and even Enid Blyton.” —The Guardian, “The 100 Best Novels”

A classic book of ghost stories from one of the world's leading nineteenth-century writers, the author of In Ghostly Japan and Japanese Fairy Tales. Published just months before Lafcadio Hearn's death in 1904, Kwaidan features several stories and a brief nonfiction study on insects: butterflies, mosquitoes, and ants. The tales included are reworkings of both written and oral Japanese traditions, including folk tales, legends, and superstitions. “At age thirty-nine, Hearn travelled on a magazine assignment to Japan, and never came back. At a moment when that country, under Emperor Meiji, was weathering the shock and upheaval of forced economic modernization, Hearn fell deeply in love with the nation's past. He wrote fourteen books on all manner of Japanese subjects but was especially infatuated with the customs and culture preserved in Japanese folktales—particularly the ghost-story genre known as kaidan.... He died in 1904, and, by the time his ‘Japanese tales'were translated into Japanese, in the nineteen-twenties, the country's transformation was so complete that Hearn was hailed as a kind of guardian of tradition; his kaidan collections are still part of the curriculum in many Japanese schools.” —The New Yorker

Eight tropical tales set in different regions of the South Pacificby the renowned nineteenth-century author of The Call of the Wild and White Fang. These stories, like his renowned Klondike Tales, are based on Jack London's own travels and adventures. Including such stories as “The House of Mapuhi,” “The Whale Tooth,” and “The Inevitable White Man,” this collection describes the beauties and dangers of the South Pacific as colonist ships explore the islands. “All in all, if you like nautical and sea adventures, if you are interested in the history of the Pacific Islands, or if you want to read gripping tales set in the exotic lands, this book will be perfect for you. But remember—it is definitely not a piece of light-hearted literature!” —Tales from Pasifika

This 1923 novel by the Pulitzer Prize–winning poet and author of Paterson satirizes American colonization, creative ambition, and the novel form itself. One of the greatest American writers of the twentieth century, William Carlos Williams was an avid experimentalist in prose as well as poetry. Concerned about the state of the American novel, a form he felt was stunted by traditional tropes and genres, he set out to both parody and reject the prevailing clichés of fiction. The result of this audacious project was The Great American Novel, which tells the story of a Ford car in love with a Mack truck. A hilarious satire of Americanism and a brilliant example of literary invention, Williams's short novel set a precedent for American postmodern literature and metafiction.

A man struggles to maintain his humanity when he transforms into a monstrous insect in this masterful novella by the celebrated author of The Trial.A young traveling salesman, Gregor Samsa is the sole breadwinner in his family—a role he can no longer fulfill when he awakes one morning to discover he has transformed into a “horrible vermin.” While Gregor is unable to communicate and forced to relearn how to move in his new body, his family is preoccupied with the question of their financial stability. Epitomizing the term “Kafkaesque,” the tale of Gregor and his absurd fate have become emblematic of modern existential dread. A truly iconic work, The Metamorphosis remains one of the most famous and analyzed works of twentieth-century literature.

After his wife's death, a man untangles the truth of her infidelity, in this masterful novel of pre-WWI England by the celebrated author of Parade's End.When John Dowell and his wife, Florence, leave America for a stay at a German spa, they meet Capt. Edward Ashburn and his wife, Leonora. The two couples develop a close friendship that lasts for years—until Florence dies and John learns about her long-standing affair with Edward. The infidelity is shocking only to John, however. It seems Leonora has known all along. As John attempts to reconstruct the truth of his marriage, he begins to understand that nothing was what it appeared to be—not his friendship with Edward, his wife's heart condition, or his own feelings about the life he chose. A pioneering work of literary impressionism, author Ford Madox Ford presents a series of flashbacks from the memory of an unreliable narrator to create what is considered “one of the few stylistically perfect works in any language” (The Guardian).

The first novel in the author's celebrated Parade's End Tetralogy explores the social tensions between marriage, sex, and honor at the outbreak of WWI. London, 1910s. Christopher Tietjens, a brilliant mathematician, shows little emotion when his wife, Sylvia, leaves him for her lover. But when she tires of the romantic pursuit and informs Christopher of her desire to return to him, it proves to be one more episode in their masochistic marriage—Sylvia's faithless torments yet again bested by Christopher's infuriating chivalry. Then, on a golfing weekend in Rye, Christopher meets a young suffragette by the name of Valentine Wannop, whose passion for ideas is matched by her beauty. In Valentine, Christopher sees the possibilities of life and love he has denied himself thus far. But the small dramas of their individual lives are suddenly interrupted when the world goes to war. Author Ford Madox Ford's masterful Parade's End series is “in human psychology and literary technique... as modern and modernist as they come.” The first of four volumes, Some Do Not... sets in motion the complex web of attachments, passions, and resentments that unfold across an era of profound change (Julian Barnes, The Guardian).

The celebrated Victorian author of Middlemarch explores the turbulent world of Florence during the Italian Renaissance in this sweeping historical novel. Florence, 1492. Lorenzo de Medici has just died, leaving governance of the Florentine Republic to his son Piero, an unskilled ruler. Meanwhile, Tito Melema, a shipwrecked stranger, finds love with a young woman named Romola, the devoted daughter of a blind scholar. Though her brother has a vision of their marriage bringing disaster to the family, Romola and Tito are soon wed. Two years later, Piero has been exiled for his cowardly surrender to French invaders, and the religious reformer Girolamo Savonarola has seized control. As Tito attempts to gain favor with the French, a shameful secret threatens to undermine him, and he will do anything to keep it hidden. When Tito's duplicity in love and politics threatens to destroy everything Romola values, she must finally break free of his influence and find her own path in life. Both a grand historical saga and the story of a woman's intellectual and spiritual awakening, Romola is one of author George Eliot's most ambitious literary achievements. Eliot herself described it as “written with my best blood”.

An intellectual summer party at an English country house is satirized with “ingenuity, sophistication [and] impudence” by the author of A Brave New World (H. L. Mencken).When young poet Denis Stone is invited to a party at Crome, country home of Priscilla and Henry Wimbush, he is eager to join their coterie of authors and intellectuals. The Wimbushes are famous for gathering stimulating company for extended stays. But between the philosophizing and witty repartee, drunken reveries and amorous adventures are also afoot. Denis is secretly in love with his hosts'niece Anne Wimbush. Anne, however, seems more interested in an artist named Gombauld. Meanwhile, a naïve flapper is determined to overcome her sexual repressions, Priscilla finds a kindred spirit in her fascination with occultism, and a solitary young woman records her devastating observations in a journal.

The bawdy and satirical eighteenth-century novel: “A comic tour de force whose humor, of observation and incident, explodes on to every page” (The Guardian, “The 100 Best Novels”). Written in 1759 and published in nine volumes, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman was a literary sensation. An experimental, fictional autobiography, it broke the traditional rules of chronological storytelling. Tristram tells his tale his own way, peppering in opinions and random anecdotes throughout the events of his life—starting from his almost interrupted conception. The novel features such memorable characters as Tristram's parents, his tender uncle Toby, the “man-midwife” Dr. Slop, and pastor Yorick. “Tristram Shandy and its author, Laurence Sterne, are so intensely modern in mood and attitude, so profanely alert to the nuances of the human comedy, and so engaged with the narrative potentiality of the genre that it comes as something of a shock to discover that the novel was published during the seven years war.” —The Guardian, “The 100 Best Novels”

The celebrated first volume of the novel that “brilliantly explores the workings of time and memory against the backdrop of Belle Époque France” (The New Criterion). One the greatest novels of the twentieth century, In Search of Lost Time begins with Swann's Way, a young man's evocative journey of perception and remembrance, “which meanders from the nameless narrator's recollections of his Combray childhood to a time before his birth, when Swann was in love with Odette, and back again as the narrator meditates on the power of names over the imagination and recalls falling in love with Gilberte, Swann and Odette's daughter” (Los Angeles Times). “A masterpiece... Even when I've felt myself hopelessly drifting in my little boat, I've felt the lulling beauty of Proust's writing. This is a man who can make a multi-page description of a Hawthorn blossom fascinating—and then do it again, and again, and again. What's more, when you actually focus, pick up those oars and start powering through those dense waters, you realize just how much is going on beneath the surface. What insights. What subtle ironies. What teasing jokes. What sensual pleasures. What feats of memory and description. What loving characterizations. And what devastating character assassinations. You realize, in short, that this is the stuff.” —The Guardian “Even those who have not read the novels are aware of the journey of memory on which the narrator goes when he tastes a madeleine dipped in tea; it has become ‘the Proustian moment.'” —The Telegraph

America's most popular short story writer saddles up and heads west in nineteen frontier-themed tales, including “The Caballero's Way.” Known for his surprise endings, O. Henry turns his attention to the American West in tales of lawmen and outlaws, cowboys and prairie princesses—running the gamut from laugh-out-loud humor to tear-jerking pathos. “The most memorable stories from this collection are both a bit different from the rest. ‘The Sphinx Apple'is the one story that does not seem pat or easy; here the last few paragraphs put a dead end to the fanciful flights of the rest of the story, and silences all the characters with delicate irony. ‘The Caballero's Way'is grand-opera tragedy, complete with love, betrayal, and revenge.... They are all written with wit, love, and that little bit of wisdom that makes you love the vagaries of humanity... even the most sentimental ones.” —Vintage Novels

Nineteen tales of romantic entanglements from one of British literature's comedic stars, the author of the Jeeves novels. First published in 1914, these short stories by P. G. Wodehouse deal with matters of the heart in all their complicated glory. From the struggling artist and his lovely downstairs neighbor in “The Man Upstairs” to a playwright's romantic rescues in “Deep Waters” to a matrimonial sweepstakes in “The Good Angel,” Wodehouse captures the circumstances—both mundane and mysterious, contrived and spontaneous—that bring two strangers together in love. Praise for P. G. Wodehouse “Wodehouse's idyllic world can never stale. He will continue to release future generations from captivity that may be more irksome than our own. He has made a world for us to live in and delight in.” —Evelyn Waugh “He exhausts superlatives.” —Stephen Fry “Pure word music.” —Douglas Adams

A collection of twenty-five tales, including “The Gift of the Magi,” from one of America's most successful writers of popular short stories. At the turn of the twentieth century, one man captured America's imagination in his works of short fiction. O. Henry's clever and engaging stories, often with surprise endings, had mass appeal. The title of this book, the author's second collection, references the population of New York City, where many of the stories are set, at the time of publication. It features some of his best-known works, including “The Gift of the Magi,” The Cop and the Anthem,” and “The Furnished Room.” “The tale, a simply structured, exquisitely told story of self-sacrifice, generosity, and love, closed with the O. Henry signature: an ironic twist... It's a reminder of the way we should be living, with love first, giving second, and possession below all.” —The Atlantic on “The Gift of the Magi”

The American master of the short story presents twenty-two tales, including “A Retrieved Reformation,” that twist and turn in unexpected ways. One of the most popular authors of his day, O. Henry penned stories that surprised and delighted his many fans. His characters were people whom readers knew from places they recognized, everyday folks who sometimes found themselves in sticky, shocking, and sobering situations. This volume includes many of O. Henry's most recognizable works, including “A Retrieved Reformation,” which was inspired by his own experience being imprisoned. It was adapted into a Broadway play and subsequently three film versions. “The story has its gentle humor and is easy to understand, which I believe, can be suitable for many types of readers from booklovers to new readers. Moreover, anyone who wants to find a story with surprising plot, or twisted ending then ‘A Retrieved Reformation'can be the right choice.” —Write to Interact on “A Retrieved Reformation”

A comic crime caper from the popular and prolific twentieth-century author of the Jeeves novels featuring Bertie Wooster. When Ogden Ford, the chubby son of a divorced American millionaire, arrives at a posh English prep school, he sets in motion a dastardly plot. There's a new classics teacher at the school who's not who he purports to be... The schoolmaster in training, Peter Burns, is really working for Ogden's mother, who wants her son back after losing custody of him to her ex-husband. What Peter doesn't know is that he's soon to have competition in the kidnapping contest. American gangsters have already targeted the boy, known as “Little Nugget,” for his ransom value—and they aren't afraid to cross the pond to get him. What follows is a convoluted game of thwarted abductions, hair's-breadth escapes, and romantic escapades. Praise for P. G. Wodehouse “Wodehouse's idyllic world can never stale. He will continue to release future generations from captivity that may be more irksome than our own. He has made a world for us to live in and delight in.” —Evelyn Waugh “He exhausts superlatives.” —Stephen Fry “Pure word music.” —Douglas Adams

Four bewitching fairy tales from the author of The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest. Oscar Wilde's follow-up to The Happy Prince and Other Stories, A House of Pomegranates contains four darkly enchanting fairy tales by the Irish poet and playwright. In “The Young King,” a lowly shepherd's son finds himself next in line for the throne. A dwarf performing for a Spanish princess's birthday must face the consequences of seeing his own reflection in “The Birthday of the Infanta.” In “The Fisherman and His Soul,” a man is faced with a terrible choice after falling in love with a beautiful mermaid. And an arrogant young boy, who believes he is the son of an actual star, learns a bitter lesson when he is brought down to earth in “The Star-Child.”

The grand epic set during Napoleon's invasion of Russia: a vividly detailed view of nineteenth-century Russian life by the author of Anna Karenina. Widely regarded as one of the greatest novels ever written, War and Peace is Leo Tolstoy's magnum opus, a groundbreaking work of literary realism, and a psychologically acute examination of Tsarist society in the Napoleonic Era. The narrative follows the fates, fortunes, loves, and betrayals of five aristocratic Russian families from an elegant soirée in 1805 Saint Petersburg to the abandoned and burning Moscow of 1812. With a panoramic cast of characters, including peasants, soldiers, nobles, and historical figures such as Napoleon Bonaparte and Mikhail Kutuzov, Tolstoy presents a hugely ambitious portrait of the human condition. First published in 1865, this edition of War and Peace was translated into English by Louise and Alymer Maude

A successful man must face the terror of his own mortality in this masterful nineteenth-century Russian novella by the author of War and Peace.In his later years, Leo Tolstoy began to contemplate the inescapable realities of mortality—its terrifying mystery, its many indignities, and the way it forces one to look back on the legacy and regrets of one's life. The Death of Ivan Ilyich, widely considered the masterpiece of Tolstoy's late career, is both a deeply insightful meditation on the final months of a man's life, and an unsparing critique of conventional middle-class life in nineteenth-century Russia. Ivan Ilyich, a prosperous high-court judge, spends his days pursuing social advancement among his peers and avoiding his loveless marriage. But when a seemingly innocuous injury signals the beginning of a terminal illness, Ilyich begins to see the true worth of his life with tragic clarity.

The classic, partly fictional travelogue through late-nineteenth-century Europe by the great American satirist and author of Innocents Abroad.Based on true events—embellished with fictional tales and a made-up travel partner—Mark Twain's A Tramp Abroad chronicles his meandering journey through Germany, the French and Swiss Alps, and Northern Italy. Attempting to make the trip by foot, Twain ventures down the Neckar river by raft, ascends Mont Blanc by telescope, and experiences European life with his usual penetrating wit, infectious curiosity, and timeless humor. Along the way, Twain offers his thoughts on the role of “The Portier” in European hotels, a vivid description of “Heidelberg Castle,” and his unvarnished opinion of “The Awful German Language,” as well as a few tall tales, such as “The Man Who Put Up at Gadsby's.”

An epic tale of two families in Victorian England and their shifting fortunes by one of the world's greatest novelists.For decades, William Dorrit has been confined to Marshalsea, a debtor's prison, which he cannot leave until he pays what he owes—meanwhile preventing him from getting a job in order to do so. His daughter Amy, born in Marshalsea, is now old enough to provide some help by earning money as a seamstress, and is free to come and go from the prison as she pleases.It is during one of her journeys to the outside world that she meets Arthur Clennam. Amy sews for Arthur's mother, a rigid, emotionally distant woman who is also confined, in this case to a wheelchair. Arthur knows his mother is hiding a dark secret. But while he tries in vain to unearth it, something else is revealed: a large inheritance to which none other than William Dorrit is entitled. Thus begins a sprawling and beguiling novel of wealth and poverty, suspense and adventure, at once a satirical commentary about the British economic class system and bureaucratic absurdity, an engrossing mystery, and a tribute to the power of love.

This novel by the author of Sons and Lovers follows three generations of a family in rapidly changing England. One of the Modern Library's 100 best English-language novels of the twentieth century In a story ranging from the mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth, The Rainbow explores the passions and relationships experienced by each generation of the Brangwen family as the world around them grows more urban and industrialized. Tom Brangwen is a farmer who does not venture beyond the east Midlands and makes his home with a Polish widow named Lydia. Lydia's daughter, Anna, suffers through a troubled marriage. And her daughter, Ursula—whose story continues in Lawrence's sequel, Women in Love—receives an advanced education and finds herself in a society far more sophisticated and fast-paced than that of her forebears. Ursula yearns for something more and seeks to sate a deep hunger in both her body and soul. A daring, sensual novel by the author of Lady Chatterley's Lover and other modern classics, The Rainbow was banned in England for years, and is now considered one of the greatest works of twentieth-century literature.

The story of a miser's transformation, and the most beloved Christmas novel of all time. An immediate bestseller in the mid-nineteenth century and praised by the Illustrated London News for its “playful and sparkling humor [and] gentle spirit of humanity,” Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol has remained continuously in print for more than one hundred years, a cherished part of the holiday season for millions of readers. The novel follows Ebenezer Scrooge, a rich man who has no patience for the merriment of the holidays and prefers counting his money to counting his blessings... until a series of spectral visitors awaken the Christmas spirit in his heart. Both a spine-tingling ghost story and a historical portrait of poverty and greed in Victorian England, A Christmas Carol is a delightful classic for readers young and old.

A young man fights to save his mother and sister—and a group of abused schoolboys—in this novel of hardship and heroism from the great Victorian writer. Suddenly fatherless and penniless, young Nicholas Nickleby can find no help for himself and his family. His uncle Ralph may be rich, but he is neither a kind nor an honorable man—so it is up to Nicholas to take responsibility. His adventures in Victorian England will take Nicholas to a job at a boys'school run by a brutal and dictatorial headmaster, a London slum, and a theater troupe where he works under an assumed name—and into a web of revenge, blackmail, and kidnapping—as he struggles to overcome the evil forces arrayed against him. “The novel has everything... a supporting cast of heroes, villains and eccentrics, set in a London where vast wealth and desperate poverty live cheek-by-jowl.” —The Times

“When it comes to walking the mean streets, Dickens could give modern genre authors the tour of their lives.” —Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times When a corpse is found in the Thames River and identified as John Harmon, many lives will be forever changed. John, who had been abroad and estranged from his miserly father for years, will no longer collect his inheritance. It will instead go to the miser's employees, Mr. and Mrs. Boffin, transforming their circumstances. The miser's will had placed a condition on John: marry Bella Wilfer, a woman he had never met, in order to collect the estate. Now Bella is on her own—until she is generously taken in by the Boffins. These events not only alter the course of several lives, but also end a life—that of the waterman who found John's body. Accused by a rival of murdering the heir, Gaffer Hexam is soon found drowned as well, resulting in a puzzling mystery and setting Gaffer's impoverished daughter on a new path that will lead her in surprising, and dangerous, directions. Blending propulsive plot twists with sharp social satire, Our Mutual Friend is the final masterpiece completed by Victorian England's greatest novelist. “In addition to its realistic police procedures and incisive criminal psychology, Our Mutual Friend is steeped in the gloomy atmosphere and foreboding imagery that one associates with the modern suspense thriller.” —The New York Times

After losing his inheritance, a young man strives to make his own fortune, in this witty, wide-ranging saga by the iconic nineteenth-century novelist.When young Martin Chuzzlewit falls in love with his grandfather's devoted nursemaid, the elder Chuzzlewit is furious and decides to disinherit the boy. Thus, Martin is thrust into the world to find his own way. An apprenticeship with an architect seems like a fine start. But not long after Martin begins working for Seth Pecksniff—who has a secret agenda in hiring him—Martin's grandfather maneuvers to have him dismissed. Eventually, Martin makes his way to America in the company of his friend Tom. But the trip is an unmitigated disaster, and they are plagued by misfortune until they turn tail and race back to England. Little does Martin know there are far more surprises awaiting him in this novel of twists and turns, dreamers and schemers, greed and murder, from the Victorian era's literary master.

From the author of The Woman in White: In nineteenth-century England, a man's hard-earned happiness is threatened by a priest who covets his inheritance... Lewis Romayne has just returned to Vange Abbey, his home in England, after a traumatic experience in France that still haunts him. Trying to shake his memories of a fatal duel, Romayne visits London, where he meets and falls in love with his future bride. But he soon finds himself the object of one man's obsession. Father Benwell, a priest, is determined to convert Romayne to the Catholic faith in order to regain the abbey, the latter man's home, which once belonged to the church. Benwell will do anything to accomplish his goal—even sabotage Romayne's new marriage by exposing a hidden scandal. As this riveting drama unfolds, Romayne must finally decide who is truly entitled to his heart, his soul, and his property.

The classic novel about a man torn between his devotion to his mother and his desire for a lover. Cited by the Modern Library as one of the ten best twentieth-century novels in the English language, Sons and Lovers is considered by many to be D. H. Lawrence's masterpiece, with its deep psychological insight into the bond between mother and son, and the difficulties of emotionally separating from a parent. Considered a semiautobiographical work, it follows protagonist Paul Morel as he experiences the loss of his older brother, hostility toward his coal miner father, and a burden of responsibility toward his more genteel mother, who inspires maddening mixed feelings in him. Paul struggles to find room in his life for a meaningful, romantic relationship of his own as he works to hold his family together.

This award-winning novel about a conflict between a British woman and an Indian man amid the stirrings of rebellion against empire is “a revelation” (The New York Times). One of Time magazine's 100 best English language novels published since 1923,one of the Modern Library's 100 great works of twentieth-century English literature, and thewinner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize “By the time the great Edwardian novelist, in this last and best of his novels published in his lifetime, addressed himself to the British presence in India, his moral sense was more fully equipped than ever. Mindful of the imponderables of human conduct, alert to all the reciprocal misjudgments and the wearying false appraisals we make as a matter of course, he looked at empire and saw its weak foundations. Adela Quested is a British visitor to the Raj who is anxious to know ‘the real India.'On a visit to the Malabar caves an assault of some kind does or does not happen to her, perhaps at the hands of Dr. Aziz, the solicitous Indian Muslim who has arranged the trip. Has she imagined things? Is he not what he seems? In his other great novel, Howards End, Forster directed us to ‘only connect.'What he demonstrates here, in a story of the greatest and saddest subtleties—and comic subtleties, too—is how nearly impossible that is to do.” —Time

The inspiration for the film starring Dev Patel: A sprawling masterpiece about a boy making his way to manhood in nineteenth-century England. David Copperfield's father died before he was born, but he grew up loved and comfortable—until he turned seven and his mother married Edward Murdstone. His new stepfather could not banish little Davy fast enough, sending him to live with the housekeeper, Peggotty, and her fisherman brother. Murdstone growing ever more tyrannical, David's next stop is boarding school, and there he learns of the death of his mother and her new baby. David must now find his own place in the world. His journey will take him to many places and introduce him to many people, friends and enemies alike, before he is really able to learn from his experiences and find his true heart. Set against the backdrop of Victorian-era England, this semiautobiographical coming-of-age story is filled with humor, emotion, and insightful social commentary.

This novel of 1920s Australia by the author of Lady Chatterley's Lover is “one of the sharpest fictional visions of the country and its people” (Gideon Haigh). A few years after the close of World War I, English author Richard Lovat Somers and his German wife, Harriet, have fled the grim remains of Europe and ventured to Australia. But they soon discover the new world is an escape from neither the demands of politics nor the nightmarish memories of Richard's service on the front lines. In Sydney, Richard meets Benjamin Cooley, a charismatic lawyer known to all as Kangaroo. But Kangaroo is also the leader of an underground fascist organization. While Richard finds himself drawn to the man's strength and certainty of purpose, he is simultaneously repelled by his embrace of dehumanizing violence. In this semi-autobiographical novel, author D. H. Lawrence plumbs the depths of his own experience in the Great War while exploring in vivid detail the breathtaking landscape and social volatility of Australia.

A lost generation searches for meaning in chaotic post-WWI London in this satirical novel by the acclaimed author of Brave New World. First published in 1923, Aldous Huxley's Antic Hay was banned in Australia and burned in Cairo for its frank depiction of bohemian life in the grim and listless aftermath of the Great War. Set in London, the comic novel follows a large cast of artists and intellectuals through their nihilistic yet determined pursuits. But at the center of these colorful characters is the peculiar man behind Gumbril's Patent Small Clothes. While sitting on the hard oak pews of his school's chapel, disenchanted schoolmaster Theodore Gumbril Junior fantasizes about a pair of trousers with an inflatable air cushion in the seat to make the endless sermon more tolerable. Deciding on a whim to pursue this absurd invention, Gumbril moves to London and soon finds himself among a circle of cynical poets, would-be artists, and bohemian philosophers. Though a timid romantic, Gumbril fashions a rakish alter ego for himself, “The Complete Man,” as he pursues his fortunes in this scathing satire of British conventionality.

Three of the brilliant novelist's best-known classics in one volume, offering a wide-ranging portrait of nineteenth-century British society. A perfect introduction to the world of Charles Dickens, this volume contains three of his greatest novels. Little Dorrit: An epic tale of two families in Victorian England, one wealthy and the other living in a debtors'prison, and their shifting fortunes. David Copperfield: A sprawling masterpiece—and the inspiration for the new film starring Dev Patel—about a boy making his way to manhood in nineteenth-century England.Hard Times: A young girl from the circus world is taken in by a repressed school superintendent and his family in a dreary mill town—and brings unexpected change to their lives.

Novels of romance, science fiction, and crime that explore gender roles and social expectations—and helped shape women's history. These three novels provide a fascinating look at some of the literary voices that influenced early views of feminism. Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Three sociology students journey into an uncharted region of South America and are shocked to discover a civilization of only women in this work of science fiction that paved the way for such authors as Margaret Atwood and Octavia E. Butler. Constance Dunlap, Woman Detective by Arthur B. Reeve: An early work of crime fiction featuring a female protagonist. The Awakening by Kate Chopin: A groundbreaking novel of early women's liberation set against the evocative backdrop of turn-of-the-century New Orleans.

Three wise, witty novels in the saga following the residents of a rural English town in the Victorian era. In the nineteenth century, Anthony Trollope created the fictional world of Barsetshire, the setting for a series of classic novels that addressed love, murder, religion, politics, and the ordinary lives of locals both rich and poor.Framley Parsonage: A young vicar's ambition drives him into a costly bargain in this comedic love story that brilliantly examines the intersection of romance and social class.The Small House at Allington: This witty novel follows the amorous misadventures of a pair of sisters.The Last Chronicle of Barset: A clergyman's daughter falls in love with a member of high society, while her father stands accused of a terrible crime.

Three novels of life and death in a rural town in Victorian England by a master of drama and social satire. In the nineteenth century, Anthony Trollope created the fictional world of Barsetshire, the setting for a series of classic novels that addressed love, murder, religion, politics, and the ordinary lives of locals both rich and poor.The Warden: A well-meaning public official finds himself embroiled in a scandal.Barchester Towers: A bishop passes away, leading the town to become caught up in church politics.Doctor Thorne: A young noble is drawn to a woman, but his family is displeased by her lack of fortune and social standing, in this sweeping love story.

Three novels of an aristocratic British family and the world of parliamentary politics—the basis for the BBC adaptation.Also known as the Parliamentary Novels, the fourth, fifth, and sixth books in Anthony Trollope's series follow the lives of an aristocrat, his wife, and the political and social circles in which they move.Phineas Redux: The ever-ambitious Irish rogue Phineas Finn, now widowed and restless, is pulled back into the game of parliamentary politics.The Prime Minister: With the Whigs and Tories at a standstill in their attempts to form a working government, a compromise is finally reached and Plantagenet Palliser is installed as prime minister—but it will soon bring turmoil, both personal and professional.The Duke's Children: Plantagenet Palliser must face new challenges and a changing world if he is to hold his family together in the final installment of the Palliser Novels.

Three novels of propriety and politics in Victorian England—the basis for the BBC adaptation.Also known as the Parliamentary Novels, the first three books in Anthony Trollope's renowned series follow the lives of an aristocrat, his wife, and the political and social circles in which they move.Can You Forgive Her?: This revealing romp through proper society follows three different women who dare to defy Victorian standards.Phineas Finn: An adventurous Irishman sets out to find his fortune among proper English society—and winds up entering the world of Parliament.The Eustace Diamonds: An ambitious, keenly intelligent woman finds that lying is the easiest way to get through life.

Three tales that showcase the nineteenth-century novelist's famous flair for suspense and plot twists. This volume includes three titles by Victorian England's greatest storyteller. Hunted Down: The manager of a life assurance office finds his suspicions growing after becoming acquainted with a mysterious gentleman in this rare detective story by Charles Dickens. The Mystery of Edwin Drood: In this unfinished puzzler—the basis for the Broadway musical that won five Tony Awards—a young man disappears and it may be connected to the beautiful woman he was planning to marry. The Old Curiosity Shop: Little Nell's grandfather is determined to give her a better life, but his attempts lead to trouble, in this beloved classic. “When it comes to walking the mean streets, Dickens could give modern genre authors the tour of their lives.” —Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times

Three classic novels of wealth, poverty, murder, and ambition from the greatest storyteller of the Victorian era. Filled with drama, emotion, and suspense, these three novels have compelled and delighted readers for well over a century. Martin Chuzzlewit: After losing his inheritance, a young man strives to make his own fortune, in this witty, wide-ranging saga. Nicholas Nickleby: A young man fights to save his mother, his sister, and a group of abused schoolboys in this novel of hardship and heroism. Our Mutual Friend: When a corpse is found in the River Thames, it will alter the course of several lives. “In addition to its realistic police procedures and incisive criminal psychology, Our Mutual Friend is steeped in the gloomy atmosphere and foreboding imagery that one associates with the modern suspense thriller.” —The New York Times

These three novels by the great American satirist transport readers across the ocean to Europe and back in time to Camelot and the Hundred Years'War. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court: A supervisor at a firearms factory in Hartford, Connecticut, Hank Morgan inexplicably finds himself transported back in time to Camelot. Worse still, he is brought before the Round Table and sentenced to burn at the stake. Will Hank die at the hands of King Arthur's knights, or can his Yankee ingenuity save him? A seminal work of time travel fiction, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is also an enduring comedic classic. A Tramp Abroad: Based on true events, Mark Twain's travelogue through late nineteenth-century Europe is embellished with fictional tales and a made-up travel partner. Wandering mostly on foot, Twain meanders through Germany, the French and Swiss Alps, and Northern Italy. He also ventures down the Neckar river by raft, ascends Mont Blanc by telescope, and experiences European life with his usual penetrating wit, infectious curiosity, and timeless humor. Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc: Twain's final novel—and, by his own account, his best—is an imagined memoir of Joan of Arc. Beginning with her humble childhood in the French village of Domrémy, it recounts her visions of Archangels and her taking control of the French army at the age of seventeen. From her victory over the English at Orléans and her Bloodless March to Rheims, the story progresses finally to Joan's tragic defeat and execution by the English.

These four timeless classics of American fiction explore the trials of growing up and the hypocrisies of nineteenth-century American life.The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Escaping society, Huckleberry Finn and a runaway slave named Jim take a log raft down the Mississippi River. Their adventures draw them closer together until Huck must make a fateful choice between Jim's freedom and his own salvation. One of the first major novels written in an American vernacular, Mark Twain's masterpiece is an essential part of the United States'national identity.The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: This tale of youth and friendship celebrates life on the Mississippi River with humor and thoughtful consideration of issues such as race, religion, and social taboos. Filled with schoolyard pranks, buried treasure, spooky caves, secret gangs, and grave robbers, this highly entertaining novel boasts a cast of immortal characters, including Huckleberry Finn, Becky Thatcher, Aunt Polly, and the Widow Douglas.The Prince and the Pauper:Set in sixteenth-century England, this historical fable tells the story of a prince and a peasant boy who meet by chance and discover their strikingly similar appearances. The two then craft a plot that could unwittingly upend the monarchy: to temporarily switch clothes, thereby swapping lives.Pudd'nhead Wilson:An enslaved woman switches her infant son with her master's child. A New York lawyer moves to the South and is immediately and forever branded a “pudd'nhead.” Two Italian noblemen in Missouri become suspects in the murder of a local judge. From these disparate plot strands, Twain fashions a humorous tale of mystery—and a clear-eyed indictment of slavery.

This collection of works by the great Irish author includes his most famous novel, an intimate memoir written from prison, and four delightful fairy tales. The Picture of Dorian Gray: Infatuated with his own youth and beauty, Dorian Gray wishes that his portrait would grow old instead of him. When his wish comes true, both his age and his sins are recorded on the canvas. Freed from the physical toll of his wrongdoings, Dorian turns on his friends and drives his lover to suicide, all in the pursuit of pleasure. To society, he remains handsome and glowing. In the painting, he is hideous. But only one of these images can be real. De Profundis: In 1891, Oscar Wilde began an affair with Lord Alfred Douglas, known to his friends as Bosie. Taken to court by Bosie's father, Wilde was sent to prison for “gross indecency”—and wrote this stunning autobiographical work from his cell. Detailing the wrongs done to him by Bosie and his family, Wilde also traces his spiritual growth while imprisoned, transforming his hardship into art. A House of Pomegranates: This collection presents four of Wilde's darkly enchanting fairy tales. In “The Young King,” a shepherd's son finds himself next in line for the throne. A dwarf performs for a Spanish princess in “The Birthday of the Infanta.” In “The Fisherman and His Soul,” a man faces a terrible choice after falling in love with a mermaid. And an arrogant young boy, who believes he is the son of an actual star, learns a bitter lesson when he is brought down to earth in “The Star-Child.”

Set in England and Scotland, this historical novel is inspired by the life of a Jacobite and outlaw who became a hero to his people. Narrated by Frank, a merchant's son in search of help for his family's troubled business, this sweeping tale is based on the life and times of Rob Roy MacGregor. Enmeshed in a rivalry with a conniving cousin and filled with yearning for a woman who belongs to another, Frank encounters the charismatic Highlander who will change his life, in this tale set in a world of fox hunts and duels, rebels and spies, and timeless romance and adventure.

The classic political satire about an imaginary ideal world by one of the Renaissance's most fascinating figures.Named after a word that translates literally to “nowhere,” Utopia is an island dreamed up by Thomas More, a devout Catholic, English statesman, and Renaissance humanist who would be canonized as a saint centuries after he was executed for choosing God over king. More's novel introduces us to Utopia's society and its customs. It is a place of no private property and no lawyers; of six-hour workdays and simple ways; and, intriguingly, of a combination of values that blend the traditional with the highly controversial, from euthanasia to married priests to slavery. Remarkably thought-provoking, it is a novel that asks us to question what makes a perfect world—and whether such a thing is even possible.

A middle-aged stockbroker leaves his family to become an artist in this novel inspired by the life of Paul Gauguin from “a notable and original writer” (The New York Times). From the author of The Razor's Edge and Of Human Bondage, The Moon and Sixpence tells the story of Charles Strickland, who suddenly deserts his wife and children in order to devote his life to painting. Unpleasant in manner yet strangely charismatic, he makes his way to Paris, Marseilles, and finally Tahiti, producing works of genius that few in his lifetime appreciate—while those he left behind speculate about what drove him to abandon them so abruptly. “A notable and original writer... Mr. Maugham digresses whenever he happens to feel like it, and his digressions never cause him to lose the reader's attention, but instead rather strengthen his hold on it. His comments are sometimes brilliant, always shrewd—often disconcertingly so. He has a way of getting beneath the surface.” —The New York Times

The classic novel about the downsides of small-town life by the Nobel Prize–winning author of Babbitt and It Can't Happen Here. Carol is a relatively worldly and educated woman, and when she marries a doctor and follows him to his hometown of Gopher Prairie, Minnesota, she hopes to put the things she has learned into practice and contribute to the improvement of her new community. But the locals are far from welcoming, in this satirical masterpiece by one of the twentieth century's most accomplished novelists, famed for chronicling the foibles of American culture.

From the author of The Mayor of Casterbridge, this novel follows a woman torn between a wealthy, unfaithful husband and the humble woodsman she truly loves.As a young woman in a small village, Grace Melbury expects to one day marry her sweetheart, Giles. But her ambitious father has decided that her upbringing would be wasted on such a man, and pressures her to wed the doctor Fitzpiers instead. It soon becomes clear that Fitzpiers has little more to offer Grace than social status. His dalliances with other women lead to the couple's gradual estrangement, and even Grace's father recognizes him as a scoundrel. But Grace's dream of reuniting with her childhood beau may be doomed to failure in this heartrending story of true love denied.

An insightful novel about two women in Edwardian England and the men who pursue them by the author of Mrs. Dalloway.Exploring themes of love, marriage, and freedom, Night and Day follows four characters: a privileged woman who prefers her solitude; a vicar's daughter who is fighting for women's suffrage; a lawyer caught in an obsessive romantic fixation; and a struggling writer who seeks a bride more for the sake of his career than for love. It is an absorbing story of passion and conflict, and a portrait of the expectations, anxieties, and hopes of men and women in a time of great social change.

The second—and only historical—book from the author of Jane Eyre: “Revolutionary... Brontë's most feminist novel.” (Lyndall Gordon, author of Charlotte Brontë: A Passionate Life). Shirley, Charlotte Brontë's second novel, following Jane Eyre, tells the story of two women of radically different circumstances, whose bond of friendship helps them emotionally navigate the romantic entanglements of Victorian society. The quiet and shy Caroline Helstone was raised lovingly yet sternly by her uncle in a Yorkshire rectory. Shirley Keeldar is a bold and beautiful heiress whose wealth catches the eye of the ambitious—though nearly bankrupt—Robert Moore. All three lives will become entangled in matters of the heart, as both women struggle to find their own way in a changing society. Caroline and Shirley's friendship and their contrasting life conditions and views of traditional gender roles make this novel “as interesting and relevant today as when Brontë wrote it” (Curled Up with a Good Book). “Charlotte Bronte sure knew how to write a sizzling romance.... Overall, there's plenty of great passion, Charlotte Bronte's descriptions are lyrical and second to none.” —The Vince Review “Shirley, which differs considerably from Jane Eyre, declares its affinity with Benjamin Disraeli's Sibyl and Elizabeth Gaskell's Mary Barton and North and South. The novel contains an explicit social discourse about the Condition of England aimed at highlighting the class and gender divide and its possible social consequences.” —The Victorian Web