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The women of an English country village star in this Victorian classic that inspired a BBC series, from the author of North and South. Welcome to Cranford, where everyone knows one another and a cow wears pajamas. It's a community built on friendship and kindness, where women hold court and most of the houses—and men—are rarely seen. Two colorful spinster sisters at the heart of Cranford, Miss Matty and Miss Deborah Jenkyns, are daughters of the...

The Willows is a novella by English author Algernon Blackwood, originally published as part of his 1907 collection The Listener and Other Stories. It is one of Blackwood's best known works and has been influential on a number of later writers. Horror author H.P. Lovecraft considered it to be the finest supernatural tale in English literature. "The Willows" is an example of early modern horror and is connected within the literary tradition of weird...

An aging lawyer hires a new copyist to help with his firm's workload, and at first he finds himself pleased with his new employee. Bartleby is quiet, efficient and he doesn't display any of the loud eccentricities of the firm's other two copyists, Nippers and Turkey. But one day, when the lawyer asks Bartleby if he will help him compare copies, Bartleby simply replies, "I would prefer not to." As time goes by and Bartleby's strange refusals multiply,...

A Sicilian Romance (1790) is a novel by Ann Radcliffe. Published anonymously, Radcliffe's second novel is a tragic story of love and murder set in the sublime landscape of the Sicilian coast. Considered an essential work of Gothic fiction, A Sicilian Romance is an early example of her prowess as a leading novelist of suspense and the supernatural. "As I walked over the loose fragments of stone, I recurred, by a natural association of ideas, to the...

First published in 1907, "The Shepherd of the Hills" is Harold Bell Wright's mostly fictional tale of people living in the foothills of the Ozarks. The story is principally concerned with the relationship of Grant Matthews, Sr., affectionately known in his community as "Old Matt", and "The Shepherd of the Hills", a wise old man who has chosen the peace of the backwoods over the hustle and bustle of the city. The Shepherd is a quiet and mysterious...

Step into a world of witty banter and romantic misunderstandings in P. G. Wodehouse's classic comedy, "A Damsel in Distress." From the bustling streets of London to the charming manor of Belpher Castle, this delightful tale whisks you away on a rollercoaster of mishaps and merrymaking. Meet George Bevan, a lovelorn American composer, and Lady Maud Marsh, a spirited damsel yearning for adventure. When fate throws them together in a taxi cab, a...

Castle Rackrent is a sharp critique of class dynamics, the moral ambiguities of loyalty, and the intricate nature of landlord-tenant relationships in Ireland. Edgeworth delves into the flaws and excesses of the Anglo-Irish gentry, depicting a society where privilege and neglect coexist, often to the detriment of the lower classes. Through the narrative of Thady Quirk, the novel exposes the economic and social consequences of mismanagement and exploitation,...

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 eventually...

In this third installment of Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Barsoom" series, "The Warlord of Mars", we follow the extraterrestrial adventures of John Carter, an American Civil War veteran transplanted to Mars. The "Barsoom" series began as a four-part serial in "All-Story Magazine" between December 1913 through March 1914. That first story, "A Princess of Mars", was wildly popular and resulted in numerous sequels. In the series John Carter's encounters with...

This revealing romp through proper society follows three different women who dare to defy Victorian standards. Can You Forgive Her? comically intertwines the stories of three very independent-minded women who each desires to decide her own fate in a world where love comes second to obedience and familial expectations set them apart from their peers. First and foremost is the spirited Alice Vavasor, whose indecision and repeated rejections of two...