| (Anne Bronte)
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| The novel follows Agnes Grey, a governess, as she works in several bourgeois families. Scholarship and comments by Anne's sister Charlotte Bronte suggest the novel is largely based on Anne Bronte's own experiences as a governess for five years. Like her sister Charlotte's novel Jane Eyre, it addresses what the precarious position of governess entailed and how it affected a young woman. [Wikipedia]
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| (Lewis Carroll)
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| This classic story tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by unforgettable characters including the the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts.
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| (Jules Verne)
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| In this classic story Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employed French valet Passepartout attempt to circumnavigate the world in 80 days on a £20,000 wager set by his friends at the Reform Club.
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| (Herman Melville)
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| Billy Budd is a novella which Melville left unfinished at the time of his death in 1891. It was not published until 1924. When Budd strikes and accidentally kills Claggart, the Master-at-Arms, he is court-martialed. This story is often interpreted as being about good and evil, with Billy representing Christ or Adam (before the Fall), and Claggart (who is compared to a snake several times in the text) representing Evil. Part of Claggart's hatred towards Billy comes because of Billy's goodness rather than in spite of it. [Wikipedia]
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| (Fanny Burney)
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| This story is deals with the matrimonial concerns of a group of young people: Camilla Tyrold and her sisters, the sweet tempered Lavinia and the deformed, but extremely kind, Eugenia, and their cousin, the beautiful Indiana Lynmere. In particular it describes the love affair between Camilla herself and her eligible suitor, Edgar Mandlebert. There are, however, many obstacles in the path of true love, caused by misunderstandings and mistakes.
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| (Rudyard Kipling)
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| Harvey Cheyne is the indulged son of a wealthy railroad magnate. Washed overboard from a transatlantic steamship and rescued by fishermen on the Grand Banks, the young Harvey cannot persuade them to take him ashore, nor convince them of his wealth. However, the captain of the fishing boat, Disko Troop, offers him a job as part of the crew until they return to port. With no other choice, Harvey accepts. [Wikipedia]
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| (Charles Dickens)
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| This classic story deals with the life of David Copperfield, from childhood to maturity.David's father died six months before he was born, and seven years later, his mother remarried. His step-father thrashed David for falling behind with his studies and, following one of these thrashings, David retaliated and was sent away to a boarding school. Will David eventually find happiness?
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| (L Frank Baum)
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| This is the fourth book set in the Land of Oz. Dorothy is reunited with the humbug Wizard from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
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| (Jane Austen)
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| This classic novel is concerned with the perils of misconstrued romance. Before she began the novel, Austen wrote, "I am going to take a heroine whom no-one but myself will much like." In the very first sentence she introduces the title character as "Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich." Emma, however, is also rather spoiled; she greatly overestimates her own matchmaking abilities; and she is blind to the dangers of meddling in other people's lives and is often mistaken about the meanings of others' actions.
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| (Thomas Hardy)
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| In this story of unrequited love, Gabriel Oak, unsuccessfully proposes marriage to Bathsheba Everdene. After his sheep are killed in an accident he finds himself working at Weatherby Farm, owned by Bathsheba. However her romantic interest is with William Boldwood and Sergeant Troy. The rivalry between Bathsheba's three suitors has a timeless quality.
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| (Mary Shelley)
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| The title of the novel refers to a scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who learns how to create life and creates a being in the likeness of man, but larger than average and more powerful. In popular culture, people have tended incorrectly to refer to the monster as "Frankenstein". Frankenstein is infused with some elements of the Gothic novel and the Romantic movement, and is also considered to be one of the earliest examples of science fiction. It was also a warning against the expansion of modern man in the Industrial Revolution, alluded to in the novel's subtitle, The Modern Prometheus. The story has had an influence across literature and popular culture and spawned a complete genre of horror stories and films. [Wikipedia]
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| (Charles Dickens)
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| This classic story includes the famous Dickens characters Pip, Miss Havisham, Estella, Magwitch and Mr Jaggers.
At the outset Pip finds food for a convict to eat and a file so that the convict can undo his leg shackles. Many years later, the convict repays this kindness in a surprising way.
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| (Jonathan Swift)
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| This novel, a classic of English fiction, introduces us to the country of Lilliput where the inhabitants are 6 inches (15cm) high. It became very popular upon first publication and has never since been out of print.
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| (Charlotte Bronte)
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| This is a first-person narrative of the title character. The novel goes through five distinct stages: Jane's childhood at Gateshead, where she is emotionally and physically abused by her aunt and cousins; her education at Lowood School, where she acquires friends and role models but also suffers privations; her time as the governess of Thornfield Hall, where she falls in love with her Byronic employer, Edward Rochester; her time with the Rivers family at Marsh's End (or Moor House) and Morton, where her cold clergyman-cousin St John Rivers proposes to her; and her reunion with and marriage to her beloved Rochester. Partly autobiographical, the novel abounds with social criticism. It is a novel considered ahead of its time. In spite of the dark, brooding elements, it has a strong sense of right and wrong, of morality at its core. [Wikipedia]
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| (Rudyard Kipling)
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| The Just So Stories for Little Children tell how various things came about. There are twelve stories, beginning with 'How the Whale got his Throat.'
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| (Robert Louis Stevenson)
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| David Balfour, whose parents have recently died, is out to make his way in the world. He has an introduction to his uncle, Ebenezer Balfour. When David enquires about the location of House of Shaws, where his uncle lives, people speak of it as a place of fear and evil. When David arrives at the house, he is confronted by Ebenezer who armed with a blunderbuss. While staying at the house David begins to suspect that he might be the legitimate heir to the estate. He is subsequently kidnapped and his adventures begin.
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| (Rudyard Kipling)
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| Kim (Kimball O'Hara) is the orphaned son of an Irish soldier and a poor white mother. He lives a hand-to-mouth existence by begging and running small errands on the streets of Lahore. He befriends an aged Tibetan Lama who is on a quest to find the legendary 'River of the Arrow'. Kim accompanies the Llama on his journey and along the way is recruited by the British to carry a message to the British commander in Umballa. Kim's trip with the Lama is the beginning of his adventures.
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| (H Rider Haggard)
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| This classic adventure story tells of a search of an unexplored region of Africa by a group of adventurers led by Allan Quatermain for the missing brother of one of the party. It is the first English fictional adventure novel set in Africa, and is considered to be the genesis of the Lost World literary genre. [Wikipedia]
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| (Ford Madox Ford)
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| This is the fourth novel in the tetralogy "Parade's End" by Ford Madox Ford, published between 1924 and 1928. "Parade's End" is set mainly in England and on the Western Front in World War I, where Ford served as an officer in the Welch Regiment, a life vividly depicted in the novels. "Parade's End" has been ranked as one of the one hundred best English-language works of the 20th century. [Wikipedia]
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| (Jane Austen)
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| Fanny Price, a young girl from a relatively poor family, raised by her rich uncle and aunt, Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram, lives at Mansfield Park. She grows up with her four cousins, Tom Bertram, Edmund Bertram, Maria Bertram and Julia, but is always treated as inferior to them. Over time, Fanny's gratitude for Edmund's kindness secretly grows into romantic love.
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| (Charles Dickens)
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| Young Martin Chuzzlewit was raised by his grandfather and namesake. The senior Martin, a very wealthy man, has been long convinced that everyone around him is after his money, and so takes the precaution, years before the book begins, of raising an orphaned girl, Mary, to be his nursemaid, with the understanding that she would be well cared for as long as he lived, but upon his death be thrown out onto the streets, penniless. She would thus have great motivation to care for his well-being and safeguard him from harm, in contrast to his relatives, who want him to die. However, his grandson and heir, Martin, falls in love with Mary and wishes to marry her, ruining the senior Martin's plans to keep her uninterested in his fortune. He demands his grandson give up the engagement, but the latter refuses, prompting his grandfather to disinherit him.
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| (George Eliot)
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| Subtitled "A Study of Provincial Life," the story is set in the fictitious Midlands town of Middlemarch during the period 1830-32. It has a large cast of characters, and in addition to its distinct though interlocking narratives it pursues a number of underlying themes, including the status of women, the nature of marriage, idealism and self-interest, religion and hypocrisy, political reform, and education. The pace is leisurely, the tone is mildly didactic (with an authorial voice that occasionally bursts through the narrative), and the canvas is very broad. [Wikipedia]
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| (Herman Melville)
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| The classic story of the adventures of the wandering sailor Ishmael, and his voyage on the whale ship 'Pequod,' commanded by Captain Ahab. Ahab is seeking to find and kill Moby Dick, a white sperm whale which had previously destroyed his boat and bitten off his leg.
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| (Daniel Defoe)
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| Defoe's foreword to this novel tells the story:
"The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders &c. Who was Born in Newgate, and during a Life of continu'd Variety for Threescore Years, besides her Childhood, was Twelve Year a Whore, five times a Wife (whereof once to her own Brother), Twelve Year a Thief, Eight Year a Transported Felon in Virginia, at last grew Rich, liv'd Honest, and dies a Penitent. Written from her own Memorandums..."
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| (Jane Austen)
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| This novel follows seventeen-year-old Catherine Morland and family friends Mr. and Mrs. Allen as they visit Bath, England. Catherine is in Bath for the first time. There she meets her friends such as Isabella Thorpe, and goes to balls. Catherine finds herself pursued by Isabella's brother, the rather rough-mannered, slovenly John Thorpe, and by her real love interest, Henry Tilney. She also becomes friends with Eleanor Tilney, Henry's younger sister. Henry captivates her with his view on novels and his knowledge of history and the world. General Tilney (Henry and Eleanor's father) invites Catherine to visit their estate, Northanger Abbey, which, from her reading of Ann Radcliffe's gothic novel The Mysteries of Udolpho, she expects to be dark, ancient and full of Gothic horrors and fantastical mystery. [Wikipedia]
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| (L Frank Baum)
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| This is the third book set in the Land of Oz and the first where the majority of the action takes place outside of the Land of Oz. Only the final two chapters take place in Oz itself. Uncle Henry has been ordered by his doctor to take a vacation from his Kansas farm to Australia. He and his niece Dorothy are aboard a steamship travelling there when they are caught in a fierce storm and separated. Dorothy is blown overboard along with a yellow hen from her uncle's farm that was on the ship. [Wikipedia]
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| (Jane Austen)
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| More than seven years prior to the events in the novel, Anne Elliot falls in love with a handsome young naval officer named Frederick Wentworth, who is intelligent and ambitious, but poor. Sir Walter, Anne's father and lord of the family estate of Kellynch, and her older sister Elizabeth are dissatisfied with her choice, maintaining that he is not distinguished enough for their family. Her older friend and mentor, Lady Russell, acting in place of Anne's deceased mother, persuades her to break off the match. Now, aged 27 and still unmarried, Anne re-encounters her former fiancé when his sister and brother-in-law, the Crofts, take out a lease on Kellynch. Wentworth, now a captain, is wealthy from wartime victories in the Royal Navy and from prize-money for capturing enemy ships. However, he has not forgiven Anne for her rejection of him. The self-interested machinations of Anne's father, her older sister Elizabeth, Elizabeth's friend Mrs. Clay, and William Elliot (Anne's cousin and her f
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| (Jane Austen)
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| This classic novel centres on the Bennet family. The five marriageable Bennet daughters and Mrs Bennet will be without a home and income once Mr Bennet dies.Elizabeth, the heroine, has decided to only marry only for love. Other characters include Mr Bingley, Mr Darcy and Mr Wickham.
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| (Daniel Defoe)
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| This is the classic story of a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote island before being rescued.
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| (Jane Austen)
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| This, Jane Austen's first published novel, centres on Elinor and Marianne Dashwood. When their father dies, the family estate passes to their half-brother, John, and the women are left in reduced circumstances. They move to a cottage on the property of a relative, where they experience both romance and heartbreak.
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| (George Eliot)
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| The novel is set in the early years of the 19th century. Silas Marner is a member of a small Calvinist congregation in Lantern Yard, a slum street in an un-named city in Northern England. He is falsely accused of stealing the congregation's funds while sitting with a very ill elder of the group. Two clues are given against him: a pocket-knife and the discovery of the bag formerly containing the money in his own house. Silas says that he last used the knife to cut some string for his friend William, who leads the campaign against him. Silas is proclaimed guilty and the woman he was to marry casts him off, and later marries William. With his life shattered and his heart broken, he leaves Lantern Yard and the city. [Wikipedia]
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| (Thomas Hardy)
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| The sub-title of this novel is "A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented." According to the mores of the time, Tess would not have been considered "a pure woman" as she has been either seduced or raped by Alec d'Urberville and bears a child to him, who only lives a few days. Later, after she is married to Angel Clare, Tess discloses what had happened with Alec. Angel cannot cope with this and the marriage ends. The rest of the story is concerned with what happens to her during the rest of her life.
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| (L Frank Baum)
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| This is the second of the "Oz" books, and the sequel to "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." Set shortly after the events in the first book, the protagonist is a boy named Tip, who for as long as he can remember has been under the guardianship of a witch named Mombi in Gillikin Country. As Mombi is returning home, Tip plans to frighten her with a scarecrow he has made. Since he has no straw available, Tip instead makes a man out of wood and gives him a pumpkin for a head, naming him Jack Pumpkinhead. Mombi is not fooled, and she takes this opportunity to demonstrate the Powder of Life that she bought from another sorcerer. She sprinkles the powder on Jack, bringing him to life and startling Tip, whom Mombi catches and threatens with revenge.
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| (Thomas Hardy)
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| Michael Henchard, a young hay-trusser, becomes intoxicated and quarrels with his wife, Susan. Spurred by alcohol, he sells his wife and baby daughter, Elizabeth-Jane, to a sailor, Mr. Newson, for five guineas. Once sober the next day, he is too late to recover his family, particularly since his reluctance to reveal his own bad conduct keeps him from conducting an effective search. When he realizes that his wife and daughter are gone, probably for good, he swears not to touch liquor again. Nineteen years later, Henchard, now a successful grain merchant, is the Mayor of Casterbridge, known for his staunch sobriety. He is well respected for his financial acumen and his work ethic, but he is not well liked. [Wikipedia]
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| (Oscar Wilde)
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| The novel tells of Dorian Gray, the subject of a painting by artist Basil Hallward. Basil is impressed by Dorian's beauty and becomes infatuated with him, believing his beauty is responsible for a new mode in his art. Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, a friend of Basil's, and becomes enthralled by Lord Henry's world view. Espousing a new hedonism, Lord Henry suggests the only things worth pursuing in life are beauty and fulfilment of the senses. Realizing that one day his beauty will fade, Dorian whimsically expresses a desire to sell his soul to ensure the portrait which Basil has painted, would age rather than himself. Dorian's wish is fulfilled, plunging him into debauched acts. The portrait serves as a reminder of the effect each act has upon his soul, with each sin displayed as a disfigurement of his form, or through a sign of ageing. [Wikipedia]
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| (Robert Louis Stevenson)
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| This classic story tells of a lawyer, Gabriel John Utterson, who investigates strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr Henry Jekyll, and the misanthropic Edward Hyde. The work is known for its vivid portrayal of a split personality. Within the same person dwells both a good and an evil personality, each being quite distinct from the other. In the English language, the phrase "Jekyll and Hyde" has come to mean a person who is vastly different in moral character from one situation to the next. [Wikipedia]
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| (Anne Bronte)
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| This is the second and final novel by Anne Bronte, published in 1848 under the pseudonym Acton Bell. It is framed as a letter from Gilbert Markham to his friend and brother-in-law about the events leading to his meeting his wife. The novel is considered to be one of the first sustained feminist novels. May Sinclair, in 1913, said that the slamming of Helen's bedroom door against her husband reverberated throughout Victorian England. In escaping from her husband, she violated not only social conventions, but also English law. [Wikipedia]
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| (H G Wells)
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| An English scientist and inventor living in Richmond, Surrey, England, is identified by the narrator as the Time Traveller. The narrator recounts the Traveller's lecture to his weekly dinner guests that time is simply a fourth dimension. The Traveller demonstrates a tabletop model of a machine for travelling through that fourth dimension and reveals that he has built a machine capable of carrying a person. He returns for dinner the following week to recount a remarkable tale, becoming the new narrator. [Wikipedia]
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| (H G Wells)
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| This story describes the experiences of an unnamed narrator who travels through the suburbs of London as the Earth is invaded by Martians. It is one of the earliest stories that details a conflict between mankind and an alien race. The book consists of two parts: The Coming of the Martians; and The Earth under the Martians. The narrator struggles to reunite with his wife, while witnessing the Martians rampaging through the southern English counties. [Wikipedia]
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| (L Frank Baum)
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| This classic story is the first of fourteen "Oz Books" written by L Frank Baum. The story chronicles the adventures in the Land of Oz, of a girl named Dorothy .
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| (Lewis Carroll)
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| This is the sequel to "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." The story starts on a snowy, wintry night exactly six months after the end of the first story. Alice is playing with her kittens--a white kitten (whom she calls "Snowdrop") and a black kitten (whom she calls "Kitty"), the offspring of Dinah, Alice's cat in the first book--when she ponders what the world is like on the other side of a mirror's reflection. Climbing up on the fireplace mantel, she pokes at the wall-hung mirror behind the fireplace and discovers, to her surprise, that she is able to step through it to an alternative world, the Looking-Glass Land. In this reflected version of her own house, she finds a book with looking-glass poetry, "Jabberwocky", whose reversed printing she can read only by holding it up to a mirror. She also observes that the chess-pieces have come to life, though they remain small enough for her to pick up. [Wikipedia]
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| (Robert Louis Stevenson)
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| This classic novel of adventure features characters with such well-known names as Jim Hawkins, Squire Trelawney, Dr. Livesey and Long John Silver. It is as readable now as it must have been when it first appeared in the 1880s. The search for buried treasure makes the book difficult to put down.
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| (Charlotte Bronte)
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| After an unspecified family disaster, Lucy Snowe travels to the fictional city of Villette to teach at an all-girls school where she is unwillingly pulled into both adventure and romance. The novel is celebrated not so much for its plot as its acute tracing of Lucy's psychology, particularly Bronte's use of Gothic doubling to represent externally what her protagonist is suffering internally. [Wikipedia]
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