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81) The Absentee
On the eve of his coming of age, a young Lord begins to see the truth of his parents' lives: his mother cannot buy her way into society no matter how hard he tries, and his father is being ruined by her continued attempts. The young Lord then travels to his home in Ireland, encountering adventure on the way, and discovers that the native residents are being exploited in his father's absence.
What does it mean to be popular? Is it a mark of good character, or merely a sign that you're well-regarded among an influential group of elites? The hero in Booth Tarkington's tale The Conquest of Canaan has achieved a strange kind of popularity—he's seen as a prince among those who are down on their luck, but to the upper classes and the powerful, he might as well be invisible. Will Joe Loudon be able to channel his limited influence
...Beloved American author Gene Stratton-Porter was one of the first influential female figures to raise awareness about the importance of conservation. Like many of her novels, At the Foot of the Rainbow takes place in a beautiful outdoor setting against which a complex human drama unfolds. Will this strange love triangle come to a happy conclusion, or will it implode in tragedy?
84) Hide and Seek
This domestic drama from beloved author Wilkie Collins focuses on the abiding power of family, whether by birth or by chance. A profoundly disabled girl is adopted by a loving family, but her true origins are shrouded in mystery. When a few intrepid friends begin trying to find out more about her history, a wholly unexpected chain of events is set into motion.
Thomas Hardy (1840 – 1928) was a naturalist and writer, whose fiction sits on the cusp of the Industrial Revolution and is filled with an imminent sense of nostalgia for the coming transformation of the British countryside. He was also a ferocious critic of the unfair treatment of women both sexually and socially in Victorian society. The Romantic Adventures of a Milkmaid is set in Hardy's alternate landscape, called Wessex after the
...Get set for rollicking adventure with this volume from Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs. If your only exposure to the King of the Jungle has been the watered-down cartoon versions, you'll be pleasantly surprised by the depth and nuance that Burroughs conveys in the character.
Regarded by some critics — including Henry James — as her masterpiece, The Country of the Pointed Firs is a short story cycle from American writer Sarah Orne Jewett. It follows the lives of several families in villages in coastal Maine as they struggle to survive amidst hardship and deprivation.
88) The American
The American by renowned novelist Henry James offers readers a fascinating glimpse into the differences—and, though less pronounced—the similarities between American culture and European culture. Regarded as one of the most important American writers of his era, James' deft juxtaposition of these two cultural traditions—set against the backdrop of a subtly nuanced love story—will delight fans of literary fiction.
89) Babbitt
Babbitt is the middle-class, average-American protagonist of this novel. Though he conforms to society and attempts to scale the social ladder, Babbit gradually becomes dissatisfied with the American Dream. He branches out to test other, more rebellious ways of life. He returns to where he began, disillusioned with the equally rigid standards he has found among the non-conformists, though still holding an openness to individuality in his heart.
...Sail off on a fantastical journey with Baron Munchausen, the jocular title character of this whimsical tale from Rudolf Erich Raspe. The book is based on the exploits of a real-life German baron whose stories about the battles in which he fought as a member of the Russian army included details such as riding on a cannonball and flying to the moon. The book was also the basis of a 1988 film adaptation.
91) The Nether World
The residents of the Blithedale farm wish to make it into a modern Arcadia, free from the pollution of society. But they form such a varied, self-interested group, that their efforts are in vain. The misogynistic Hollingsworth wants to turn it into a sanctuary for reformed criminals; the exotic feminist Zenobia is helplessly attracted to Hollingsworth; and the narrator is an unreliable dandy with voyeuristic tendencies. Henry James called The
...93) The Black Robe
In The Black Robe, a strikingly original novel from master storyteller Wilkie Collins, what starts out as a night of fun and games turns tragic when a dispute over a card game leads to murder. Desperate to atone for his sin, the perpetrator tries to offer assistance to the victim's family, but instead finds himself enmeshed all the deeper in a web of falsehoods and intrigue. Will he ever be able to extricate himself and move on with his
...Another entrant in his astoundingly popular series of Christmas parables, Dickens revisits many of the themes and plot devices he first explored in A Christmas Carol in The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain. This novella recounts the supernatural experiences of Professor Redlaw, who learns several life-changing lessons from a mysterious spirit.
Tom Sawyer, Detective follows Twain's popular novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Tom Sawyer Abroad. In this novel, Tom turns detective, trying to solve a murder. Twain plays with and celebrates the detective novel, wildly popular at the time. This novel, like the others, is told through the first-person narrative of Huck Finn.
96) Martin Eden
Jack London's Martin Eden was first published in 1909 and is the story of a young writer's quest for celebrity and love. Much loved by writers who identify with Martin's belief that when he posted a manuscript, 'there was no human editor at the other end, but a mere cunning arrangement of cogs that changed the manuscript from one envelope to another and stuck on the stamps,' that automatically returned it slapped with a rejection slip.
97) Adventure
Though novelist Jack London is best known for the paean to natural wonder that is The Call of the Wild, he had an activist side, as well. In Adventure, London describes and skewers the plantation system of The Solomon Islands in a devastating take-down that is equal parts adventure tale and social justice tract.
The itinerant sailor Ishmael begins a voyage on the whaling ship Pequod whose captain, Ahab, wishes to exact revenge upon the whale Moby-Dick, who destroyed his last ship and took his leg. As they search for the savage white whale, Ishmael questions all aspects of life. The story is woven in complex, lyrical language and uses many theatrical forms, such as stage direction and soliloquy. It is considered the exemplar of American Romanticism,
...The Haunted Bookshop speaks of the ghosts that inhabit all places of books - "the ghosts of all great literature." Christopher Morley's suspenseful 1919 novel continues the story of the bookseller from Parnassus on Wheels, Roger Mifflin, whose character underlines the wisdom and knowledge to be gained from literature and makes allusions and references to many famous works.
100) The Aspern Papers
The Aspern Papers is a novella set in Venice. A young man travels to the city and takes lodgings with an old woman—the former lover of the dead American poet Aspern. The man believes the old woman still has some letters from Aspern and he ingratiates himself with her niece in an attempt to find them. Suspense builds around the motives and actions of James' masterfully drawn characters.
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