Eloise Fairfax
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Thomas Hardy's "The Woodlanders" was first published serially in 1887. The tale takes place in the woodland village of Little Hintock and is centers around the romantic dramas of its inhabitants. The story begins with Giles Winterborne, an honest woodsman, who wishes to marry his childhood sweetheart, Grace Melbury. While the two have been informally betrothed to each other since they were young, Grace gains an education through her father's persistent...
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Venture to a world of fairies and flowers in this nineteenth-century collection of stories and poems from the beloved author of Little Women. At the tender age of sixteen, Louisa May Alcott's imagination was already in full bloom. From tales she told her neighbor, Ellen, daughter of Ralph Waldo Emerson, she wove together stories and songs about fairies, elves, talking flowers, and animals. With innocence and whimsy, Alcott revealed the shadowy kingdom...
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"A Tramp Abroad" is a work of travel literature, including a mixture of autobiography and fictional events, by American author Mark Twain, published in 1880. The book details a journey by the author, with his friend Harris (a character created for the book, and based on his closest friend, Joseph Twichell), through central and southern Europe. While the stated goal of the journey is to walk most of the way, the men find themselves using other forms...
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Louisa May Alcott, more famously known for her „Little Women" series, takes a familiar nursery rhyme and creates a whole novel out of it in one of her last books „Jack and Jill: A Village Story". The story follows the lives of two 13-year-old neighbors, Jack and Jill, in the fictional Harmony Village. They go sledding on the first day of the season whereupon their adventurous natures and competitiveness get the better of them. After sledding down...
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A certain eighteenth-century German noble ventured abroad for military service and returned with a series of amusingly outrageous stories. Baron Munchausen's astounding feats included riding cannonballs, traveling to the Moon, and pulling himself out of a bog by his own hair. Listeners delighted in hearing about these unlikely adventures, and in 1785, the stories were collected and published as Baron Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvellous Travels...
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The final novel by Charles Dickens, "The Mystery of Edwin Drood", was unfinished at the time of his death in 1870. The novel revolves around John Jasper, choirmaster and opium addict, who is the guardian of his orphaned nephew Edwin Drood. Before the death of his parents, Edwin was promised to marry Rosa Bud, another orphan, but their affections have cooled upon reaching adulthood. Rosa has also attracted the affections of Jasper, her teacher, as...
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When tragedy strikes on his son's wedding day, Lord Manfred believes it is a foreboding omen, and will do whatever it takes to stop it-no matter how immoral.
Set in the 18th century, The Castle of Otranto begins on the day Manfred's son, Conrad, was meant to be married. Known for his sickly nature, Conrad is the eldest child of two, and is set to marry Princess Isabella, a union that would reap strong benefits for the noble family. However, when...
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The Book of Dragons (1899) is a collection of children's stories by English writer Edith Nesbit. Comprising eight stories originally published in 1899 in The Strand Magazine, The Book of Dragons is a work that explores the magic and wonder of mythical beasts for children and adults alike.
In "The Book of Beasts," a young prince named Lionel is named the next king. After his coronation, he goes to the palace library for the first time, where he discovers...
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Edith Wharton was an American novelist, poet and short story writer whose works display her mastery over the realistic fiction genre. In 1922, two years after winning the Pulitzer Prize for "The Age of Innocence", Wharton wrote "The Glimpses of the Moon". The novel centered around two young newlyweds, who arranged their marriage in order to take advantage of their wealthy friends' generosity. However, things do not end quite as they planned when they...
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First published in 1751, "An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals" by David Hume, the Scottish Enlightenment philosopher, was the enquiry subsequent to his 1748 work "Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding" and is often referred to as "the second Enquiry". In Hume's own opinion it was the very best of all his writings. In "An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals", Hume expands upon his ideas of morality first discussed in his earlier...
11) Eight Cousins
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Eight Cousins (1875) is a novel by American author, feminist, and abolitionist Louisa May Alcott. Based on her experience of being raised by a father dedicated to education reform, and grounded in her radical beliefs on the role of women in society, Eight Cousins is a masterpiece of children's literature that explores themes of family, death, and perseverance.
Rose Campbell is a young girl when her parents pass away. Orphaned, she is taken to the...
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Louisa May Alcott created a story that impresses through its simplicity and is able to help teenagers regain their trust and self-confidence even today. Exploring themes that revolve around family issues, being disregarded and rejected by friends, and the struggles of a young girl in the big city, An Old-Fashioned Girl is a tale that girls and women are able to closely identify with, many having been able to find solace in Alcott's fascinating and...
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From the mysterious Druids and noble King Alfred to the notorious Henry VIII and the Glorious Revolution of 1688, Charles Dickens traced his country's history for the benefit of young Victorians. Written with the beloved storyteller's customary panache, this series of historical vignettes reads like a fast-paced novel, rich in anecdotes and colorful stories. Dickens' unsparing, witty, and opinionated perspectives on the great pageant of English history...
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This is a story about the beautiful and immortal Ayesha. The expedition is sent to an unexplored part of Africa, where the group finds Ayesha, who claims the expedition's leader is the reincarnation of her long-dead beloved. Ayesha became ageless and absolutely beautiful over 2 thousand years ago, plunging into a magical fire. Her only desire is to reunite with her beloved man. She makes the expedition leader to immerse himself as well.
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The People of the Mist, an intoxicating mix of adventure, fantasy, and romance, is an underappreciated classic of English literature. Lesser-known among Rider's works, this novel is perhaps more famous for being the origin of the phrase "Per Ardua ad Astra"-through hardship to the stars-than it is as a story that endures over a century after its publication.
Shaken by the loss of his fortune, abandoned by the woman he was to marry, Leonard Outram...
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"Hospital Sketches" by Louisa May Alcott stands as a poignant testament to the human spirit amidst the turmoil of the American Civil War. This slim yet powerful volume encapsulates Alcott's firsthand experiences as a nurse, weaving together a collection of vivid narratives that offer an unfiltered glimpse into the stark realities of wartime hospitals and the resilient souls who inhabited them.
In this autobiographical work, Alcott paints a vivid...
17) Cleopatra
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This captivating historical romance adventure, Cleopatra's story in literature, transports readers to Ancient Egypt, bringing to life the tale of the legendary queen Cleopatra. In this H. Rider Haggard classic, “Cleopatra” unveils a world of ancient mysteries, supernatural events, and royal intrigue. This enchanting fantasy romance drama set in antiquity follows the life of Cleopatra, exploring themes of power, love, and destiny.
Immerse yourself...
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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 out...
19) The Ambassadors
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First published in 1903 in serial form, Henry James' "The Ambassadors" is the story of the middle-aged and naïve Lewis Lambert Strether, who travels to Europe at the behest of his widowed fiancée to find her supposedly wayward son, Chad Newsome. Mrs. Newsome fears he has fallen under the spell of a sinful woman and Strether must rescue him. With the intent of bringing Chad back to America and to his post at the family business, Strether encounters...
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The Story of the Treasure Seekers (1899) is a children's novel by English writer Edith Nesbit. The first book in Nesbit's beloved Bastable trilogy-which also includes The Wouldbegoods (1901) and The New Treasure Seekers (1904)-The Story of the Treasure Seekers is a story of family, adventure, and mystery for children and adults alike.
The Bastable siblings-Dora, Oswald, Dicky, Alice, Noel, and Horace Octavius-are clever and curious children who...