Jane Eyre ranks as one of the greatest and most perennially popular works of English fiction. Although the poor but plucky heroine is outwardly of plain appearance, she possesses an indomitable spirit, a sharp wit and great courage. She is forced to battle against the exigencies of a cruel guardian, a harsh employer and a rigid social order. All of which circumscribe her life and position when she becomes governess to the daughter of the mysterious,...

From the moment of his adoption by the Earnshaws, the foundling boy Heathcliff devotes himself to their young daughter Catherine. Growing up together, the two share a love that blossoms into romance, until Catherine's hurtful betrayal. But Heathcliff's emotions know no bounds and acknowledge no limits--not even death. Determined to secure the family estate of Wuthering Heights as his own, the tyrannical Heathcliff vents his bitterness on his and Catherine's...

When the threat of poverty forces Kate Croy and Merton Densher to reconsider their engagement to one another, Kate becomes determined to find a solution. The answer comes in the form of Milly Theale, a rich, young American woman visiting London as a result of her failing health. With a dramatic plan to exploit Milly's wealth and her affection for Merton, Kate believes she will achieve all that she has hoped for. The subsequent unexpected and tragic...

A masterpiece of storytelling, this epic saga pits Ahab, a brooding and fanatical sea captain, against the great white whale that crippled him. In telling the tale of Ahab's passion for revenge and the fateful voyage that ensued, Melville produced far more than the narrative of a hair-raising journey; Moby-Dick is a tale for the ages that sounds the deepest depths of the human soul. Interspersed with graphic sketches of life aboard a whaling vessel,...

The Island of Doctor Moreau is a classic work of early science fiction and one of H. G. Wells' most visionary novels. It recounts the harrowing ordeal of Edward Prendick, an Englishman who survives a shipwreck in the southern Pacific Ocean. Rescued by a man named Montgomery, Prendick finds himself on an island belonging to Dr. Moreau, formerly an eminent physiologist in London who was expelled from his homeland for his cruel vivisection experiments. Prendick...

David Copperfield was born in Blunderstone, England, six months after his father's death. His childhood is very happy, as he has a loving and warm mother and a friendly housekeeper that raise him well despite their lack of money. However, his mother soon remarries a cruel, petty man that doesn't like David. He subjects them both to toxic behavior and child abuse, affecting David's life severely. After his stepfather sends him to a boarding school,...

"The return of the beautiful Countess Olenska into the rigidly conventional society of New York sends reverberations throughout the upper reaches of society. Newland Archer, an eligible young man of the establishment is about to announce his engagement to May Welland, a pretty ingénue, when May's cousin, Countess Olenska, is introduced into their circle. The Countess brings with her an aura of European sophistication and a hint of scandal, having...

"A beautiful edition of the groundbreaking classic novel, with a new introduction by award-winning writer Susan Choi. "Without question one of the two or three finest novels of the twentieth century. Woolf comments on the most pressing dramas of our human predicament: war, mortality, family, love." -Rick Moody, bestselling author of The Ice Storm. The enduring power of this iconic classic flows from the brilliance of its narrative technique and the...

When millions suffer under iron-fisted oppression, when anger and resentment boil into bloody rebellion, when triumph leads to savage vengeance - does one individual life matter? In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens interweaves the intensely personal dramas of Lucie Manette, Charles Darnay, and Sydney Carton with the terror and chaos of the French Revolution. Lucie struggles desperately to restore the health of a father driven mad by years of...

In The Maltese Falcon, Spade is tough enough to bluff the toughest thugs and hold off the police, risking his reputation when a beautiful woman begs for his help, while knowing that betrayal may deal him a new hand in the next moment. Spade's partner is murdered on a stakeout; the cops blame him for the killing; a beautiful redhead with a heartbreaking story appears and disappears; grotesque villains demand a payoff he can't provide; and everyone...