Elizabeth Gaskell's episodic second novel, sometimes dismissed as nostalgically "charming," is now considered by many critics to be her most sophisticated work. The country town of Cranford is home to a group of women, affectionately called "Amazons" by the narrator, whose seemingly uneventful lives are full of conflicts, failures, and unexpected connections. A rich commentary on Victorian culture by one of its most astute observers, Cranford owes...

Harvey Cheyne, the son of a millionaire, learns lessons about life, responsibility, determination, and self-reliance when, saved from drowning by a fishing schooner, he is forced to share the life and hard work of his rescuers.

Past and Present is a book by Thomas Carlyle.[1] It was published in April 1843 in England and the following month in the United States. It combines medieval history with criticism of 19th-century British society. Carlyle wrote it in seven weeks as a respite from the harassing labor of writing Cromwell. He was, inspired by the recently published Chronicles of the Abbey of Saint Edmund's Bury, which had been written by Jocelin of Brakelond at the close...

"When Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey appeared in 2017--revealing the ancient poem in a contemporary idiom that was "fresh, unpretentious and lean" (Madeline Miller, Washington Post)--critics lauded it as "a revelation" (Susan Chira, New York Times) and "a cultural landmark" (Charlotte Higgins, Guardian) that would forever change how Homer is read in English. Now Wilson has returned with an equally revelatory translation of Homer's other...

A timeless memoir of drug addiction from one of the leading intellectuals of the Victorian age At first, Thomas De Quincey found opium to be a harmless pleasure. A twenty-year-old intellectual living in nineteenth-century London, De Quincey took laudanum sparingly, spacing out his doses so their effect would not be dulled. But after years of casual use, intense stomach pains caused him to rely on the drug more and more, until he was taking opium daily,...

A mill-owner, Robert Moore, is determined to introduce new machinery despite fierce opposition from his workers. He sees marriage to the wealthy Shirley Keeldar as the solution to his difficulties, but he loves his cousin Caroline who suffers misery and frustration.

The Spoils of Poynton is a novel by Henry James, first published under the title The Old Things as a serial in The Atlantic Monthly in 1896 and then as a book in 1897. This novel traces the shifting relations among three human beings and a magnificent collection of art, decorative arts, and furniture arrayed like jewels in a country house called Poynton. Mrs. Gereth, a widow of impeccable taste and iron will, formed the collection over decades only...

Anna Karenina is a timeless masterpiece by Russian author Leo Tolstoy. Set in nineteenth-century Russia, it tells the story of Anna Karenina, a beautiful and charismatic socialite who risks everything for a passionate love affair. The novel explores themes of love, marriage, societal expectations, and the consequences of desire. Through vividly drawn characters and richly detailed settings, Tolstoy delves deep into the human condition, offering a...