Agnes Grey, written by Anne Brontë, draws heavily from personal experience to represent the many 19th Century women who worked as governesses and suffered daily abuse as a result of their position.

After losing the family savings, Richard Grey withdraws from family life, leaving his youngest daughter, Agnes, feeling helpless and frustrated. Determined to take control and gain freedom, Agnes applies for a job as a governess to the children of a wealthy English family. Arriving at the Bloomfield mansion armed with confidence and purpose, she soon faces the harsh reality of her position.

The cruelty of the family slowly strips Agnes of her dignity and belief in humanity. This tale of female bravery in the face of isolation and subjugation is a masterpiece, with a simple prosaic style that propels the narrative forward in a gentle yet rhythmic manner.

Anne Brontë, the somewhat lesser-known Brontë sister, was the first to publish her work under the pseudonym Acton Bell. Her brave voice resonates during one of the most prejudiced and patriarchal times of English history.

Alice Walker's iconic modern classic, The Color Purple, is a powerful cultural touchstone of modern American literature that depicts the lives of African American women in early twentieth-century rural Georgia. Separated as girls, sisters Celie and Nettie sustain their loyalty to and hope in each other across time, distance, and silence.

Through a series of letters spanning twenty years, first from Celie to God, then the sisters to each other despite the unknown, the novel draws readers into its rich and memorable portrayals of Celie, Nettie, Shug Avery, and Sofia and their experiences. The Color Purple broke the silence around domestic and sexual abuse, narrating the lives of women through their pain and struggle, companionship and growth, resilience and bravery.

Deeply compassionate and beautifully imagined, Alice Walker's epic carries readers on a spirit-affirming journey towards redemption and love.

The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists is a semi-autobiographical novel by Robert Tressell, following the struggle of a house painter to find employment in the fictional town of Mugsborough, based on Hastings. Originally published after Tressell's death, the novel tells a compelling tale of a working-class family trying to avoid the workhouse.

The book captures the desperation and misery of a twelve-month struggle to survive, offering a unique insight into the lives of the working poor during the early 20th century. A remarkable and poignant work of social commentary that remains relevant to this day.

Through its emblematic characters, the novel argues for a socialist politics as the only hope for a civilized and humane life for all. It is a timeless work whose political message is as relevant today as it was in Tressell's time.

One of E. M. Forster's most celebrated novels, A Room With a View is the story of a young English middle-class girl, Lucy Honeychurch. While vacationing in Italy, Lucy meets and is wooed by two gentlemen, George Emerson and Cecil Vyse. After turning down Cecil Vyse's marriage proposals twice, Lucy finally accepts. Upon hearing of the engagement, George protests and confesses his true love for Lucy.

Lucy is torn between the choice of marrying Cecil, who is a more socially acceptable mate, and George, who she knows will bring her true happiness. A Room With a View is a tale of classic human struggles such as the choice between social acceptance or true love.

Oscar Wilde's tale of the American family moved into a British mansion, Canterville Chase, much to the annoyance of its tired ghost. The family -- which refuses to believe in him -- is in Wilde's way a commentary on the British nobility of the day -- and on the Americans, too. The tale, like many of Wilde's, is rich with allusion, but ends as sentimental romance...

The Four Quartets is a series of four poems by T.S. Eliot, published individually from 1936 to 1942, and in book form in 1943. It was considered by Eliot himself to be his finest work.

Each of the quartets has five "movements" and each is titled by a place name:

• BURNT NORTON (1936)
• EAST COKER (1940)
• THE DRY SALVAGES (1941)
• LITTLE GIDDING (1942)

Eliot's insights into the cyclical nature of life are revealed through themes and images woven throughout the four poems. Spiritual, philosophical, and personal themes emerge through symbolic allusions and literary and religious references from both Eastern and Western thought.

The work addresses the connections of the personal and historical present and past, spiritual renewal, and the very nature of experience. It is considered the poet's clearest exposition of his Christian beliefs.

The Testaments, Margaret Atwood's highly anticipated sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, unfolds the darkly compelling story of Gilead more than fifteen years after Offred's ambiguous end. With The Testaments, Atwood opens the innermost workings of Gilead and brings the iconic story to a dramatic conclusion through the voices of three female narrators.

Two of the narrators, Daisy and Agnes, have grown up as part of the first generation in the new order of Gilead. They are joined by a third voice, Aunt Lydia, who wields power through the ruthless accumulation and deployment of secrets. Each woman is forced to come to terms with who she is, and how far she will go for what she believes.

As the regime of Gilead begins to rot from within, these three women's lives converge in a potentially explosive manner. The Testaments answers the questions that have tantalized readers for decades, offering a harrowing and exhilarating exploration of resistance against oppression.

Barchester Towers, published in 1857, is the sequel to Trollope’s The Warden and continues the story of the clerical doings in the fictional cathedral town of Barchester. As this novel opens, the old Bishop of Barchester lies dying, and there is considerable doubt as to who will replace him. The Bishop’s son Dr. Grantly, the Archdeacon, has high hopes of succeeding him, but these hopes are dashed and a new Bishop, Dr. Proudie, is appointed.

Along with Dr. Proudie comes his domineering wife and their ambitious chaplain the Reverend Mr. Slope. The old clerical party headed by Dr. Grantly and the new, championed by Mrs. Proudie and Mr. Slope, are soon in contention over Church matters. These two parties represent a then-significant struggle between different evangelical approaches in the Church of England.

One local issue in particular is fought over—the appointment of a new Warden for Hiram’s Hospital, the focus of the preceding book. Mrs. Eleanor Bold is the daughter of Mr. Harding, the prior Warden. She has recently been widowed. The wealth she inherited from her late husband makes her an attractive match, and her affections are in contention from several prospective suitors, including the oily Mr. Slope. All of this lends itself to considerable humor and interest.

Though not well received by critics on its initial publication, Barchester Towers is now regarded as one of Trollope’s most popular novels.

Watchmen, the Hugo Award-winning graphic novel, is a groundbreaking deconstruction of the superhero concept, set in an alternate history where the existence of superheroes has dramatically altered the course of events. This seminal work by Alan Moore with art by Dave Gibbons follows a group of former heroes as they grapple with their past glories and present failings, all while an ominous threat looms over them.

The narrative unfolds from a simple murder mystery into a complex commentary on power, corruption, and what it means to be human. The series has been both critically acclaimed and commercially successful, serving as a gateway to other iconic graphic novels and influencing the medium of comics as a whole.

Watchmen remains a perennial favorite, continuing to captivate readers with its rich storytelling and intricate artwork. Its impact is evident in its lasting presence in academic discussions, pop culture, and the hearts of fans around the world.

Diary of a Drug Fiend was Aleister Crowley's first published novel. To the reader of 1922, it presented a shocking look at a little-known phenomenon. Today, while we are more familiar with drugs due to their widespread use in our culture, Diary of a Drug Fiend remains one of the most intense, detailed, and accurate accounts of drug addiction and the drug experience.

The book was written by Crowley after years of deep personal study and experimentation with drugs. It tells the story of a young man and woman who fall madly in love and whirl through Europe in a frenzied haze of heroin and cocaine adventure. Their ecstasy is brought to an abrupt end when their drug supply is cut off, and despair replaces joy. Through the guidance of King Lamus, a master Adept, they free themselves from the entanglements of addiction by the application of practical Magick.

The narrative carries the reader aloft through the brilliance of the imagery created by this master of language; his prose development parallels the growth and increasing depth of his characters in an uncanny fashion. This is a book to be read and reread.

A Hero of Our Time is a novel by Mikhail Lermontov, written in 1839, published in 1840, and revised in 1841. It is an example of the superfluous man novel, noted for its compelling Byronic hero (or antihero) Pechorin and for the beautiful descriptions of the Caucasus.

Pechorin treats women as an incentive for endless conquests and does not consider them worthy of any particular respect. He considers women such as Princess Mary to be little more than pawns in his games of romantic conquest, which in effect hold no meaning in his listless pursuit of pleasure. This is shown in his comment on Princess Mary: "I often wonder why I'm trying so hard to win the love of a girl I have no desire to seduce and whom I'd never marry." The only contradiction in Pechorin's attitude to women are his genuine feelings for Vera, who loves him despite, and perhaps due to, all his faults.

At the end of "Princess Mary" one is presented with a moment of hope as Pechorin gallops after Vera. The reader almost assumes that a meaning to his existence may be attained and that Pechorin can finally realize that true feelings are possible. Yet a lifetime of superficiality and cynicism cannot be so easily eradicated and when fate intervenes and Pechorin's horse collapses, he undertakes no further effort to reach his one hope of redemption: "I saw how futile and senseless it was to pursue lost happiness. What more did I want? To see her again? For what?"

Pechorin's chronologically last adventure, was first described in the book, showing the events that explain his upcoming fall into depression and retreat from society, resulting in his self-predicted death. The narrator is Maxim Maximytch telling the story of a beautiful Circassian princess 'Bela', whom Azamat abducts for Pechorin in exchange for Kazbich's horse. Maxim describes Pechorin's exemplary persistence to convince Bela to give herself sexually to him, in which she with time reciprocates. After living with Bela for some time, Pechorin starts explicating his need for freedom, which Bela starts noticing, fearing he might leave her. Though Bela is completely devoted to Pechorin, she says she's not his slave, rather a daughter of a Circassian tribal Chieftain, also showing the intention of leaving if he 'doesn't love her'. Maxim's sympathy for Bela makes him question Pechorin's intentions. Pechorin admits he loves her and is ready to die for her, but 'he has a restless fancy and insatiable heart, and that his life is emptier day by day'. He thinks his only remedy is to travel, to keep his spirit alive.

Alone and lost—on the North Slope of Alaska, Miyax rebels against a home situation she finds intolerable. She runs away toward San Francisco, toward her pen pal, who calls her Julie. But soon Miyax is lost in the Alaskan wilderness, without food, without even a compass.

Slowly she is accepted by a pack of Arctic wolves, and she comes to love them as though they were her brothers. With their help, and drawing on her father’s training, she struggles day by day to survive. In the process, she is forced to rethink her past, and to define for herself the traditional riches of Eskimo life: intelligence, fearlessness, and love.

Jeanne, fille de Simon-Jacques et d'Adélaïde des Vauds, est une aristocrate qui, à ses dix-sept ans, quitte le couvent. Elle s'en va donc de chez elle ; ses parents lui lèguent un château pour y vivre. Elle rencontre Julien de Lamare quelques jours après sa sortie du couvent. Ce dernier trompe Jeanne avec sa domestique, qui tombe enceinte, puis avec une voisine qui se disait amie de Jeanne.

Elle accouche prématurément de son premier enfant, Paul, qui connaît des problèmes de santé. Paul part suivre des études au collège du Havre. Jeanne se retrouve ainsi seule après la mort du baron, de la baronne et de sa tante. Alors qu'elle est rongée par la tristesse et qu'elle tombe dans une dépression que la solitude n'adoucit pas, Jeanne retrouve par hasard Rosalie, son ancienne domestique.

À cause des dépenses abusives de son fils qui ne cesse de s'endetter, Jeanne se trouve en difficultés financières. Elle vend alors le château, qui pourtant lui tient énormément à cœur, et emménage ailleurs avec Rosalie.

The desert planet Arrakis, called Dune, has been destroyed. Now, the Bene Gesserit, heirs to Dune's power, have colonized a green world and are turning it into a desert, mile by scorched mile.

Here is the last book Frank Herbert wrote before his death. A stunning climax to the epic Dune legend that will live on forever.

Book three in Frank Herbert's magnificent Dune Chronicles—one of the most significant sagas in the history of literary science fiction.

The Children of Dune are twin siblings Leto and Ghanima Atreides, whose father, the Emperor Paul Muad'Dib, disappeared in the desert wastelands of Arrakis nine years ago. Like their father, the twins possess supernormal abilities—making them valuable to their manipulative aunt Alia, who rules the Empire in the name of House Atreides.

Facing treason and rebellion on two fronts, Alia's rule is not absolute. The displaced House Corrino is plotting to regain the throne while the fanatical Fremen are being provoked into open revolt by the enigmatic figure known only as The Preacher. Alia believes that by obtaining the secrets of the twins' prophetic visions, she can maintain control over her dynasty.

But Leto and Ghanima have their own plans for their visions—and their destinies....

Includes an introduction by Brian Herbert.

Ein Liebesbrief erreicht den Romancier und Lebemann R. an seinem einundvierzigsten Geburtstag – die leidenschaftliche Lebensbeichte einer Frau, deren Lebensmittelpunkt er war. Doch sie ist für ihn nur eine belanglose Geliebte unter vielen geblieben, letztlich eine Unbekannte.

"Ich klage Dich nicht an, mein Geliebter, nein, ich klage Dich nicht an", verspricht sie, und doch stellen ihre glühenden Worten das Leben dieses Mannes, der "nur das Leichte, das Spielende, das Gewichtlose" lieben kann und vor Bindungen zurückscheut aus "Angst, in ein Schicksal einzugreifen", vollständig in Frage.

Stefan Zweig versteht es meisterhaft, starke Emotionen in eindringliche Worte zu übersetzen, die lange nachhallen.

At the beginning of Pudd'nhead Wilson, a young slave woman, fearing for her infant son's life, exchanges her light-skinned child with her master's. From this rather simple premise, Mark Twain fashioned one of his most entertaining, funny, yet biting novels.

On its surface, Pudd'nhead Wilson possesses all the elements of an engrossing nineteenth-century mystery: reversed identities, a horrible crime, an eccentric detective, a suspenseful courtroom drama, and a surprising, unusual solution. Yet, it is not a mystery novel.

Seething with the undercurrents of antebellum southern culture, the book is a savage indictment in which the real criminal is society, and racial prejudice and slavery are the crimes.

Written in 1894, Pudd'nhead Wilson glistens with characteristic Twain humor, with suspense, and with pointed irony: a gem among the author's later works.

La Bête humaine is a gripping tale where the instinct of death looms large over the protagonist, Jacques Lantier, a locomotive mechanic. He is acutely aware of how this instinct disguises itself under various appetites, and how the Idea of Death lurks beneath all fixed ideas.

Jacques, a young man, distances himself from women, wine, money, and ambitions, having renounced his instincts. His sole focus is his machine. He understands that the cerebral fissure introduces death into all instincts, working through them. At the origin or end of every instinct, it is about killing, and perhaps also being killed.

Zola, in this novel, powerfully evokes life at the end of the Second Empire in France, where society seemed to be hurtling into the future like the new locomotives and railways it was building. While expressing hope that human nature evolves through education and gradually frees itself of inherited evil, he constantly reminds us of the beast within.

First published in 1922, The Beautiful and the Damned followed Fitzgerald's impeccable debut, This Side of Paradise, thus securing his place in the tradition of great American novelists. Embellished with the author's lyrical prose, here is the story of Harvard-educated, aspiring aesthete Anthony Patch and his beautiful wife, Gloria. As they await the inheritance of his grandfather's fortune, their reckless marriage sways under the influence of alcohol and avarice.

A devastating look at the nouveau riche, and the New York nightlife, as well as the ruinous effects of wild ambition, The Beautiful and the Damned achieved stature as one of Fitzgerald's most accomplished novels. Its distinction as a classic endures to this day.

When an unidentified “monster” threatens international shipping, French oceanographer Pierre Aronnax and his unflappable assistant Conseil join an expedition organized by the US Navy to hunt down and destroy the menace. After months of fruitless searching, they finally grapple with their quarry, but Aronnax, Conseil, and the brash Canadian harpooner Ned Land are thrown overboard in the attack, only to find that the “monster” is actually a futuristic submarine, the Nautilus, commanded by a shadowy, mystical, preternaturally imposing man who calls himself Captain Nemo.

Thus begins a journey of 20,000 leagues—nearly 50,000 miles—that will take Captain Nemo, his crew, and these three adventurers on a journey of discovery through undersea forests, coral graveyards, miles-deep trenches, and even the sunken ruins of Atlantis. Jules Verne’s novel of undersea exploration has been captivating readers ever since its first publication in 1870, and Frederick Paul Walter’s reader-friendly, scientifically meticulous translation of this visionary science fiction classic is complete and unabridged down to the smallest substantive detail.

The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, commonly referred to simply as Doctor Faustus, is an Elizabethan tragedy by Christopher Marlowe, based on German stories about the title character Faust, that was first performed sometime between 1588 and Marlowe's death in 1593. Two different versions of the play were published in the Jacobean era, several years later.

The powerful effect of early productions of the play is indicated by the legends that quickly accrued around them—that actual devils once appeared on the stage during a performance, to the great amazement of both the actors and spectators, a sight that was said to have driven some spectators mad.

The Diary of a Nobody began as a serial in Punch and the book which followed in 1892 has never been out of print. The Grossmith brothers not only created an immortal comic character but produced a clever satire of their society. Mr. Pooter is an office clerk and upright family man in a dull 1880s suburb. His diary is a wonderful portrait of the class system and the inherent snobbishness of the suburban middle classes. It sends up contemporary crazes for Aestheticism, spiritualism, and bicycling, as well as the fashion for publishing diaries by anybody and everybody.

Weedon Grossmith's illustrations add to the humor and depth of the story, making it both a celebration and critique of the mundane yet decent suburban life. The hilarious and painfully familiar world of Charles Pooter is a testament to the timeless nature of English suburban life.

White Fang is part dog, part wolf, and the lone survivor of his family. In his lonely world, he soon learns to follow the harsh law of the North—kill or be killed. But nothing in White Fang's life can prepare him for the cruel owner who turns him into a vicious killer. Will White Fang ever know the kindness of a gentle master?

A classic tale of mischance and mischief based on the original adventures.

A naughty wooden puppet gets into trouble, disobeys his father, forgets his promises, and skips through life looking for fun. Just like a "real boy." Until he learns that to become truly real, he must open his heart and think of others.

THE INVISIBLE MAN lets loose a reign of terror! He assaults people, damages property and creates utter chaos. In a blind burst of fire, he gets injured, but manages to escape. He takes shelter at the house of Dr. Kemp, a scientist, who turns out to be an old college fellow.

The Invisible Man unfolds before Dr. Kemp, an incredible tale about the amazing powers of Science, by revealing the secret of his invisibility. How does Dr. Kemp react to the story? H. G. Wells, a master of science fiction, brings you this gripping tale, guaranteed to hold your attention till the very end.