Cranford is set in a small market town populated largely by a number of respectable ladies. It tells of their secrets and foibles, their gossip and their romances as they face the challenges of dealing with new inhabitants to their society and innovations to their settled existence. It was first published between 1851 and 1853 as episodes in Charles Dickens’ Journal Household Words. Appended to this recording is a short sequel, The Cage at Cranford, written ten years later and published in the journal All the Year Round...

Idomen (1843) is the creative-nonfiction memoir of the beautiful and brilliant American poetess Maria Gowen Brooks, who was compared in the 19th century to Byron and Swinburne. In it she tells the story of an ill-fated love affair she had twenty years earlier while traveling with her young son in Canada following the death of her much older husband. The traumatic breakup led to suicide attempts on her part, which romantic masochist Brooks byronically relates in full, albeit changing everybody's name...

It is the third of Huysmans' books to feature the character Durtal, a thinly disguised portrait of the author. He had already featured the character of Durtal in Là-bas and En route, which recounted his conversion to Catholicism. La Cathédrale continues the story. After his retreat at a Trappist monastery, Durtal moves to the city of Chartres, renowned for its cathedral. Huysmans describes the building in great detail. - Summary by Wikipedia

This book tells the story of the Fentriss sisters and their mother. They are educated and rich. They live in a suburb. They are looking for love. Their quest for love leads them to many different places. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote about it: "the novel persuaded certain moralistic people that a woman could be seduced without being immoral". It was scandalous for the time because of the frank descriptions of sexuality and relationships. Yet to the modern readers it may seem as if someone wrote this book only a few years ago...

A Joseph Muller Mystery originally published in 1905 in German as "Die blaue Dame" . Translated by American writer and translator, Grace Isabel Colbron in 1922 as The Lady in Blue. A mysterious old house, an unexplained scream in the night, the death of a beautiful young girl. Was it suicide? Or something more sinister at work? - Summary by J.M.Smallheer

”Let no one make you think that you are too young to serve God. That is not true. As soon as you know right from wrong, you are old enough to begin taking the right way. As soon as you are old enough to be punished for doing wrong, you are old enough to give your heart to God, and to follow Christ.” So Rev. Ryle speaks to children of all ages. He does not speak down to children, for even the littlest ones can understand great spiritual truths. Instead, he teaches them in simple language what it means to be a true follower of Jesus and challenges them to live a better life whatever their age by following Jesus’ example – messages we adults could profit from as well...

Nick Carter is a fictional detective who first appeared in 1886 in dime store novels. Over the years, different authors, all taking the nom de plume Nicholas Carter, have penned stories featuring "America's greatest detective". In this story, Nick receives a letter foretelling of a murder. His wife, Edith, believes it was from a woman... but who is the Brown Robin, and why taunt the great detective? - Summary by Lynne Thompson

This is the third book in the Dorothy Dale series, written under the house pseudonym of Margaret Penrose. "Girls have to have secrets, or they wouldn't be girls, and we have now got ours." In this, the third book in the Dorothy Dale series, written under the house pseudonym of Margaret Penrose, Dorothy proves herself to be a good friend to Tavia. Amid suspicion and worry for her chum, she undertakes the perilous task of 'rescuing' her and saving her reputation with minimal help from her cousins Nat and Ned White and without spreading her concerns, in the hope they be unfounded.

The author used a yearly calendar to focus on pieces written by Southern authors. Many of these writers are little known, having created for their own enjoyment or peace of mind, not necessarily for publication.

A collection of ghost stories featuring Flaxman Low, the first psychic detective of fiction. The stories were first written for Pearson's Magazine and the tales were disconcertingly being promoted by Pearson as "real ghost stories". - Summary by Rapunzelina

This is the eighth collection of our "coffee break" series, involving public domain works that are between 3 and 15 minutes in length. These are great for work/study breaks, commutes, workouts, or any time you'd like to hear a whole story and only have a few minutes to devote to listening. This collection about animals includes tales and essays about the many creatures of land, sea, and air!

The story of a Quaker family's journey from Ohio to Nebraska beginning in 1856. They encounter a mystery which leaves them an orphan girl who will forever change their lives. Blizzard, the Civil War, and Indians and more Indians fill this great adventure which tests their faith and ingenuity while shaping their loves and futures.

This book draws together some of Jane Austen's earliest literary efforts. It includes "Love & Freindship" and "Lesley Castle" both told through the medium of letters written by the characters. It also contains her wonderful "History of England" and a "Collection of Letters" and lastly a chapter containing "Scraps". In these offerings, we may see the beginnings of Miss Austen's literary style. We may also discern traces of characters that we encounter in her later works. G. K. Chesterton in his preface, for example, says of a passage in Love and Freindship; "...

Red Sensua's knife came up dripping—and the two adventurers knew that chaos and bloody revolution had been unleashed in that shadowy kingdom of the fourth dimension.

Dick Brewster is implicated in a murder and comes to his aunt's farm to hide. His Aunt Sarah stands by him in his need and they all move to the city in the effort to clear his name. She investigates on her own account and.... - Summary by The Author Cast list: Lily Ann, Help at the farm: Devorah Allen Aaron Flint, the hired man: Alan Mapstone Mrs. Brewster, from New York: TJ Burns Helen Brewster, her daughter: Jenn Broda Leonard Fillmore, a young country lawyer: skypigeon Sarah Newcomb, sister of Mrs...

The Black Cat was a monthly literary magazine, publishing original short stories, often about uncanny or fantastical topics. Many writers were largely unknown, but some famous authors also wrote original material for this magazine. The eleventh issue of volume 2 comprises the following five short stories: "Her Bare Foot", by William C. Hudson: what is the mystery behind the continued warnings about her bare foot ? "Miss Phoebe and Mr. Lorton", by Charles Sloan Reid: a long-lost letter is finally found to change the fate of two people "A No Quorum Night", by L...

Seven stories, chapters, essays, or poetry about Christmas or around Christmas. - Summary by david wales

A young man of good family with a long distinguished military tradition indicates that he will not follow his ancestors' path into the army. Dire results ensue. Benjamin Britten in 1970 wrote an opera based on this story. (

In this small book Rosalind Goforth tells many stories of 'diamonds' in China that have been tested and come out pure in the King of Kings' hand for His service. Sketch 9 speaks of the awful facts of the "heathen" that Rosalind Goforth had witnessed. Although she speaks of these as being confined to merely non-Christian persons, many of these evils are characteristics of people in countries generally classified as "Christian". Please be advised that this fact may cause this chapter to be offensive to some.

This historical novel is set in the 1100s in France and Jerusalem, following the First Crusade. Part of the story of Guy of Lusignan is told through the eyes of his fictional sister, Elaine. Guy travels to the Holy Land to reclaim it from the Saracens. Elaine follows afterward, finding upon arrival that her brother has fallen in love with Sybil, the sister of the leper king of Jerusalem. Queen Sybilla, a real historical character, is surrounded by political intrigue as she prepares to ascend the throne, which threatens her upcoming marriage to Guy of Lusignan...

A fictional "history" of Robert Walker, a dedicated clergyman in the English Lake District, this work, which started as a short magazine 'tale', examines how the lower echelons of the church produces dedicated, religious men, while those who head the church are self-serving and power hungry.

"Dodo Wonders" is the third and last of the "Dodo" novels by E.F. Benson, author of the "Mapp and Lucia" series as well as numerous stand-alone novels and short stories. Dodo was rumored to be based on Lady Margot Asquith; when questioned about it, Lady Asquith reportedly replied that Benson had taken nothing from her for the character of Dodo "except her drawing-room." "Dodo Wonders" takes Benson's characters, the glittering socialite Lady Dodo Chesterford, her husband, and friends into World War I-era England...

Rich and beautiful American girls heading to England to find themselves noble titles through marriage, and using their New World wealth to prop up the waning strength of the aristocracy, was almost a staple of late Victorian literature. "The Buccaneers," Edith Wharton called them, and their day is not over yet (think of Downton Abbey's Earl of Grantham, and his American heiress countess). In Lady Barbarina, however, Henry James explores the obverse of this old tale: what if the wealth is in the hands...

Alexandre Dumas weaves the compelling story of Siamese twins who are separated physically but never in spirit. When one of the brothers is murdered, the other leaves Corsica for Paris to avenge the killing. Dumas brings this thrilling tale to life with his fascinating descriptions of Italy and France and his powerful portrayal of the undying love of brother for brother.

Bealby is the comical story of the escapade of a thirteen-year-old boy when he rebels against his placement as a steward's-room boy in the great house of an estate named Shonts and flees—not, however, before thoroughly upsetting a weekend party where the nouveau riche couple renting Shonts is entertaining the Lord Chancellor. - Summary by Wikipedia

The Benson Murder Case – A Philo Vance Story is the first of a series of twelve popular mysteries set in New York during the Jazz Age. S. S. Van Dine is the nom de plume of prominent art critic, and member of New York’s avant-garde, W. H. Wright. He rapidly became one of the country’s best-selling authors and the series remained immensely popular for decades, as Philo Vance was featured in dozens of movies, plays and radio shows. Van Dine’s novels marked a sharp departure from earlier detective fiction...

While L. M. Montgomery is better known for her novels, such as Anne of Green Gables and Emily of New Moon, she also wrote hundreds of poems. Her love of beauty, nature, and the sea is evident in this, the only volume of her poetry published during her lifetime.

The House of the Dead is a novel published in 1861 by Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky, which portrays the life of convicts in a Siberian prison camp. Dostoyevsky himself spent four years in exile in such a camp following his conviction for involvement in the Petrashevsky Circle. This experience allowed him to describe with great authenticity the conditions of prison life and the characters of the convicts. The narrator, Aleksandr Petrovich Goryanchikov, has been sentenced to penalty deportation to Siberia and ten years of hard labour...

"The Machine Stops" is a science fiction story by E. M. Forster. After initial publication in 1909 the story was republished in Forster's The Eternal Moment and Other Stories in 1928. After being voted one of the best novellas up to 1965, it was included that same year in the populist anthology Modern Short Stories. In 1973 it was also included in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two. The story is particularly notable for predicting new technologies such as instant messaging and the Internet...

The story of an exciting test of wits between world-class thief Arsène Lupin and master detective Herlock Sholmes. Translated from the French. - Summary by Andy Harrington

From celebrated crime author Rex Stout, creator of the long-running Nero Wolfe detective stories, comes this early mystery, that served as an inspiration to the first Nero Wolfe novel Fer-de-Lance, of a golfer who, while out on the greens, clutches his chest and keels over from an apparent heart attack. But the coroner rules it a poisoning, and the president of the country club, Canby Rankin, takes it upon himself to track down the killer. - Summary by Ben Tucker

Tanks and the future of war is what Murray Leinster speculates about in this story. Written in the 1920's he observed the terrible new inventions that were used in World War I to kill people, armored tanks and poisoned gas and then tells us how war will be fought in the future. In this case the war will occur in 1932 and be between the US and the 'Yellow enemy'. It was published in the very first issue of Astounding Stories of Super Science, January 1930. It is science fiction in the sense that it guesses what the future will hold for man based on developing the technology that was coming into being at the time, the 1920's...