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Romance Novels |
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By: Carolyn Wells (1862-1942) | |
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Mystery of the Sycamore
Instead of prison time, former governor, Samuel Appleby, sentences his former rival, Daniel Wheeler to imprisonment on his homestead with a very strange addendum. He then endeavors to convince Mr. Wheeler to endorse his son’s candidacy for governor with a promise of commuting his sentence. In the meantime, Samuel Appleby is murdered in Wheeler’s home. The discovery of the identity of the murderer has many twists and turns filled with love, devotion, gumshoe dialog, and weird circumstances that will delight the listener in a most unusual way. |
By: Catherine Carswell (1879-1946) | |
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Open The Door
This award-winning book tells the coming of age story of Joanna Bannerman. Considered largely autobiographical, it shows Joanna with all her complexities and contradictions, some of which are faced by women almost 100 years later. Perfect for those who love sharp and witty novels. - Summary by Stav Nisser. |
By: Charles Clark Munn (1848-1917) | |
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Pocket Island
Along the coast of Maine are littered thousands of small islands. One such, named 'Pocket Island' by the locals was so called because of a pocket formed twice daily by the waning of the tides. The coast of Maine holds many secrets and legends, and Pocket Island was no exception. Subtitled "A Story of Country Life in New England", this story holds such varied and fascinating glimpses into the lives of a few individuals, and is not limited to merely a story of ghosts, of war, of barn dances, friendship, tales of rum-runners, smugglers, and seafarers... | |
By: Charles Dickens | |
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Great Expectations
From the opening passage itself of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, the reader is drawn into the world of the hero, Pip, who is at that time, seven years old. The author creates an unforgettable atmosphere: the gloom of the graveyard, the melancholy of the orphan boy, the mists rising over the marshes and the terrifying appearance of an escaped convict in chains. Told in first person (one of the only two books that Dickens used this form for, the other being David Copperfield) Great Expectations is a classic coming of age novel, in which we trace the growth and evolution of Pip or Philip Pirrip to give his full name... | |
Little Dorrit
Originally published in monthly installments between 1855 and 1857, the novel focuses on the various forms of imprisonment, both physical and psychological, while also concentrating on dysfunctional family ties. Accordingly, Dickens avidly criticizes the social deficiencies of the time including injustice, social hypocrisy, the austerity of the Marshalsea debtors’ prison, and bureaucratic inefficiency. The novel kicks off with the introduction of William Dorrit, the oldest prisoner in the Marshalsea prison, who is also referred to as The Father of the Marshalsea... | |
The Battle of Life
While "The Battle of Life" is one of Charles Dickens' Christmas Books - his annual release of a story just before Christmas - this one breaks the tradition by not being concerned with Christmas. Rather, its subtitle, "A Love Story", reveals more of the plot. The major events of this book take place on land that once was a battleground. That is just a backdrop for Dickens' idea of the real battle of life - finding and winning the right partner, so that life will go on to the next generation. The family that lives there is rather confused in its affections and intentions regarding who should end up with whom... |
By: Charles Garvice (1850-1920) | |
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Mistress of Court Regna
On the death of Lord Wharton, beautiful young Claire is shocked to find herself the heiress to Court Regna along with the title, the vast fortune and lands that it entails. She meets a poor, handsome architect, and as their love blooms, she misinterprets a chance meeting, which leads her to doubt and refuse him. He immediately leaves Regna not realizing that in doing so, he is suspected of running away with a local village girl who disappeared the same night.. A reversal of fortune, lies, treachery, murder and long hidden secrets abound as we follow the separate adventures of Claire and Gerald and those who become entangled in their lives lives along the way... |
By: Charles Goddard (1879-1951) | |
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The Perils of Pauline
The Perils of Pauline is one of the first damsel in distress serials. The story is complete with undaunted hero, courageous damsel, unscrupulous villains galore, and other worldly interest. Before getting married, Pauline wants to experience the world and have adventures. When her guardian dies and leaves her an estate in trust of his secretary, adventures suddenly become more hazardous. Pauline charters aeroplanes, meets untrustworthy pirates, braves dangerous China Town, flies in a hot air balloon, adventures in the Wild West, encounters international spies, and escapes many other perils with the aid of her would-be fiancé, Harry, and an Egyptian mummy. |
By: Charles Major (1856-1913) | |
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When Knighthood Was in Flower
Set during the Tudor period of English history, When Knighthood Was in Flower tells the tribulations of Mary Tudor, a younger sister of Henry VIII of England who has fallen in love with a commoner. However, for political reasons, King Henry has arranged for her to wed King Louis XII of France and demands his sister put the House of Tudor first, threatening, "You will marry France and I will give you a wedding present – Charles Brandon's head!" |
By: Charles Monroe Sheldon (1857-1946) | |
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His Brother's Keeper
Stuart Duncan arrives home from college to find the workers in his father's mine on the brink of a strike. Leading the strike is Stuart's boyhood friend, Eric Vassal. Will they be estranged by the opposing forces? Or can they learn to work together as Stuart learns the true meaning of being His Brother's Keeper? |
By: Charles Neville Buck (1879-1930) | |
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The Tyranny of Weakness
Torn between her love for her aging father, a minister steeped in the puritanical values of old New England, and the young Virginian who was born and raised of southern chivalrous tradition, the many and conflicting emotions which stir deep within Conscience Williams envelop this tale of desire, devotion, inner strength, devious treachery, and individuality of spirit. |
By: Charles Norris Williamson (1859-1920) | |
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The Second Latchkey
Jewelry thefts, society parties, clairvoyance, and romance marks this mystery, which is set in England and the US in the early 20th century. | |
It Happened In Egypt
Lord Ernest Borrow and Captain Anthony Fenton think they know a secret – a secret that could make them both rich. En route, they are sidetracked by Sir Marcus Antonius Lark, a woman who thinks she’s Cleopatra reincarnate, a Gilded Rose of an American Heiress, and Mrs. Jones, a mysterious Irish woman with a past. Will they find the secret? Or will the trip up the Nile on the Enchantress Isis net them another discovery altogether? | |
The Golden Silence
Trying to get away from an engagement he had got himself into more or less against his will, Stephen Knight travels to Algiers to visit his old friend Nevill. On the Journey there he meets the charming and beautiful Victoria. She is on her way to Algiers to search for her sister, who had disappeared years ago after marrying an Arab nobleman. With the support of his friend, Stephen Knight decides to help the girl - but when she also disappears, the adventure begins... |
By: Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855) | |
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Villette
Villette was Charlotte Bronte's last published novel. It came out in 1853, just two years before her death in 1855. It is a poignant, strangely lonely and sad work, steeped in conflict between society's demands and personal desires. Set in the fictional town of Villette in France, it is the story of the young and intelligent Lucy Snowe, the narrator in the book. She is described by another character in the book as having “no beauty...no attractive accomplishments...” and strangely seems to lack a personal history or living relatives... | |
The Professor
The book tells the story of a young man named William Crimsworth. It describes his maturation, his loves and his eventual career as a professor at an all-girls’ school. |
By: Charlotte Lennox (1730-1804) | |
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The Female Quixote
The novel formally inverts Don Quixote: as the don mistakes himself for the knightly hero of a Romance, so Arabella mistakes herself for the maiden love of a Romance. While the don thinks it his duty to praise the platonically pure damsels he meets (such as the woman he loves), so Arabella believes it is in her power to kill with a look and it is the duty of her lovers to suffer ordeals on her behalf. | |
Henrietta Volume 1 (dramatic reading)
Henrietta is a strong willed young lady who will not give in to her aunt and marry the suitors she proposes. She runs away and adventure ensues. However she meets one young man who she is quite taken with but he does not share all about himself and Henrietta finds herself in some tricky situations. |
By: Charlotte Mary Yonge (1823-1901) | |
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Heir of Redclyffe
The Heir of Redclyffe (1853) was the first of Charlotte M. Yonge's bestselling romantic novels. Its religious tone derives from the High Church background of her family and from her friendship with a leading figure in the Oxford Movement, John Keble, who closely supervised the writing of the book. The germ of its plot was suggested by her friend Marianne Dyson. |
By: Charlotte Turner Smith (1749-1806) | |
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The Old Manor House
The proud, cruel and arrogant Mrs. Rayland never married. Therefore, "Rayland Hall", the old Manor House of the title, had to pass to their heir, Somerive, whom they never treated kindly. According to the British laws at the time, the heir must be the oldest son. But what is to be done when the second son is more worthy of it - and is more beloved by Miss Rayland herself? And must the fact that he is in love with a servant and dependent of Miss Rayland take its toll? |
By: Chretien de Troyes | |
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Erec and Enide
A medieval romance in which Erec goes through many trials until he is sure of Enide’s loyalty and true love |
By: Clara Louise Burnham (1854-1927) | |
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Key Note
Love blooms amid the gorgeous scenery of an island off the coast of Maine as a group of vacationers discover an abused boy and set out to rescue him. This 1921 novel is another lovely creation by author Clara Louise Burnham. - Summary by Christi Lupher |
By: D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930) | |
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The Rainbow
Set against the backdrop of a rapidly industrializing England, the bewildering shift in social structure, the fading away of traditions and the advent of new ways of life, The Rainbow by DH Lawrence depicts how one family's story becomes the story of a society. Originally planned as a novel titled The Sisters, Lawrence finally split the theme into two separate novels after many revisions and rewrites. The Rainbow is the first novel in the Brangwen family saga. Tom Brangwen is a small time farmer in rural Nottinghamshire... | |
Women in Love
If you have read DH Lawrence's The Rainbow, you'd certainly want to read the sequel, Women in Love. Published in 1920, the two books were originally meant to be a single work, spanning several generations of the Brangwen family, especially the women. However, a complicated publishing history, delays and editorial revisions, followed by the hostile reception and controversies that faced The Rainbow led to a gap of five years between the two books. Yet, by 21st century standards, Women in Love seems almost tame, and modern-day readers may well be bewildered by the amount of criticism it generated among the custodians of morals in an earlier age... | |
Lost Girl
"There is no mistake about it, Alvina was a lost girl. She was cut off from everything she belonged to." In this most under-valued of his novels, Lawrence once again presents us with a young woman hemmed in by her middle-class upbringing and (like Ursula Brangwen in The Rainbow) longing for escape. Alvina Houghton's plight, however, is given a rather comic and even picaresque treatment. Losing first her mother, a perpetual invalid, and later her cross-dressing father, a woefully ineffectual small-scale entrepreneur, Alvina feels doomed to merge with the tribe of eternal spinsters who surround her in the dreary mining community of Woodhouse... |
By: D. K. Broster (1877-1950) | |
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''Mr Rowl''
Raoul des Sablières, a French parole prisoner in England during the Napoleonic Wars, becomes enmeshed in a complicated tangle where his honour conflicts with his parole, and is sent to prison. Juliana Forrest, for whose sake he broke his parole, does her utmost to save him, and in his adventures and misfortunes, Raoul eventually also finds help from an unlikely source. This is a fun adventure story and romance, written in a style similar to Georgette Heyer. - Summary by Elin |
By: Daisy Ashford (1881-1972) | |
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The Young Visiters, or Mr. Salteena's Plan
The Young Visiters is a comic romance novella that parodies upper class society of late Victorian England. Social climber Alfred Salteena introduces his young lady friend Ethel to a genuine gentleman named Bernard and, to his irritation, they hit it off. But Bernard helps Alfred in his plan to become a gentleman, which, Alfred hopes, will help him win back Ethel. |
By: Daniel Defoe (1659/1661-1731) | |
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The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders
A woman in prison awaiting a death sentence is given a reprieve because she is pregnant. She migrates to America abandoning the baby to the care of a foster mother. The child, a girl, grows up and begins working as a servant in a wealthy household. Here she is pursued by the two sons of the house and ultimately marries the younger one. When he dies, leaving her with two young children to look after, she begins a life of deception and confidence trickery which ends in great tragedy and disgrace. In her old age, events take a less tragic turn and her redemption comes from sources she least expects... |
By: Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) | |
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New Life (La vita nuova)
One of Dante's earliest works, La vita nuova or La vita nova (The New Life) is in a prosimetrum style, a combination of prose and verse, and tells the story of his youthful love for Beatrice. The prose creates the illusion of narrative continuity between the poems; it is Dante's way of reconstructing himself and his art in terms of his evolving sense of the limitations of courtly love (the system of ritualized love and art that Dante and his poet-friends inherited from the Provençal poets, the Sicilian poets of the court of Frederick II, and the Tuscan poets before them)... |
By: David Whitelaw | |
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The Princess Galva
Edward Povey had been a correspondence clerk for twenty-two years when he was summarily dismissed. So how did he find himself mixed up with an orphan girl, who was really a princess, as she sought to reclaim her throne from the man who had killed her parents? Well, however it had happened, it was romantic. And after two decades in the basement office of a shipping company, he was ready for a bit of romance. (Introduction by MaryAnn) |
By: Dinah Craik (1826-1887) | |
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John Halifax, Gentleman
This novel, published in 1856, was one of the popular and beloved novels in the Victorian era. It is told in the first person by Phineas Fletcher, an invalid son of a Quaker tanner who is presented to us in the beginning as a lonely youth. John Halifax, the first friend he ever had, is a poor orphan who is taken in by his father to help in the work which his sickly son can't constantly do. Phineas tells us in an unforgettable way how John succeeded in rising from his humble beginning and become a wealthy and successful man. But with the money come horrible troubles... In an unforgettable manner, we learn to know all the characters of the novel as if they really lived. |
By: Dorothy Canfield Fisher (1879-1958) | |
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The Bent Twig
Semi-autobiographical series of incidents in the life of an intellectual American family in the late 19th - early 20th Century as seen by favored daughter, Sylvia Marshall. Her father is an economics professor in a Midwestern state university and she is following in his inquisitive footsteps. Canfield writes this in a matter-of-fact manner with Tarkingtonesque good humor. |
By: Dorothy Parker (1893-1967) | |
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Men I'm Not Married To
A saucy little poem commenting upon all men that Ms. Parker didn't marry, perhaps implying that upon marrying, the husband becomes far more special than all the other men in the world. It's sort of the same theme embodied in Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince, who was saddened to discover that his rose was like any other rose, except when he further realized that his rose depended upon him alone for her care, and was the only rose that belonged to him. ~ Summary by Michele Fry |
By: E. A. Gillie | |
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Barbara in Brittany
Barbara, an English girl and the eldest of her family, spends most days helping her widowed mother care for her younger siblings. Then disaster strikes – or so the children believe! Barbara is taken to France to see Paris by her father’s formidable sister, Aunt Anne. She stays on in Brittany to perfect her French. In this series of funny stories about her adventures in France, we meet a cast of recurring characters – and both Barbara and Aunt Anne find love! (Summary by Sibella Denton) |
By: E. T. A. Hoffmann (1776-1822) | |
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Weird Tales, Volume 2
Paradoxically, it is variety that unites the tales you are about to read. They take place in widely separated countries and historical periods, and their outcomes—fortunate or tragic—cannot always be predicted with accuracy. The characters too speak with varied voices; even the narrative voice is not uniform, for the author often frames story within a story, using a character in one tale to narrate another. The reader will sometimes feel as though the author is extending an invitation to enter his workshop to observe him at his trade and admire his craftsmanship... |
By: E.D.E.N. Southworth (1819-1899) | |
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The Missing Bride
Prepare yourself for a journey, full of adventures and plot twists which will keep you guessing until the very end. This is psychological romance at its best. In the war of 1814, an American heiress falls in love with a British officer. This ill-fated marriage brings together a large group of interesting people who would never have met in other circumstances. | |
Her Mother's Secret
What kind of secret could a mother be keeping that would keep long time lovers apart, and force her eldest daughter into a hasty marriage? Young Odalite and her cousin Leonidas have lived the past three years apart, with Leonidas at sea, and were planning on marrying when he came back. An old acquaintance turns up who knows something about Odalite’s mother’s past, and holds that secret over her, threatening dishonor to her and her family, unless she gives him what he wants. Will true love win the day? ( Bridget Gaige) |
By: Edith Nesbit (1858-1924) | |
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Lark
"The Lark" has all the charm and freshness which have made Miss Nesbit's former novels so justly popular, and yet the story ts entirely new and original. Two girls, Jane and Lucilla, are led by Jane's guardian to entertain high hopes. The fortune, however, which Jane was to have inherited, has been lost by unlucky speculations, and the two girls have to set about earning their own livings. They experience many adventures and ups and downs of fortune before they meet with the two men who ensure their happiness and prosperity. A delightful story, well worth reading. |
By: Edith Wharton (1862-1937) | |
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The Reef
George Darrow, Anna Leath’s first love, is finally coming from London to propose to her. However, he drifts to an affair with Sophy Viner, Anna’s daughter’s naïve and young governess. Sophy’s relationship with Darrow and Anna’s family can threaten his success. In this novel, as in many of Wharton’s other well known novels, we see the eternal love triangle. With her sly and lovely writing style, Wharton delivers to us in this wonderful novel a cast of unforgettable characters and many unforgettable scenes which we can vividly imagine. What would Darrow choose: success or love? Would Anna marry him despite his affair with Sophy? (Summary by Stav Nisser.) | |
The Glimpses of the Moon
"The Glimpses of the Moon" (1922) is about Nick and Susy Lansing, both of whom live a decadent life in Europe by sponging off wealthy friends. They marry out of convenience and have an "open" relationship, but are unprepared for where their feelings will take them. | |
The Fruit of the Tree
When published in 1907, this novel about the lives of a wealthy mill owner, her socially progressive husband and friends caused a stir due to its treatment of drug abuse, mercy killing, divorce and second marriages. | |
The Touchstone
Stephen Glennard's career is falling apart and he desperately needs money so that he may marry his beautiful fiancee. He happens upon an advertisement in a London magazine promising the prospect of financial gain. Glennard was once pursued by Margaret Aubyn, a famous and recently deceased author, and he still has her passionate love letters to him. Glennard removes his name from the letters and sells them, making him a fortune and building a marriage based on the betrayal of another. | |
Madame de Treymes
Edith Wharton's 1907 novella explores the milieu of Americans living abroad in Paris. New Yorker John Durham travels to Paris to woo an old flame, Fanny Frisbee, now the Marquis de Malrive. Fanny is separated from her husband and wants to marry John and return to America, but she doubts whether her Catholic husband will grant her a divorce. When John meets Fanny's sister-in-law, the enigmatic Madame de Treymes, he hopes she may be able to help them in their quest for happiness. (Introduction by Elizabeth Klett) | |
Mother's Recompense
Kate Cephane, now living in self-imposed exile in France, left her three-year-old daughter Anne behind when she fled her impossibly unhappy marriage for a brief affair. When Anne asks her to return because she is getting engaged, Kate risks the scorn and scandal of New York elite society to be reconciled. When she finds out the identity of her daughter's fiancé, Kate is caught in the dilemma of how to prevent the marriage without revealing her past. Either way she will risk losing her daughter once more. |
By: Edmund John Eyre (1767-1816) | |
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Lady of the Lake
At the request of Mr. Siddons, Manager and Patentee of the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh, the following Performance was composed. I am very sensible that Mr. Scott’s Poem of “The Lady of the Lake” afforded material for a much superior Drama than the one here presented to the public; but as Mr. Siddons, in all his correspondence with me on the subject, urged expedition, I was more attentive to the interest of a Friend than to the fame of an Author; and the whole piece was arranged, written, and copied in the short space of ten days... |
By: Edmund Spenser (1552?-1599) | |
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Amoretti: A sonnet sequence
The Amoretti (meaning little love poems) is a sequence of 89 sonnets written in the tradition of the Petrarchan sonnets, a popular form for poets of the Renaissance period. Spenser’s sequence has been largely neglected in modern times, while those of his contemporaries William Shakespeare and Sir Philip Sidney have been acclaimed. However, because of the artistic skill, along with the emotion and the humor exhibited, these poems deserve a broader hearing, even though they may be somewhat difficult for the present-day reader, partly through Spenser’s love for words and expressions that were already archaic in his time... |
By: Edna Ferber (1865-1968) | |
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Buttered Side Down
"And so," the story writers used to say, "they lived happily ever after." Um-m-m—maybe. After the glamour had worn off, and the glass slippers were worn out, did the Prince never find Cinderella's manner redolent of the kitchen hearth; and was it never necessary that he remind her to be more careful of her finger-nails and grammar? After Puss in Boots had won wealth and a wife for his young master did not that gentleman often fume with chagrin because the neighbors, perhaps, refused to call on the lady of the former poor miller's son? It is a great risk to take with one's book-children... | |
Show Boat
Published in 1926, Show Boat tells of three generations of the Hawks-Ravenal family and the Cotton Blossom Floating Palace Theatre on the Mississippi and other rivers, from the Reconstruction Era of the 1880s, to the Gilded Age and Roaring Twenties. The story was made into a Broadway musical in 1927 and into films in 1929.NOTE: There are issues of race in the story, particularly anti-Black stereotypes and derogatory terms. It is policy to record texts as written. - Summary by TriciaG |
By: Edward Irenaeus Prime-Stevenson (1858-1942) | |
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White Cockades: An Incident of the "Forty-Five"
In the aftermath of the 1745 Jacobite uprising, the young Andrew Boyd meets a fugitive from the redcoats, a man whom Andrew soon grows to admire. Andrew and his father take the man in, but then the redcoats arrive to search the house... Besides being a historical adventure this reads, to a modern reader, as a sweet gay romance, though it's not explicit. Indeed the author was gay himself and anonymously recommended his own book as an example of homoerotic fiction in The Intersexes, his 700-page defense of homosexuality under another pen name. - Summary by Elin |
By: Edward M. Forster (1879-1970) | |
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Howards End
It's sad, but true to say that today Edward Morgan Forster's works are known more from their film and television adaptations rather than from their original novels. Yet, these adaptations have spurred many a fascinated viewer into going back to the library and finding the book that the film or miniseries was based on and this is ultimately the power of Forster's literary appeal. Howard's End was published in 1910 and it marked Forster's first taste of critical and commercial success. He had published three other novels earlier, Where Angels Fear To Tread (1905), The Longest Journey (1907) and A Room With a View (1908) but none of them had been received with so much acclaim... |
By: Edward M. Hull (1880-1947) | |
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Sheik
The novel on which the famous silent movie starring Rudolf Valentino was based. The plot is set in motion as Lady Conway disapproves of Diana's planning a desert trip with just her Arab guides to accompany her. Diana gets kidnapped by the Sheik, Ahmed Ben Hassan. Finally allowed to ride in the desert alone, she plans an escape. However, the Sheik recaptures her. And so the story unfolds. |
By: Edward P. Roe (1838-1888) | |
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He Fell in Love with His Wife
James desperately needs someone to help him keep his farm going, but has failure after colossal failure finding a good housekeeper. Alida marries a man only to find out he's already married. She's so undone when she finds out that she just wants to go somewhere where no one will judge her for her misfortune, where she can work and keep herself fed and clothed. James and Alida meet and arrange for a strictly business marriage, leaving loving and honoring out of the vows. The title of the book tells the rest of the story, but the way it gets there is worth the journey. (Introduction by TriciaG) |
By: Edward Phillips Oppenheim (1866-1946) | |
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An Amiable Charlatan
An Englishman is enjoying his dinner at Stephano's, at which he is a regular diner. A man enters quickly, sits at his table, starts eating his food, and hands him a packet underneath the table! So begins Paul Walmsley's acquaintance - and adventures - with American adventurer Joseph H. Parker and his lovely daughter, Eve. (Intro by TriciaG)Note that there is an alternate reading of section 8. Both are excellent renditions, so enjoy either or both of them. | |
Yellow House
Vicar and his two daughters move to a small, quiet country village and soon learn that their neighbor in the yellow house holds secrets that will change everything they thought to be real in their lives. |
By: Edward Streeter (1891-1976) | |
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Dere Mable
Bill is in training camp, preparing to go off to World War I. This book is a collection of love letters written to his sweetheart, Mable. The letters are humorous, mis-spelled, and have many stories of life in an army camp – all from Bill’s unique perspective. |
By: Eleanor H. Porter (1868-1920) | |
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The Road to Understanding
"If Burke Denby had not been given all the frosted cakes and toy shotguns he wanted at the age of ten, it might not have been so difficult to convince him at the age of twenty that he did not want to marry Helen Barnet.""Of course the inevitable happened. However near two roads may be at the start, if they diverge ever so slightly and keep straight ahead, there is bound to be in time all the world between them. In the case of Burke and Helen, their roads never started together at all: they merely crossed; and at the crossing came the wedding... | |
Miss Billy Married
At the opening to this second sequel to Miss Billy (Miss Billy, Miss Billy's Decision, Miss Billy Married), we find Bertram and Billy finally at the altar. Will wedded bliss ensue and are the patter of little feet on the horizon? Or is misunderstanding and heartache in the cards again? Find out in Miss Billy Married! | |
Mary Marie
A charming 'coming of age' story about a young girl, Mary Marie, whose young life is thrown into turmoil as her parents divorce. As she leads two lives, she comes to realize that her parents still love one another, and engineers a reunion. In the end, we discover the long-lasting effect of this turmoil on the adult Mary Marie, and her own marriage." |
By: Eleanor Hallowell Abbott (1872-1958) | |
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The White Linen Nurse
Throughout three years of school, Rae Malgregor had been perfectly pliant, perfectly compliant to all the demands placed on her. But now, on the eve of graduation, she couldn’t go on with the mask of artificiality and the air of perfection. She had been chasing this nursing job three whole years, but there was just no wag to it! The Superintendent was stunned. Her best student! The Senior Surgeon was all grey granite business and livid that his time was being taken up with a hysterical nurse! And yet, though he wouldn’t have admitted it to anyone, especially himself, his interest was piqued. | |
Little Eve Edgarton
Eve Edgarton is not who she seems she is. A short encounter with Mr. Barton show that first impressions are not always right or indicative of one’s seemingly obvious preference or one’s proclivity. |
By: Elinor Glyn (1864-1943) | |
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Your Affectionate Godmother
This is a series of seven letters by the eminent author of scandalous romances, Elinor Glyn, written to her godchild Caroline in the years 1912-1914. The Letters give Caroline advice on how best to find her way in life, particularly to matrimony. They contain such gems of wisdom as "It is better to marry the life you like, because after a while the man does not matter", that beauty is of "colossal importance", and that a woman will do well never to ask her husband any questions. The letters are very entertaining to read, though most modern godchildren may not wish to follow the advice too closely. - Summary by Carolin |
By: Elisabeth Sanxay Holding (1889-1955) | |
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Angelica
Angelica's dearest wish is to better herself. Not to be a factory worker, struggling every day to survive, but to be a lady. Refined, respected, and rich. She jumps at the chance to be a companion to a lady, hoping that she can learn how the other class lives, and how to be like them. Young and naive, her dream seems within her grasp - but can she hold on to it? |
By: Eliza Fenwick (1766-1840) | |
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Secresy, or, the Ruin on the Rock
This is the story of Caroline and Sibella, two female friends. Strong and smart women who try to make it in a man's world while keeping their values and loyalties intact. The only way to do that is to hide a few secrets. Yet secrets cannot remain hidden for ever, and everything has a price. This is both a social novel and a gothic novel. A true page turner with all the elements of a good 18th century novel: a woman locked in an estate, a hidden pregnancy, some politics of marriage, villains, sentimentality and thought provoking philosophy. Summary by Stav Nisser. |
By: Eliza Haywood (1693-1756) | |
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The History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless, Volume 1
The flirtations of a rich young maiden, Miss Betsy Thoughtless with several suitors, as she alienates the right man by refusing to take the issue of marriage seriously. Because of this her guardian commits her to marriage to the wrong man, a situation over which she has little control. As the heroine describes her fate, this text exposes the institution of marriage, the powerlessness of women and the double standards held during that time.(Introduction by Joyce Martin) | |
History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless, Vol. 4
Betsy Thoughtless is about an intelligent and strong-willed woman who marries under pressure from the society in which she lives. Betsy learns that sometimes giving way to the role of women within a marriage can at times be fulfilling. This is the fourth and final volume in this series. Does she get her man you will have to listen and find out. | |
History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless, Vol. 3
Betsy Thoughtless is about marriage, rather than dealing with courtship and thus differs from the type of domestic writing that would develop in the 19th century such as Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. Rather than attracting a partner well, Betsy Thoughtless focuses on marrying well and Betsy learns that giving way to the role of women in marriage can sometimes be fulfilling. - Summary by Michele Eaton | |
History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless, Vol. 2
This has been said to be the first female development novel in English. Betsy leaves her emotionally and financially abusive husband Munden and experiences independence before she decides to marry again. The novel has marital advice told via quips from Lady Trusty. |
By: Elizabeth Gaskell | |
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Mary Barton
Mary Barton is the first novel by English author Elizabeth Gaskell, published in 1848. The story is set in the English city of Manchester during the 1830s and 1840s and deals heavily with the difficulties faced by the Victorian lower class. The novel begins in Manchester, where we are introduced to the Bartons and the Wilsons, two working class families. John Barton reveals himself to be a great questioner of the distribution of wealth and the relation between the rich and the poor. He also relates how his sister-in-law Esther has disappeared after she ran away from home... | |
Sylvia's Lovers
The novel begins in the 1790s in the coastal town of Monkshaven. Sylvia Robson lives with her parents on a farm, and is loved by her rather dull Quaker cousin Philip. She, however, meets and falls in love with Charlie Kinraid, a sailor on a whaling vessel, and they become engaged, although few people know of the engagement. But Charlie gets press-ganged and have to leave without a word. |
By: Elizabeth Inchbald (1753-1821) | |
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A Simple Story
The story could really have been simple: Miss Milner, who is admired for her beauty and charm, could have been a socialite, marry a respectable and good looking man and be happy in the standards of her time. But if it was so, why would there be a book? Miss Milner, beautiful and charming as she is, announces her wish to marry her guardian, a catholic priest. But women in the 18th century do not declare their wishes or speak about their passions, and- after all- he is a catholic priest… And if he finds a way to marry her, is this her road to happiness? |
By: Elizabeth von Arnim (1866-1941) | |
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The Enchanted April
It’s a dreary February in post-World War I London when Mrs. Wilkins spots an advertisement in The Times for a small Italian castle for rent in April. She sees another member of her women’s club, Mrs. Arbuthnot, reading the same advertisement and manages to convince her that the two of them should rent it. Both are miserable and lonely in their marriages. They can’t afford the cost of the villa, San Salvatore, on their own and must advertise for two others, eventually recruiting an elderly widow named Mrs... |
By: Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler (1860-1929) | |
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Concerning Isabel Carnaby
Isabel Carnaby returns from India. She starts looking for a place in upper class British society. At the begining, people are sceptical of her because she is an orphan. But she will surprise everybody. - Summary by Stav Nisser. | |
Fuel of Fire
"Then was there war in the house of Baxendale. Guy had made up his mind to wed the fair daughter of the forester; while Sir Stephen and Dame Alice his wife had made up their minds — with equal firmness — that no son of their noble name should mate with a daughter of the people". A rumor started that the girl was a witch and so she was burned. However before she was burned she cursed the family who condemned her: "First by the King, and then by the State, And thirdly by that which is thrice as great As these, and a thousandfold stronger and higher Shall Baxendale Hall be made fuel of fire"... |
By: Emily Ponsonby (1817-1877) | |
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Violet Osborne - Trilogy
"This book is in turns funny and sad. Violet Osborne is a very beloved child with no financial problems. She is both beautiful and good, and of course she must be happy. Yet, as we learn, she is a manipulative and overbearing woman who would do anything to get her way. This book tells us about her life as a girl, and takes us through her marriage and motherhood. It is a pleasant read, as the book is so witty and charming and the descriptions are very realistic". Summary by Stav Nisser. |
By: Emma Wolf (1865-1932) | |
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Other Things Being Equal
Ruth Levice, the daughter of a rich San Francisco Jewish merchant, meats Dr. Herbert Kemp, and they slowly fall in love. However, she is Jewish and he is not. Can love overcome such an obstacle? And what is more important, duty or love? |
By: Ethel M. Dell (1881-1939) | |
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Hundredth Chance
In this prequel to "Charles Rex'' by Ethel M. Dell you will meet the aristocratic blackguard Lord Saltash for whom our distressed heroine Maude Brian still holds deep feelings. Dedicated to the care of her younger crippled brother whom she adores, Maude eventually agrees to a marriage of convenience in order to escape from a home which has become unbearable after her mother marries a brutish hotel owner. Jake, an honest, strong and silent type, agrees to the marriage because he is secretly in love with her but refrains from showing it which leads to many regrettable misunderstandings... | |
Charles Rex
Excerpt: "Saltash was thoroughly cosmopolitan in his tastes; he liked amusement but he abhorred boredom. He was never really wicked unless he was bored. And then- que voulez vous? He did not guide the star of destiny." On his last night in Valrosa, Saltash returns to his luxurious yacht to find a stowaway, a young woman disguised as a boy. She pleads to be kept by him in order to escape from her abuser. Although ill used by life she is still very pure and Saltash falls head over heels in love with her... |
By: Ethel Mary Brodie (1878-1931) | |
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Rose-colored World, and Other Fantasies
Love stories make perfect short stories. This collection contains 16 different short stories on the different ways a love affair can play out. - Summary by Carolin |
By: Evelyn Everett-Green (1856-1932) | |
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Monica - Complete
Monica was happy at Trevlyn, with her father and step-brother. But what would happen to them when the estate passed to a distant cousin, entailed as it was to the male line? Could she bear to see her invalid brother torn from his home? Should she marry this distant cousin, and thus ensure her and her brother the right to remain at Trevyln? Could she love him? And what about his dislike of her old childhood friend? Was there more to the situation than she knew? |
By: F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) | |
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This Side of Paradise
A romantic and witty novel that has weathered time to remain one of America’s classic pieces. In the shadows of the great Gatsby is another brilliant novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. This book is evidence to Fitzgerald’s literal genius because it was written by the author in his twenties to mirror his experiences at the time. It paints a picture of what it was like to be a young man or woman in the 20th century and in the wake of the First World War. The book is set on a foundation of socialist principles... | |
Bernice Bobs Her Hair
Pretty but socially clueless Bernice lets her know-it-all cousin push her around, but eventually, something's gotta give! (Introduction by BellonaTimes) | |
Great Gatsby
Set in 1925, this is a novel of the Jazz Age; of ambition, of the careless rich, of wild parties and flappers and bootleg booze; and the efforts of a dreamer to reunite with his lost love. - Summary by Kara |
By: Fanny Burney (1752-1840) | |
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Cecilia: Memoirs of an Heiress
The plot of Cecilia revolves around the heroine, Cecilia Beverley, whose inheritance from her uncle comes with the stipulation that she find a husband who will accept her name. This proves impossible, and she gives up her fortune to marry for love. Jane Austen referred to Cecilia and other novels in her novel, Northanger Abbey: “’And what are you reading, Miss — ?’ ‘Oh! It is only a novel!’ replies the young lady, while she lays down her book with affected indifference, or momentary shame... | |
Camilla
Camilla is Frances Burney's third novel. It became very popular upon its publication in 1796. Jane Austen referred to it, among other novels, in her novel Northanger Abbey:"'And what are you reading, Miss — ?' 'Oh! It is only a novel!' replies the young lady, while she lays down her book with affected indifference, or momentary shame. 'It is only Cecilia, or Camilla, or Belinda'; or, in short, only some work in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and humour, are conveyed to the world in the best–chosen language... |
By: Fergus Hume (1859-1932) | |
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Amethyst Cross
Things look bleak for Lesbia Hales. Her father does not let her marry the man she loves. Her mother is dead. She has to keep secrets in order to promote what she wants for herself. One day, her lover, George Walker, is injured in her home and someone stole the expensive amethyst cross. Who could have done that and why? - Summary by Stav Nisser. |
By: Florence Irwin (1869-19??) | |
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The Mask
The mask is the one which we all wear, even though unconsciously, to hide our thoughts and feelings. Alison Terry wore one, though she had never realized it until she faced a crisis in her life. Alison, a girl of sympathetic mood and action whose keen intelligence is overbalanced by the inexperience of innocence and a sheltered upbringing, goes to New York with her erratic husband, Phil Howland. She passes through various stages of disillusionment inevitably resulting from cheap boarding-house life,... |
By: Florence Louisa Barclay (1862-1921) | |
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The Rosary
He is a wealthy gifted and handsome young pianist who worships beauty. She is a woman blessed with a divine voice, but a less than beautiful appearance. He proposes, but she cannot believe that his love will last. A tragic accident results in his losing his eyesight. She hears about the accident and takes up employment as his nurse without revealing her identity. This forgotten, 1910 best-seller still holds the power to charm and delight the modern-day reader. One of the most poignant love stories ever written, The Rosary by Florence Louisa Barclay takes its title from the name of a song that was a chart-buster in the early twentieth-century... |
By: Florence Morse Kingsley (1859-1937) | |
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And So They Were Married
This is the story of Elizabeth North a young woman who becomes engaged and with the aid of a social climbing friend begins to plan her wedding beyond what she can afford. Her friend Evelyn Tripp, convinces Elizabeth that she “simply can’t afford” not to live a fashionable and expensive lifestyle. However her husband and her grandma help her to see sense and pull herself out of the debt she has got herself into. | |
Princess and the Ploughman
On the surface, Mary is the typical literary heroine: Beautiful, animated, and accomplished. She will be rich, too, when she inherits her aunt's large fortune. There is only one problem: Mary is required to marry before her twenty-third birthday or her inheritance will be forfeited... and she is already violently in love with her girlfriend, Felice. |
By: Florence Roma Muir Wilson (1891-1930) | |
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Death of Society: A Novel of Tomorrow
A weary survivor of the Great War, Major Rane Smith wanders in a great ennui amidst the mystical beauties of the fjords of Norway after the War, seeking a spiritual renewal. Deep in the forest he stumbles fatefully upon the strange, almost elvish home of Karl Ingman, an iconoclastic old Ibsen scholar. There Major Smith meets Ingman's two beautiful young daughters and his eldritch wife Rosa, entering into long days of profound dialogue with each member of the family. A rare and exquisite gem of... |
By: Frances Aymar Mathews | |
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Christmas Honeymoon
Newlyweds Betty Revere and Peter Van Zandt are completely smitten with each other. Their wedding is said to have been one of the most beautiful ever seen in New York. A conflict between the couple causes a series of events to take place which isn’t rectified till years later by a special little boy looking for Christmas happiness. - Summary by Jenn Broda |
By: Frances Brooke | |
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The History of Lady Julia Mandeville
Lady Julia, the daughter of the Earl of Belmont, and Mr. Henry Mandeville are falling in love. Though Henry is like a family friend, this love is not welcomed because the Lady Julia is promised to someone else (or so Henry thinks). When they discover that they can be together after all, it is much too late. This novel, written in the form of letters, as are a lot of 18th century novels, shows their beautiful and echoing love story through the eyes of many people. |
By: Frances Burney (1752-1840) | |
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The Wanderer
This is the fourth and final novel by Fanny Burney, the author of Evelina, Cecilia, and Camilla. "Who is "Miss Ellis?" Why did she board a ship from France to England at the beginning of the French revolution? Anyway, the loss of her purse made this strange "wanderer" dependent upon the charity of some good people and, of course, bad ones. But she always comforts herself by reminding herself that it's better than "what might have been..." This is not only a mystery, not at all. It's also a romance which reminds readers of novels by Jane Austen... |
By: Frances E. W. Harper (1825-1911) | |
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Sowing and Reaping
This novel is subtitled A Temperance Story, which identifies explicitly the focus of the work. Frances Harper is a Christian moralist and uses her writings for didactic purposes. Here she contrast two couples, one, Belle and Paul, who do not drink and whose lives are happier and more productive, and the other, Jeanette and Charles, who lives are destroyed by the demon rum. |
By: Frances Hodgson Burnett | |
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Theo
It's described as "A SPRIGHTLY LOVE STORY" and it is written by F. H. Burnett, "one of the most charming among American writers!" | |
A Lady of Quality
Set in late 1600's England, the story follows the life of a woman living an unconventional life. The loves of her life and all of its ups and downs are included. | |
A Fair Barbarian
The setting is a small English village in the 19th century. When her niece shows up on her doorstep unexpectedly, a quiet spinster finds her life turned upside down. | |
His Grace of Osmonde
His Grace of Osmonde, being the portions of that nobleman's life omitted in the relation of his Lady's story presented to the world of fashion under the title of 'A Lady of Quality'Set in late 1600's England, the story follows the life of a woman living an unconventional life. The loves of her life and all of its ups and downs are included. And as above, has more of the story of the Duke who becomes the love of her life. | |
That Lass O' Lowrie's 1877
Frances Hodgson Burnett was born and grew up in Manchester, England, and emigrated to the United States with her family at the age of 16. For her first novels, written in Knoxville, Tennessee and published in New York, she drew upon her knowledge of life and speech of the Lancashire working classes. Set in a Lancashire mining town, That Lass o' Lowries is a gritty, and at times brutal, tale of romance across the classes, which stands in stark contrast to her later work. | |
Miss Crespigny
This is a less known, but not less beautiful, novel by the author of The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, The Lost Prince, Little Lord Fauntleroy, The Shuttle, and many more. There is something different about miss Lysbeth Crespigny. Raised by three maiden aunts and sheltered from the world, she leaves them for the first time in order to explore the world. Yet she is often misunderstood. The world she discovers is more complicated and confusing then she anticipates. She is only 18 when the book starts. However the choices she has to make have consequences which she learns to navigate and become the strong woman she can be. - Summary by Stav Nisser. |