Frederick Davidson
1) Whose body?
Thomas Hardy's final novel Jude the Obscure explores notions of class, religion, marriage and modernization through its protagonist Jude Fawley, a working-class man who dreams of being a scholar. Provocative and daring for its day, the book was burnt publicly by the Bishop of Wakefield when it was published in 1895.
4) Dubliners
Dubliners is a wonderfully engaging and accessible collection of stories by James Joyce, an author famed for being difficult to read. It contains fifteen stories, among them The Dead, made into a memorable film by John Huston. This beautiful new edition, with an introduction by John Boyne, was chosen as the One Book, One City title for Dublin in 2012.
Four thousand years ago, a stranger's ominous gift and his death at the Old Temple of Ratharryn would precipitate the building of one of mankind's most remarkable achievements. Cornwell's epic novel, Stonehenge, catapults us into a powerful world of ritual, betrayal, and the never-ending pursuit of power, wealth, and spiritual fulfillment.
Three brothers, deadly rivals, are precariously united by a shared vision to create a temple to
...6) Hard times
7) Don Juan
Byron's exuberant masterpiece narrates the exploits of Don Juan, a handsome and charming young man naturally gifted with the ladies. After his first illicit love affair at the age of sixteen in his native Spain, Don Juan is exiled to Italy and catapulted into a string of adventures that send him into dire peril and luxurious boudoirs around the world. Following a dramatic shipwreck and an affair with a pirate's daughter on a Greek island, he is
...Since the time of Voltaire and Rousseau, the secular intellectual has increasingly filled the vacuum left by the decline of the cleric and assumed the functions of moral mentor and critic of mankind. This fascinating portrait of the minds that have shaped the modern world examines the moral credentials of those whose thoughts have influenced humanity.
How do intellectuals set about reaching their conclusions? How carefully do they examine the
...When you're in the mood for classic British humor writing, nothing can compare to the master of literary laughter, P.G. Wodehouse. The novel A Damsel in Distress is an uproarious combination of romantic intrigue, mistaken identities, and general hilarity. A must-read for Wodehouse fans, or for anyone who loves a good laugh and a well-told tale.
Regarded as one of the most skilled humor writers ever to write in English, Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse's works of fiction usually pillory the British upper classes that represented the social milieu into which he was born. In The Adventures of Sally, Wodehouse turned his attention to a young American heiress whose sudden wealth brings with it an array of unforeseen problems.
"Dr. Mortimer looked strangely at us for an instant and his voice sank almost to a whisper as he answered, "Mr. Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound."
The "luminous, ghostly, and spectral" hound of family legend has been seen roaming the moors at night. Sir Charles Baskerville has recently died, and it appears that the new baronet, Sir Henry, has inherited not only the vast wealth and property of his family but also a terrible
...Detective fans of all races and creeds, of all tastes and fancies will delight in the exploits of this wise and whimsical padre. Father Brown's powers of detection allow him to sit beside the immortal Holmes, but he is also "in all senses a most pleasantly fascinating human being," according to American crime novelist Rufus King. You will be enchanted by the scandalously innocent man of the cloth, with his handy umbrella, who exhibits such uncanny
...John Galsworthy's epic Forsyte Saga follows the fortunes of the venerable Forsyte family, a moneyed clan whose passions are ever at war with its values. Galsworthy won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1932 "for his distinguished art of narration, which takes its highest form in the Forsyte Saga."
The Man of Property, the first novel in the trilogy, introduces us to Soames Forsyte, a solicitor and prominent figure in his family. Accustomed
...14) Dombey and Son
Paul Dombey is a wealthy shipping merchant and formidable patriarch who runs his family with the same cold calculation he applies to his business.
Evaluating his children's worth by what he thinks they can add to his bottom line, he dotes on the son he hopes to make his heir, while neglecting his affectionate elder daughter. But through his pride and selfishness, Dombey is sowing the seeds of his own destruction. Once his heart is broken,
...19) Kidnapped
Written nearly a century ago and translated into over fifty languages, this masterpiece of historical fiction is one of the best-selling novels in history and the inspiration for the MGM motion picture of 1951. An epic of love and courage in Nero's time, it illustrates the conflict of moral ideas within the Roman Empire at the dawn of Christianity.
Marcus, a Roman officer in Nero's army, risks his career, his family, and even his life when
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