Classics Books

Book SynopsisThe Flame (1900) is a novel by Gabriele D’Annunzio. Inspired by the author’s interpretation of the work of Friedrich Nietzsche and Walter Pater, The Flame is a semi-autobiographical account of the end of D’Annunzio’s relationship with famed actress Eleonora Dusa. Considered a central text of Italian Decadentism, the novel has earned comparisons to the work of Oscar Wilde and Joris-Karl Huysmans. “With an all-comprehensive glance, she looked around at all the beauty of this last twilight of September. In the dark wells of her eyes were reflected the circles of light made by the oar as it flashed in the water, which was illuminated by the glittering angels that shone from afar on the campaniles of San Marco and San Giorgio Maggiore.” Venice, a symbol of the Renaissance, is changing. The churches and canals of old remain, but an era of cultural achievement is coming to a close. As the public anticipates the death of legendary composer Richard Wagner, who has taken to his deathbed at the palace of Ca’ Vendramin Calergi, Stelio Effrena dreams of establishing his reputation as one of Italy’s greatest poets. Filled with theories of art and philosophies of life, possessing an undeniable mastery of language, he nevertheless feels uninspired by his muse, the aging actress La Foscarina. Meditative and introspective, The Flame has attracted praise for its portrayal of nineteenth century Venice, a city seemingly lost in time. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Gabriele D’Annunzio’s The Flame is a classic work of Italian literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisA Modern Lover (1883) is a novel by George Moore. His debut novel marked a turning point in Moore’s early career, characterized to that point by poorly written French poetry and a failed attempt at becoming a painter. Although less acclaimed than such novels as Esther Waters (1894), A Modern Lover is credited with being the first English novel to employ the experimental methods of Moore’s French contemporaries. Like much of Moore’s work, A Modern Lover shows the influence of French naturalist writer Émile Zola, who sought to portray the influence of heredity and social environment on the lives of his characters without shying away from poverty, sex, disease, and suffering. Lewis Seymour is a young artist who moves to London in search of fame and achievement. Although he shows promise, he quickly falls into a pattern of social climbing rather than focusing on honing his craft. As he uses one wealthy, well-connected woman after the next in a tireless journey upward, he begins to lose sight of his artistic dreams. Eventually, he settles on three women whose affection and support allow him to make a name for himself—Gwinnie, a shopgirl; Mrs. Bethan, a middle-class divorcee; and Lady Helen, a powerful aristocrat. A Modern Lover is a story of sexuality and ambition from a pioneering figure in the formation of the modern English novel. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of George Moore’s A Modern Lover is a classic of Irish literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisThree Lives (1909) is a collection of novellas by Gertrude Stein. Characterized by its straightforward narrative style and disjointed prose, Three Lives proved a breakthrough for Stein, who had previously found it difficult bringing her works to publication. Each novella is set in Bridgepoint, a fictionalized version of Baltimore, where working class people of all races undergo the dignities and indignities of life in an industrialized nation. In “The Good Anna,” an immigrant housekeeper working in the home of a wealthy woman commands respect and order from all who cross her path. Caring only for her three small dogs, she does her best to forget a traumatic past. Having lost her mother in Germany at a young age, Anna moved to Bridgepoint with hope for a better future, but poor health and unlucky relationships haunt her throughout her life. “Melanctha” is the story of a young mixed-race woman who suffers from a lack of opportunity in a segregated city. Despite being honest and empathetic, she constantly finds herself betrayed and abandoned by those she trusts, and soon her pure heart and kind nature reach their limit. In “The Gentle Lana,” another German immigrant endures the banality and heartbreak of unhappily married life, raising a family and caring for a home without ever feeling fulfilled as an individual. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Gertrude Stein’s Three Lives is a classic work of American literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisEsther Waters (1894) is a novel by George Moore. Considered his best novel, it was an immediate critical and commercial success, and has since been adapted several times for theater, film, and television. Like much of Moore’s work, Esther Waters shows the influence of French naturalist writer Émile Zola, who sought to portray the influence of heredity and social environment on the lives of characters without shying away from poverty, sex, disease, and suffering. Following her father’s death and her mother’s marriage to an abusive Londoner, Esther Waters arrives at the home of the Barfield family in Shoreham to work as a kitchen maid. There, she tries to work hard to support herself, but is soon seduced by a footman named William Latch. When he elopes with his employer’s niece, Esther is left to hide her pregnancy for as long as possible. Discovered, she is dismissed, and soon thereafter gives birth to a healthy boy. Unmarried and poor, she makes the decision to raise Jackie as a single mother while seeking employment in London. Tragic and truthful, Esther Waters is the story of a woman who defies Victorian convention and suffers for nothing more than being born into poverty. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of George Moore’s Esther Waters is a classic of Irish literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisThe Damnation of Theron Ware (1896) is a novel by Harold Frederic. Inspired by his upbringing in Utica, New York, The Damnation of Theron Ware is a story of faith, community, and rural life from an underappreciated master of American realism. A bestseller in the year of its publication, the novel has earned praise for its criticism of cultural and religious hypocrisy in nineteenth century provincial life. “No such throng had ever before been seen in the building during all its eight years of existence. People were wedged together most uncomfortably upon the seats; they stood packed in the aisles and overflowed the galleries; at the back, in the shadows underneath these galleries, they formed broad, dense masses about the doors, through which it would be hopeless to attempt a passage.” Despite his young age, Theron Ware has been appointed pastor of a small-yet-lively Methodist congregation in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. As he settles into his role and attempts to gain the trust of the townsfolk, he begins to doubt himself as a messenger of God and to question the role of the Methodist church in the life of humankind. Influenced by local Catholics and a passionate Darwinist, Ware starts to dream of changing his life, of leaving the world of faith and salvation behind him. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Harold Frederic’s The Damnation of Theron Ware is a classic work of American literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisShe (1887), an intoxicating mix of adventure, fantasy, and romance, is an underappreciated classic of English literature. Among his most successful works, She­—which was inspired by Haggard’s experience living in South Africa—helped the author establish his reputation as a leading writer of his generation and an invaluable pioneer of the lost world genre of fantasy fiction. Horace Holly, a young Cambridge professor, receives an unexpected opportunity from an older colleague: in exchange for knowledge about an ancient secret, Holly must agree to become the caretaker of Vincey’s son in the event of his untimely death. Cautious yet intrigued, Holly accepts, and is presented with a locked metal box and a set of cryptic instructions. The next day, Vincey dies, leaving the young Leo as his ward. Unable to open the box until Leo has turned 25, Holly settles into his career and duties as a father until the time is right. Years later, they open it to discover the Sherd of Amenartas, confirming Vincey’s story and inspiring them to journey to the heart of Africa. There, they fall captive to the Amahagger tribe, a lost people ruled by a powerful, divine queen. Soon, they are brought to a subterranean palace in the ruined city of Kôr, where She-who-must-be-obeyed awaits. To read H. Rider Haggard’s She is to enter a universe that could only be imagined by one of the greatest adventure writers of all time—at the height of his literary powers, no less. Published in book form in after being serialized in The Graphic, a British weekly magazine, She is an epic of high fantasy that sheds light on how the intricacies of empire circulated in the popular imagination of British subjects during the reign of Queen Victoria. For the modern reader, it is both a finely written tale of action and discovery, and a document of a world that is far from lost. Stories such as Haggard’s serve as reminders that we are never as far as we think from the sins of the past, that these “mysterious” and “exotic” lands of myth and adventure not only existed long before European conquest, but survive to this day in its shadow. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this new edition of H. Rider Haggard’s She is a classic of English literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisRamona (1884) is a novel by Helen Hunt Jackson. Inspired by her activism for the rights of Native Americans, Ramona is a story of racial discrimination, survival, and history set in California in the aftermath of the Mexican American War. Immensely popular upon publication, Ramona earned favorable comparisons to Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin and remains an influential sentimental novel to this day. Orphaned after the death of her foster mother, Ramona, a Scottish-Native American girl, is taken in by her reluctant foster aunt Señora Gonzaga Moreno. Early on, she experiences discrimination due to her mixed heritage and troubled upbringing, but Gonzaga Moreno begrudgingly provides for her as though she were her own daughter, in accordance with her sister’s wishes. When a group of Native American migrant workers arrives from Temecula to perform the annual sheep shearing, Ramona falls in love with Alessandro, a pious Catholic. Despite his honesty and capacity for hard work, Alessandro is viewed with contempt by the Señora. Faced with no alternative, the lovers elope and make their way toward the San Bernardino Mountains, facing racism and violence from American settlers along the way. Bound by love, rejected by the dominant cultures of the newly Americanized California, Alessandro and Ramona must do what they can to survive. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Helen Hunt Jackson’s Ramona is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisOldtown Folks (1869) is a historical novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Although her career peaked with the publication of abolitionist novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852), Stowe continued to work as a professional writer throughout her life. A tale of family, faith, and perseverance, Oldtown Folks displays her impressive imaginative range and admirable moral outlook while illuminating aspects of early American life that would otherwise be consigned to history. After the death of his father and brother, Horace Holyoke moves with his mother to Oldtown, Massachusetts to live with her family. Staying at the home of his grandfather Jacob Badger, a prominent townsperson and successful miller, Horace listens to the stories of local religious figures, workers, and businesspeople who gather in the Badger family kitchen. Meanwhile, Harry and Tina Percival—a young brother and sister abandoned by their father, a British soldier who fled to England after the war—arrive in Oldtown after escaping abuse at the hands of a foster family. Taken in by the Badgers, the siblings befriend Horace and slowly adjust to life in a loving home. One Easter, the children travel to Boston with the local minister’s wife to visit with the wealthy Madame Kittery, who takes an interest in Harry and Horace and promises them, should they do well in school, that she will pay for them both to attend Harvard. Strengthened by the love of their community, anchored by their extended or adopted families, the three children grow up in a nation brimming with hope and meaningful change. Exploring religion, philosophy, and the value of education, Stowe’s novel is a powerful portrait of postwar New England for children and adults alike. Followed three years later by Oldtown Fireside Stories (1872), Oldtown Folks is an underappreciated masterpiece from the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the most influential American novel of the nineteenth century. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Oldtown Folks is a classic of American children’s literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisHell (1908) is a novel by Henri Barbusse. Immensely popular upon its publication in France, Hell earned Barbusse a reputation as a leading realist whose existential preoccupations predate the novels and plays of Samuel Beckett, Albert Camus, and Jean-Paul Sartre by several decades. His portrait of ennui, isolation, and urban life remains both stylistically and thematically fresh over a century after it appeared in print. “A whole world of human beings had passed here like smoke, leaving nothing white but the window. And I? I am a man like every other man, just as that evening was like every other evening.” In this claustrophobic, lyric novel, an unnamed narrator moves into a rundown apartment in Paris. There, he grows increasingly isolated from the world outside, turning instead to the lives of his many neighbors. Through the thin walls, which contain a hidden peephole, he listens and watches as strangers conduct the secret dramas of their daily lives. Witnessing acts of adultery, lesbianism, incest, theft, and abuse, he grows increasingly dependent on the adrenaline rush of voyeurism, withdrawing further and further from the life of the bustling city. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Henri Barbusse’s Hell is a classic work of French literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisUnder Fire (1916) is a novel by Henri Barbusse. Written from notes taken while Barbusse was serving in the First World War, the novel was quickly recognized as a powerful tale of perseverance and comradery in the face of unspeakable suffering. Intended to promote the cause of pacifism, Under Fire is deeply critical of the rich and powerful men whose inability to live peacefully leads time and again to the sacrifice of countless human lives. “Each country whose frontiers are consumed by carnage is seen tearing from its heart ever more warriors of full blood and force. One's eyes follow the flow of these living tributaries to the River of Death. To north and south and west afar there are battles on every side. Turn where you will, there is war in every corner of that vastness.” Even from a distance, war is hell on earth, but it is not something that can be described in the abstract, if it can be described at all. Such a luxury—available only to the leaders who declare war’s beginning and end—is not afforded to those are sent to fight. Following a squad of French volunteers on the Western front, Henri Barbusse provides a realistically brutal vision of death and survival that refuses to glorify the loss of a single life. As a soldier-turned-pacifist, Barbusse brings his reader as close as possible to the trenches and fields of battle in order to dispel the myths that continue to justify and obscure the deaths of the poor and powerless. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Henri Barbusse’s Under Fire is a classic work of French literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisThe Gates of Morning (1925) is a novel by Henry De Vere Stacpoole. The third in a trilogy of novels including The Blue Lagoon (1908) and The Garden of God (1923), The Gates of Morning is a story of romance and adventure inspired by the author’s travels in the South Pacific. The trilogy led to two major Hollywood adaptations, including the 1980 hit drama The Blue Lagoon starring Brooke Shields and Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991) starring Milla Jovovich. “Dick standing on a ledge of coral cast his eyes to the South. Behind him the breakers of the outer sea thundered and the spindrift scattered on the wind; before him stretched an ocean calm as a lake, infinite, blue, and flown about by the fishing gulls—the lagoon of Karolin.” Following the deaths of his mother and father, Dick Lestrange is raised on the island of Palm Tree by his grandfather and a crewmember named Jim Kearney, who keep him safe and teach him the ways of survival. In love with the adopted Spanish daughter of the Kanaka people, he leaves home for the nearby island of Karolin to live with Katafa. When disaster strikes, young Dick is selected to lead the Kanakas against an uprising of Melanesian slaves. Blending romance and adventure, Henry De Vere Stacpoole tells a story of perseverance and survival intended to call attention to the destruction of the South Sea Islands by European colonists and explorers. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Henry De Vere Stacpoole’s The Gates of Morning is a classic of British literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisScenes of Bohemian Life (1851) is a novel by Henri Murger. Written at the beginning of his career as a popular French poet and novelist, Scenes of Bohemian Life is composed of vignettes inspired by the author’s experience as a starving artist in Paris’ Latin Quarter. Adapted countless times for theater and film, Murger’s novel served as inspiration for Puccini’s opera La bohème (1896) and for the hit musical Rent (1996). “The Bohemians know everything and go everywhere, according as they have patent leather pumps or burst boots. They are to be met one day leaning against the mantel-shelf in a fashionable drawing room, and the next seated in the arbor of some suburban dancing place. They cannot take ten steps on the Boulevard without meeting a friend, and thirty, no matter where, without encountering a creditor.” Distinguished by their sense of fashion and impoverished lifestyle, Paris’ Bohemians are part of a historical avant-garde, a cultural phenomenon found in any artistic society. Living day to day, these artists and radicals commune with the world as it is, taking nothing and no one for granted. In Scenes of Bohemian Life, four friends—Rodolphe, Marcel, Colline, and Schaunard—avoid landlords and old lovers on the streets of the Latin Quarter, a district known for its countercultural figures. Hilarious and preeminently human, Scenes of Bohemian Life is a masterpiece of nineteenth century fiction from a writer whose lifestyle informed much of his work. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Henri Burger’s Scenes of Bohemian Life is a classic of French literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisThe Big Bow Mystery (1892) is a novel by Israel Zangwill. Although he is frequently recognized as a writer who focused on the plight of London’s Jewish community, Zangwill also wrote works of genre fiction. Originally serialized in The Star, The Big Bow Mystery is a satirical take on the locked room mystery that continues to astound, entertain, and frustrate readers to this day. Having risen through poverty to become an educator and author, Zangwill dedicated his career to the voiceless, the oppressed, and the needy, advocating for their rights and bearing witness to their suffering in some of the most powerful novels and stories of the Victorian era. On a foggy morning in a working-class neighborhood on the East End of London, a landlady rises to light the fire and make a pot of tea. Eventually, Mrs. Drabdump realizes that one of her tenants has overslept, and goes upstairs to wake him. Finding his room locked from the inside, she grows concerned and enlists the help of another tenant. Forcing open the door, they find the man—a prominent activist for worker’s rights—dead in his own bed. When the coroner’s report reveals that the man was neither murdered or killed by his own hand, an investigation is launched involving inept policemen, a major politician, and several strange characters whose peculiarities provide a darkly humorous tint to an otherwise brutal tale of death and urban decay. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Israel Zangwill’s The Big Bow Mystery is a classic of British literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisGhetto Tragedies (1899) is a collection of stories by Israel Zangwill. Raised in London by parents from Latvia and Poland, Zangwill understood the plight of the city’s Jewish community firsthand. Having risen through poverty to become an educator and author, he dedicated his career to the voiceless, the oppressed, and the needy, advocating for their rights and bearing witness to their suffering in some of the most powerful novels and stories of the Victorian era. “People who have been living in a Ghetto for a couple of centuries, are not able to step outside merely because the gates are thrown down, nor to efface the brands on their souls by putting off the yellow badges. The isolation imposed from without will have come to seem the law of their being.” As a Jewish immigrant who grew up in poverty in London, Israel Zangwill knows that the condition of life in the ghetto changes not just lives, but mentalities. In the fourth installment of his Ghetto series, Zangwill imagines the lives of everyday Jewish people. Zillah and Jossel, successful boot makers; Daniel Peyser, a father of seven daughters; Isaac Levinsky, the son of a pious Rabbi. These are the lives so lovingly shaped in the author’s skillful hands, people whose experiences with love, loss, doubt, and faith are not so different from our own. The tales of Jewish life in Ghetto Tragedies earned Zangwill comparisons to Dickens upon publication and helped to establish him as an author with a gift for intensive character study and a passion for political themes. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Israel Zangwill’s Ghetto Tragedies is a classic of British literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisThe Way Home (1925) is a novel by Henry Handel Richardson. Based on the life of her parents, The Way Home is the second in a trilogy of novels later published as The Fortunes of Richard Mahony (1930). The trilogy has earned praise from countless authors and critics for its startling depictions of a man’s decline due to mental illness and the lengths to which his wife must go to care for their young family. “In this pleasant spot Richard Mahony had made his home. Here, too, he had found the house of his dreams. It was built of stone—under a tangle of creeper—was very old, very solid: floors did not shake to your tread, and, shut within the four walls of a room, voices lost their carrying power. But its privacy was what he valued most.” After years of struggle in the Australian outback, Richard Mahony returns to his native England to live out his years in comfort and quiet. Although his dreams have been realized, he soon discovers the prejudice with which the wealthy view men who went across the world to make their fortunes. Unable to gain a foothold in the land of his birth, he makes the difficult decision to return to Australia. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Henry Handel Richardson’s The Way Home is a classic of Australian literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisGrandchildren of the Ghetto (1892) is a novel by Israel Zangwill. Raised in London by parents from Latvia and Poland, Zangwill understood the plight of the city’s Jewish community firsthand. Having risen through poverty to become an educator and author, he dedicated his career to the voiceless, the oppressed, and the needy, advocating for their rights and bearing witness to their suffering in some of the most powerful novels and stories of the Victorian era. “People who have been living in a Ghetto for a couple of centuries, are not able to step outside merely because the gates are thrown down, nor to efface the brands on their souls by putting off the yellow badges. The isolation imposed from without will have come to seem the law of their being.” As a Jewish immigrant who grew up in poverty in London, Israel Zangwill knows that the condition of life in the ghetto changes not just lives, but mentalities. Even if the Jews living in squalor on the East End of London were given the same rights as native Britons, they would still live with fear and doubt every day of their lives. In the second novel of his Ghetto series, Zangwill explores the day-to-day existence of these very people, illuminating their hopes and their dreams, illustrating their struggle to uphold traditions threatened by assimilation and the increasing secularism of modern life. A new generation experiences wealth and comfort beyond the wildest dreams of those who came before them. But what will they do with their newfound privilege? The tales of Jewish life in Grandchildren of the Ghetto earned Zangwill comparisons to Dickens upon publication and helped to establish him as an author with a gift for intensive character study and a passion for political themes. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Israel Zangwill’s Grandchildren of the Ghetto is a classic of British literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisThe Getting of Wisdom (1910) is a novel by Henry Handel Richardson. Based on her experiences at Melbourne’s Presbyterian Ladies’ College, The Getting of Wisdom is a coming-of-age novel aimed at a young audience. Engaged with such themes as grief, bullying, and peer-pressure, Richardson’s novel is a powerful story of a young girl finding her way in the world. An instant bestseller, the novel has never gone out of print. “Laura went into her own room and locked the door, a thing Mother did not allow. Then she threw herself on the bed and cried. Mother had not understood in the least…” Punished for cutting her own hair without permission, Laura Tweedle Rambotham defies her mother once more. Alone in her room, she begins to think about her mother’s words, letting them sink in until the truth can no longer be denied. In the morning, she leaves for The Ladies’ College, a boarding school far from family and friends—and in Melbourne, no less, a city she has never been to. Scared, nervous, and tired, she drifts off to sleep in her childhood room for the last time. Heartfelt and deeply personal, The Getting of Wisdom is a powerful coming-of-age story from one of Australia’s best-loved writers. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Henry Handel Richardson The Getting of Wisdom is a classic of Australian literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisAn American Family (1918) is a novel by Henry Kitchell Webster. Written at the height of Webster’s career as a popular author of magazine serials, An American Family is a story of war, ambition, and tragedy. Exploring the effects of the burgeoning labor movement on American industry, Webster illustrates the psychological effects of conflict and betrayal on members of a wealthy family. As the third son of a large, upper-class family, Hugh Corbett has always struggled to prove himself. Despite the ambitions of his siblings, Hugh finds himself longing for a life outside of the family business. As owners of a successful factory in Chicago, their position has increasingly been at odds with the needs of their impoverished laborers, many of whom have begun to agitate for higher pay and better rights. Just as this crisis reaches a boiling point, it becomes clear that the United States is preparing to enter the Great War, thrusting a nation into conflict with Europe and deepening its own divisions. Meanwhile, Hugh meets Helena, a committed anarchist who exposes for him the inequities suffered by those the Corbett family employs. When a strike threatens to bring down the business, Hugh is forced to make a choice: should he prove his allegiance to his class and loved ones, or do what he knows to be right for the greater good of humanity. Sweeping in scope and intensely emotional, An American Family is a story of history on a human scale. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Henry Kitchell Webster’s An American Family is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisGhetto Comedies (1907) is a collection of stories by Israel Zangwill. Raised in London by parents from Latvia and Poland, Zangwill understood the plight of the city’s Jewish community firsthand. Having risen through poverty to become an educator and author, he dedicated his career to the voiceless, the oppressed, and the needy, advocating for their rights and bearing witness to their suffering in some of the most powerful novels and stories of the Victorian era. “People who have been living in a Ghetto for a couple of centuries, are not able to step outside merely because the gates are thrown down, nor to efface the brands on their souls by putting off the yellow badges. The isolation imposed from without will have come to seem the law of their being.” As a Jewish immigrant who grew up in poverty in London, Israel Zangwill knows that the condition of life in the ghetto changes not just lives, but mentalities. In the fifth and final installment of his Ghetto series, Zangwill imagines the lives of everyday Jewish people. A German painter searches for a Jewish model for his painting of Jesus Christ; Solomon Cohen, or S. Cohn, rises to prominence as a Town Councillor in Sudminster while suppressing his Jewish heritage; Bloomah Beckenstein, a young Jewish girl, is blamed for spreading smallpox at her school in London. These are the lives that take shape in the author’s skillful hands, people whose experiences with love, loss, doubt, and faith are not so different from our own. The tales of Jewish life in Ghetto Comedies earned Zangwill comparisons to Dickens upon publication and helped to establish him as an author with a gift for intensive character study and a passion for political themes. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Israel Zangwill’s Ghetto Comedies is a classic of British literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisThe King of Schnorrers (1893) is a novel by Israel Zangwill. Raised in London by parents from Latvia and Poland, Zangwill understood the plight of the city’s Jewish community firsthand. Having risen through poverty to become an educator and author, he dedicated his career to the voiceless, the oppressed, and the needy, advocating for their rights and bearing witness to their suffering in some of the most powerful novels and stories of the Victorian era. When “England denied her Jews every civic right except that of paying taxes,” a class Schnorrers, or beggars, was forced through desperation to survive by the charity of others. On Sabbath days, the entrance to London’s synagogues are crowded with groups of these men, seeking from more recent immigrants, from those not yet driven to poverty, some small token of brotherhood. As Joseph Grobstock, a successful merchant, emerges from the service, he is accosted by a man who appeals first to his charitable nature. When Grobstock insults the man with a penny, causing the other Schnorrers to laugh at his expense, Manasseh Bueno Barzillai Azevedo da Costa, a Sephardi, curses Grobstock, who proceeds to argue in an effort to preserve his honor. The King of Schnorrers, a brilliant satire, earned Zangwill comparisons to Dickens and Twain upon publication, and helped to establish him as an author with a gift for intensive character study and a passion for political themes. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Israel Zangwill’s The King of Schnorrers is a classic of British literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisDreamers of the Ghetto (1892) is a collection of stories by Israel Zangwill. Raised in London by parents from Latvia and Poland, Zangwill understood the plight of the city’s Jewish community firsthand. Having risen through poverty to become an educator and author, he dedicated his career to the voiceless, the oppressed, and the needy, advocating for their rights and bearing witness to their suffering in some of the most powerful novels and stories of the Victorian era. “This is a Chronicle of Dreamers, who have arisen in the Ghetto from its establishment in the sixteenth century to its slow breaking-up in our own day. Some have become historic in Jewry, others have penetrated to the ken of the greater world and afforded models to illustrious artists in letters…” As a Jewish immigrant who grew up in poverty in London, Israel Zangwill knows that the condition of life in the ghetto changes not just lives, but mentalities. In the third installment of his Ghetto series, Zangwill imagines the lives of such historical Jewish figures as Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza, German poet Heinrich Heine, and Prussian lawyer and political activist Ferdinand Lasalle. The tales of Jewish life in Dreamers of the Ghetto earned Zangwill comparisons to Dickens upon publication, and helped to establish him as an author with a gift for intensive character study and a passion for political themes. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Israel Zangwill’s Dreamers of the Ghetto is a classic of British literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisChildren of the Ghetto: A Study of a Peculiar People (1892) is a novel by Israel Zangwill. Raised in London by parents from Latvia and Poland, Zangwill understood the plight of the city’s Jewish community firsthand. Having risen through poverty to become an educator and author, he dedicated his career to the voiceless, the oppressed, and the needy, advocating for their rights and bearing witness to their suffering in some of the most powerful novels and stories of the Victorian era. “People who have been living in a Ghetto for a couple of centuries, are not able to step outside merely because the gates are thrown down, nor to efface the brands on their souls by putting off the yellow badges. The isolation imposed from without will have come to seem the law of their being.” As a Jewish immigrant who grew up in poverty in London, Israel Zangwill knows that the condition of life in the ghetto changes not just lives, but mentalities. Even if the Jews living in squalor on the East End of London were given the same rights as native Britons, they would still live with fear and doubt every day of their lives. In the first novel of his Ghetto series, Zangwill explores the day to day existence of these very people, illuminating their hopes and their dreams, illustrating their struggle to uphold traditions threatened by assimilation and the increasing secularism of modern life. The tales of Jewish life in Children of the Ghetto: A Study of a Peculiar People earned Zangwill comparisons to Dickens upon publication, and helped to establish him as an author with a gift for intensive character study and a passion for political themes. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Israel Zangwill’s Children of the Ghetto: A Study of a Peculiar People is a classic of British literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisWhile traveling on a ship, a Swiss pastor, his wife and four sons encounter a violent storm that abruptly transports them to a tropical island. They attempt to navigate the desolate shore but face looming danger and an unforeseen presence. A family venture turns into a survival effort when a ship is damaged during a tropical storm. A father, mother and four sons stumble across a small island that appears to be uninhabited. They set up camp, complete with makeshift housing, to protect against the elements. While exploring the territory, they gather food and other creature comforts. During their stay, the family is met with various challenges that will test their faith in God and each other. The Swiss Family Robinson is Johann David Wyss’ literary masterpiece that’s been passed down from generation to generation. The story found its biggest audience in the twentieth century with the 1960 feature film produced by Walt Disney Pictures. Since then, Wyss’ message of family values and self-reliance have reached countless children and adults across the world. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of The Swiss Family Robinson is both modern and readable.

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Book SynopsisThe Mark of Zorro (1924) is a novel by Johnston McCulley. Originally published as The Curse of Capistrano (1919), McCulley’s novel was rereleased to capitalize on the success of the 1920 silent film of the same name starring Douglas Fairbanks. Beloved by generations of readers and moviegoers alike, Zorro is recognized as a symbol of justice and rebellion throughout the world. “Outside the wind shrieked and the rain dashed against the ground in a solid sheet. It was a typical February storm for southern California. At the missions the frailes had cared for the stock and had closed the buildings for the night. At every great hacienda big fires were burning in the houses. The timid natives kept to their little adobe huts, glad for shelter.” While the rich live in comfort, warm and safe from the wind and driving rain, the poor Californian people hide in their makeshift homes, fearful not just of the weather, but of the governor and his vicious soldiers. Oppressed for so long, they have nearly given up hope when a masked man arrives, a swordsman by the name of Zorro. As news of his actions spreads, revealing his knack for stealing from the rich in order to give the poor their due, the governor sends his most ruthless officer to put a stop to the vigilante, once and for all. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Johnston McCulley’s The Mark of Zorro is a classic of American pulp fiction reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisMy First Book (1894) is a collection of reminiscences by some of the leading fiction writers of the Victorian era. Beginning with a heartfelt introduction by English humorist Jerome K. Jerome, the collection includes reflections by such literary titans as Robert Louis Stevenson, Rudyard Kipling, and Arthur Conan Doyle. “It rose to my lips to answer him that it was not always the books written very, very well that brought in the biggest heaps of money […] But something about the almost baby face beside me, fringed by the gathering shadows, silenced my middle-aged cynicism.” In his brilliant introduction, Jerome recalls a scenario that will be familiar to writers at any stage in their career. A young and ambitious artist seeks the advice of an older mentor. The mentor longs to warn the writer about the difficulties of obtaining success, but knows that to do so would risk breaking the essential innocence necessary for making art. Conscious of this dynamic, the contributors to My First Book endeavor to demystify the writing process as well as the trajectory of their own careers by sharing with readers how their first major works came into being. Heartfelt, humorous, and ultimately honest, their reflections remain invaluable to writers from all walks of life. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition My First Book is a classic of British literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisTouch Me Not (1887) is a novel by José Rizal. Published in Berlin, the novel was originally conceived as a collaborative project to be written by a group of Filipino nationalist writers living in Madrid. Disappointed in his comrades’ lack of engagement, however, Rizal wrote the novel alone, blending aspects of his own life story with his critique of Spanish imperialism in the Philippines. Banned by Spanish authorities, the novel was smuggled into his home country, where it quickly galvanized Rizal’s fellow nationalists in opposition to the Spanish Empire. Returning home to Laguna province after seven years in Europe, Crisóstomo Ibarra, a young mestizo man, attempts to pick up the pieces following the death of his father. Noticing some hostility from Padre Dámaso, a local curate who had long been a friend of his family, Crisóstomo soon learns that his father’s death may not have been an accident after all. Focusing on his goal of building a school for the local children, Crisóstomo longs to do justice to Don Rafael Ibarra’s legacy. When he goes to visit his grave, however, he is told by the groundskeeper that his father’s body was moved to a local Chinese burial ground following an order by Padre Dámaso. As the story unfolds, a vast web of conspiracy involving Spanish authorities and Filipino revolutionaries threatens Crisóstomo’s life while testing the limits of his loyalty to family and nation alike. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of José Rizal’s Touch Me Not is a classic work of Filipino literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisThe Reign of Greed (1891) is a novel by José Rizal. Published in Belgium, the novel was a sequel to Touch Me Not (1887), both of which were written in Spanish. Blending aspects of his own life story with his critique of Spanish imperialism in the Philippines, Rizal continues the journey of Crisóstomo Ibarra from centrist reformer to revolutionary leader. Banned by Spanish authorities, the novel was smuggled into his home country, where it quickly galvanized Rizal’s fellow nationalists in opposition to the Spanish Empire. Despite his attempts to reform the local government of his native San Diego, Ibarra is placed in prison on false charges of rebellion. Forced to escape or face execution, he chooses the former. When a firefight with authorities leaves his comrade Elias dead, he manages to make his way out of the country. Thirteen years later, by now presumed dead by friends and foes alike, he returns to the Philippines as Simoun, a shadowy jeweler. Moving in secret, he begins spreading his anti-imperial message among the local people while gathering the weapons and supplies he will need to overthrow the government. Before he can carry out his plan, however, he must rescue his love Maria Clara from confinement. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of José Rizal’s The Reign of Greed is a classic work of Filipino literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisSuch is Life (1903) is a novel by Joseph Furphy. Written under his pseudonym “Tom Collins,” Such is Life is a unique and challenging story that took decades to achieve a proper audience. Earning comparisons to the works of Melville and Twain, Furphy’s novel is considered a landmark of Australian literature. “The fore part of the day was altogether devoid of interest or event. Overhead, the sun blazing wastefully and thanklessly through a rarefied atmosphere; underfoot the hot, black clay, thirsting for spring rain, and bare except for inedible roley-poleys, coarse tussocks, and the woody stubble of close-eaten salt-bush; between sky and earth, a solitary wayfarer, wisely lapt in philosophic torpor.” Setting out on a trek through the outback, Tom Collins begins his seemingly endless torrent of words, a journey through language to match his journey over land. Accompanied by a dog and two horses, he meets a vibrant array of characters from all nations and walks of life; from drovers to criminals, Collins can talk with them all. Described by Furphy himself as “offensively Australian,” Such is Life is part travelogue, part philosophy, a novel ahead of its time that remains informative for our own. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Joseph Furphy’s Such is Life is a classic work of Australian literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisGloriana; or, The Revolution of 1900 (1890) is a novel by Lady Florence Dixie. A member of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies, Dixie believed in the emancipation of women through radical cultural and political change. Gloriana; or, The Revolution of 1900, a feminist utopian novel, is the story of a revolutionary hero who defies gender norms and fights for liberation by any means necessary. Gloriana pleads woman’s cause, pleads for her freedom, for the just acknowledgement of her rights. It pleads that her equal humanity with man shall be recognized, and therefor that her claim to share what he has arrogated to himself, shall be considered. Gloriana pleads that in woman’s degradation man shall no longer be debased, that in her elevation he shall be upraised and ennobled.” Following this stirring introduction, Lady Florence Dixie tells the story of Gloriana de Lara, a woman who decides to put an end to patriarchy. Disguising herself as a man named Hector d’Estrange, she attends both Eton and Oxford and is elected a Member of Parliament. Meanwhile, she leads the revolutionary Woman’s Volunteer Company on a campaign of violence against repressive authority. When a plot to reveal her identity is discovered, she is forced to go into hiding or else sacrifice years of painstaking work toward the liberation of women throughout the world. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Lady Florence Dixie’s Gloriana; or, The Revolution of 1900 is a classic of British literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisDon Rodriguez: Chronicles of Shadow Valley (1922). Having established himself as a bestselling author of short fiction, Dunsany published Don Rodriguez: Chronicles of Shadow Valley, his first novel. Recognized as a pioneering author of fantasy and science fiction, Dunsany is a man whose work, in the words of H. P. Lovecraft, remains “unexcelled in the sorcery of crystalline singing prose, and supreme in the creation of a gorgeous and languorous world of incandescently exotic vision.” In an ancient, mythical Spain, a world of castles, dragons, and magic, Don Rodriguez responds to his father’s summons. Before the throne of the Lord of the Valleys of Arguento Harez, the young man learns of his fate. His younger brother, a simple, unskilled man, will inherit the kingdom upon his father’s death. Don Rodriguez, a skilled musician and legendary swordsman, must venture off into the unknown in order to prove himself, or die trying. Armed with his father’s ancient Castilian blade, he sets out to find a servant to accompany him. His final destination is the mysterious Shadow Valley, a haunted realm from which few ever return. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Lord Dunsany’s Don Rodriguez: Chronicles of Shadow Valley is a classic of British fantasy fiction reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisThe King of Elfland’s Daughter (1924). Having established himself as a bestselling author of short fiction, Dunsany published The King of Elfland’s Daughter, his second novel. Recognized as a pioneering author of fantasy and science fiction, Dunsany is a man whose work, in the words of H. P. Lovecraft, remains “unexcelled in the sorcery of crystalline singing prose, and supreme in the creation of a gorgeous and languorous world of incandescently exotic vision.” In accordance with tradition, the Lord of Erl assents to the will of the people, who wish to be ruled by a magical being. In order to fulfill their request, he sends his son Alveric, a trustworthy young man, to the realm of Elfland, where time moves slowly and citizens live long, prosperous lives. There, Alveric falls in love with Lirazel, the daughter of the King, and convinces her to return to Erl as his wife. He arrives triumphantly, but soon Lirazel grows tired of the ways of men. Caught between the demands of tradition and the desires of his heart, Alveric must decide to whom he will remain loyal. Largely forgotten after its publication, The King of Elfland’s Daughter was eventually recognized as a groundbreaking work of high fantasy and fairytale fiction. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Lord Dunsany’s The King of Elfland’s Daughter is a classic of British fantasy fiction reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisThe Guermantes Way (1920/21) is the third volume of Marcel Proust’s seven-part novel In Search of Lost Time. Written while Proust was virtually confined to his bedroom from a lifelong respiratory illness, The Guermantes Way is a story of memory, history, family, and romance from a master of Modernist literature. Praised by Virginia Woolf, Vladimir Nabokov, Michael Chabon, and Graham Greene, In Search of Lost Time explores the nature of memory and time while illuminating the history of homosexuality in nineteenth century Europe. The narrator moves to an apartment neighboring the home of the aristocratic Guermantes family. He soon grows obsessed with the beautiful Mme. de Guermantes, who refuses his invitation to meet. Disappointed, he rekindles his friendship with her nephew Saint-Loup, a soldier who introduces him to the salon of Mme. de Villeparisis. There, he observes Mme. de Guermantes up close, but soon loses interest as he attempts to pursue Mme. de Stermaria. Only then, as his attention wavers, does he receive an invite to the Guermantes home. As he grows and learns, he begins to recognize the reality concealed by convention: the secret liaisons between lovers; the petty competitions of artists; the fleeting nature of affection and lust alike. Written in flowing prose, The Guermantes Way is a masterpiece of twentieth century fiction that continues to entertain and astound over a century after it appeared in print. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Marcel Proust’s The Guermantes Way is a classic work of French literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisWithin a Budding Grove (1919) is the second volume of Marcel Proust’s seven-part novel In Search of Lost Time. Written while Proust was virtually confined to his bedroom from a lifelong respiratory illness, Within a Budding Grove is a story of memory, history, family, and romance from a master of Modernist literature. Praised by Virginia Woolf, Vladimir Nabokov, Michael Chabon, and Graham Greene, In Search of Lost Time explores the nature of memory and time while illuminating the history of homosexuality in nineteenth century Europe. After years of admiring the Swann family from a distance, the narrator befriends the lovely young Gilberte. Through her, he gains access to her parents and their home, where artists and intellectuals gather to discuss their lofty ideals alongside the latest gossip. Despite his attraction to Gilberte, he finds himself enthralled with her mother, a careworn beauty so often ignored by her husband. As he grows and learns, he begins to recognize the reality concealed by convention: the secret liaisons between lovers; the petty competitions of artists; the fleeting nature of affection and lust alike. Written in flowing prose, Within a Budding Grove is a masterpiece of twentieth century fiction that continues to entertain and astound over a century after it appeared in print. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Marcel Proust’s Within a Budding Grove is a classic work of French literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisInnocent (1914) is a novel by Marie Corelli. Published at the height of Corelli’s career as one of the most successful writers of her generation, the novel combines fantasy and romance to tell a story of self-discovery, ambition, and the ideals of the early feminist movement. Due for reassessment by a modern audience, Innocent is a must read for fans of Victorian literature. Abandoned as a baby, Innocent is raised by Hugo Jocelyn on the ancestral farm of Sieur Amadis, a legendary French knight. Growing up in this idyllic setting, Innocent develops a love for medieval literature while constructing elaborate fantasies about her mysterious origins. When Jocelyn dies, he reveals the identity of her parents: Lady Blythe, a noblewoman; and Pierce Armitage, an artist. Forced to face reality for the first time in her life, Innocent makes her way to London, where she begins a promising career as a professional writer. Despite her early success, Innocent encounters a friend of her parents who, unbeknownst to her, reveals her whereabouts and sets the stage for their reconciliation. While Armitage, now in Italy, prepares to rekindle their relationship, Innocent falls for a vain, manipulative young man who promises her marriage while harboring his own secret motives. Innocent is a tale of a young woman true to her name, a talented and promising young artist who must learn fast in order to avoid disaster. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Marie Corelli’s Innocent is a classic work of English literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisThe Mighty Atom (1896) is a novel by Marie Corelli. Published at the height of Corelli’s career as one of the most successful writers of her generation, the novel combines realism, social commentary, and family drama to tell a story of morality and the corruption of the youth. Due for reassessment by a modern audience, Marie Corelli’s work—which has inspired several adaptations for film and theater—is a must read for fans of early science fiction. “‘D—d—did I hear you rightly, sir? Ch—child-murder!’ ‘I repeat it, Mr. Valliscourt […] Child-murder! Take the phrase and think it over! You have only one child,—a boy of a most lovable and intelligent disposition […] and you are killing him with your hard and fast rules, and your pernicious “system” of intellectual training.’” Intended as a rallying cry to Christian readers, The Mighty Atom states quite clearly Correlli’s beliefs on progressivism and public education. Raised in a household of atheists, Lionel is left only with science to inform his thoughts and experiences. Early in the novel, his tutor, a religious Scotsman, is dismissed by the boy’s father Mr. Valliscourt. On his way out the door, however, he makes sure to state his mind to his employer. Despite his warning about the boy’s perilous upbringing, Lionel will grow into a nervous, lonely young man. Addressing philosophical, scientific, and religious themes, The Mighty Atom is a moving work of fiction which asks important questions about an emerging modern world. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Marie Corelli’s The Mighty Atom is a classic work of English science fiction reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisWormwood (1890) is a novel by Marie Corelli. Published at the beginning of Corelli’s career as one of the most successful writers of her generation, Wormwood combines realism, social commentary, and family drama to tell a story of murder, revenge, and addiction set in the bustling city of Paris. Due for reassessment by a modern audience, Marie Corelli’s work—which has inspired several adaptations for film and theater—is a must read for fans of nineteenth century fiction. “Men such as ‘Gaston Beauvais’ are to be met with every day in Paris—and not only in Paris, but in every part of the Continent where the Curse, which forms the subject of this story, has any sort of sway. The morbidness of the modern French mind is well known […]; the open atheism, heartlessness, flippancy, and flagrant immorality of the whole modern French school of thought is unquestioned.” Intended as a rallying cry to English readers, Wormwood states quite clearly Corelli’s beliefs on progressivism and the dangers of alcohol. Echoing the popular realist novels of French contemporary Emile Zola, Corelli provides a gritty portrait of ambition and suffering in Paris. When young Gaston Beauvais is betrayed by his fiancée and best friend, he turns from a life of promise to the promise of absinthe, beginning a tragic spiral into violence and despair. Addressing philosophical, psychological, and religious themes, Wormwood is a moving work of fiction which asks important questions about an emerging modern world. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Marie Corelli’s Wormwood is a classic work of English literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisDiana Tempest (1893) is novel by Mary Cholmondeley. Partly based on her experience as an artist from a wealthy landowning family, Diana Tempest is a story of greed, romance, and betrayal that faced backlash from critics for its controversial portrayal of female sexuality. Satirical and deeply observant of the hypocrisies of Victorian society, Diana Tempest is an essential work by one of Victorian England’s bestselling novelists. “Colonel Tempest, as a rule, took life very easily. If he had fits of uncontrolled passion now and then, they were quickly over. If his feelings were touched, that was quickly over too. But to-day his face was clouded. He had tried the usual antidotes for an impending attack of what he would have called ‘the blues,’ by which he meant any species of reflection calculated to give him that passing annoyance which was the deepest form of emotion of which he was capable.” Unused to being denied, Colonel Tempest is unable to control himself following the death of his brother. Rather than mourn his loss, he laments the passing of the Tempest family fortune to his nephew John, a secretly illegitimate child whose claim as heir is fabricated at best. A notorious gambler, he makes a drunken bet that he will one day control the estate, unwittingly placing a bounty on John’s head. At the same time, the Colonel’s daughter Diana has begun to fall in love with the young heir, complicating her father’s plans and welcoming disaster into her life. Diana Tempest is a tale of family, faith, and betrayal that explores the Victorian concept of the New Woman without sacrificing its entertaining narrative. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Mary Cholmondeley’s Diana Tempest is a classic work of British literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisRed Pottage (1899) is novel by Mary Cholmondeley. Partly based on her experience as an artist from a devoutly religious family, Red Pottage is a story of friendship, romance, and identity that faced backlash from critics for its controversial portrayal of female sexuality. Satirical and deeply observant of the hypocrisies of Victorian society, Red Pottage was an international bestseller in its time and was adapted into a 1918 silent film starring Mary Dibley, C. Aubrey Smith, and Gerald Ames. “It was a hot night in June. Hugh had thrown back his overcoat, and the throng of passers-by in the street could see, if they cared to see, ‘the glass of fashion’ in the shape of white waistcoat and shirt front, surmounted by the handsome, irritated face of their owner, leaning back with his hat tilted over his eyes.” Handsome and magnanimous, Hugh Scarlett has never had a hard time with romance. Having recently ended an affair with a local aristocrat, he has caught the eye of Rachel West, a young heiress who seems unaware of his reputation as a womanizer. Rachel, both naïve and strong-willed, shares everything with her friend Hester Gresley, a pastor’s daughter who longs to make it as a professional writer. As she struggles to overcome the animosity of her brother, a self-righteous minister, Hester looks to Rachel for guidance. Funny and tragic, Red Pottage is a timeless story of friendship that explores the lives of women in a world controlled by men. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Mary Cholmondeley’s Red Pottage is a classic work of British literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisFeaturing nineteen sweet and humorous works of short fiction, P.G Wodehouse’s The Man Upstairs and Other Stories is filled with depictions of peculiar and sometimes disastrous methods of courtship. In Something to Worry About a young woman named Sally is forced to live with her aunt and uncle after her film obsession is deemed “unladylike”. When the young men of the village hear of this, they begin to shower Sally with gifts and attention, all hoping to be her suitor, but none are more persistent than the shy neighbor boy, Tom. Deep Waters follows a playwright and skilled swimmer named George who, despite his career success, goes to the pier to pout. There, he notices Mary, who is swimming in the water below. In an effort to keep her in his sight, George falls off the pier into the water, and Mary swims to his rescue. When they get back to shore, Mary offers George swimming lessons, which George decides to accept despite his skills in order to spend time with Mary. Finally, the title story, The Man Upstairs depicts Annette, a short-tempered composer who is bothered by a knocking on her apartment ceiling. After her investigation, she begins a close friendship with her upstairs neighbor, who is an artist, unaware that he is being dishonest about his identity. With the classic and witty prose of P.G Wodehouse, each story within The Man Upstairs and Other Stories is carefully crafted with humor and sentiment. While providing a simple and fun reading experience, The Man Upstairs and Other Stories also explores the culture of British high society, allowing contemporary readers a glimpse into a privileged historic class. This edition of The Man Upstairs and Other Stories by P.G Wodehouse features a new, eye-catching cover design and is printed in an easy-to-read font, making the classic both readable and modern.

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Book SynopsisThe Spoilt Child (1893) is a novel by Peary Chand Mitra. Originally published as Alaler Gharer Dulal under the pseudonym Tek Chand Thakur, Mitra’s novel is considered one of the first written in plainspoken, accessible Bengali. Translated here by G. D. Oswell, The Spoilt Child remains an essential work of nineteenth century Indian literature. “Matilall, having been indulged in every possible way from his boyhood, was exceedingly self-willed; at times, he would say to his father: ‘Father, I want to catch hold of the moon!’ ‘Father, I want to eat a cannon-ball!’ Now and then he would roar and cry, so that all the neighbours would say: ‘We cannot get any sleep owing to that dreadful boy.’ Having been so spoilt by his parents, the boy would not tolerate the bare idea of going to school, and thus it was that the duty of teaching him devolved upon the house clerk.” Born into wealth, spoiled by his parents, Matilall grows up to be an unruly young man. Educated by a private tutor and later in a proper school, he excels in reading and writing. But his wild ways soon prove troublesome, causing Matillal to associate with the wrong crowd of boys. One day, after leaving school, he is arrested and beaten by a notorious police officer for no reason other than that of his reputation. Put on trial, his life is saved by his tutor Thakchacha, who bravely testifies on the boy’s behalf—but his trials are far from over. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Peary Chand Mitra’s The Spoilt Child is a classic of Bengali literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisThe Hungry Stones and Other Stories (1916) is a collection of short stories by Rabindranath Tagore. Published following his ascension to international fame with the 1912 Nobel Prize in Literature, the collection contains some of Tagore’s most celebrated works of fiction. “Before a week had passed, the place began to exert a weird fascination upon me. It is difficult to describe or to induce people to believe; but I felt as if the whole house was like a living organism slowly and imperceptibly digesting me by the action of some stupefying gastric juice.” In the title story of the collection, a tax collector moves to a deserted palace on the outskirts of a small town. Devoting himself to his daily work, he returns home at night to sleep and spends as little time as possible indoors. Rumored to be haunted, the palace was built during the height of the Mughal Empire and was once a symbol of fortune for all those who entered its gate or passed it by along the road. For Srijut, however, it is a source of terror and unease, a living entity filled with restless spirits who all seem to vie for his soul. Elsewhere in the collection, Tagore explores the lives of rich and poor, giving voice to struggling writers, suffering wives, and young servants alike with an ease and familiarity possessed by the purest of storytellers. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Rabindranath Tagore’s The Hungry Stones and Other Stories is a classic of Indian literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisThe Heavenly Twins (1893) is a novel by Sarah Grand. Written the same year Grand moved to London, divorced her husband, and created a new identity for herself, The Heavenly Twins explores the feminist ideal of the New Woman. As a pioneering feminist whose marriage ended in bitter disappointment, Grand sought to address the frustrations of women whose every move in life was measured against the expectations of a patriarchal society. In her novel, she explores gender dysphoria, sexually transmitted diseases, and contraception as aspects of a wider feminine experience largely ignored in much of English literature. To be a young woman in Victorian England, one grows accustomed to the indignities of daily life. Despite this, Evadne, Angelica, and Edith do their best to live happily while keeping their families satisfied. Evadne struggles to match the realities of married life with the expectations of traditional society. Meanwhile, Edith enters a relationship with a man who seems well-intentioned but harbors a dangerous secret. Angelica, their friend, bristles against the strictures of womanhood. With the help of her twin brother Diavolo, she explores the freedoms afforded young men for nothing more than the gender they were assigned at birth. Dissatisfied with her life, she begins dressing as a man and uses her new identity to expand her social and romantic opportunities. As their lives take tragic and disappointing turns, they begin to understand how so many women end up trapped by marriage and motherhood, unable to pursue their dreams. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Sarah Grand’s The Heavenly Twins is a classic work of Irish literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisWhen William Came (1913) is a novel by Saki. Considered a masterpiece of invasion literature, When William Came indulges in the paranoid atmosphere of the leadup to the Great War to weave a sinister tale of espionage, survival, and conspiracy. Keenly aware of the heightening tensions between Britain and Germany, Saki crafts an entertaining story with a political purpose: to call for national conscription in the event of war. Much has changed in London since Murrey Yeovil left for a hunting trip in Eastern Siberia. War came and went, London fell to German forces, and his wife Cicely found a younger lover. Disembarking from the train, he gets into a cab and gives his address, only to discover his driver speaks German. Slowly, he grows accustomed to the rhythms of life under an occupying force, but it is impossible to ignore how many people have been lost. Of those who survived the war, many fled for the countryside or to colonies and nations overseas. They are the lucky ones, who need not fear a trip to the store or a turn down the wrong street might lead to imprisonment—or worse. Soon, Murrey must decide where his true loyalties lie. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Saki’s When William Came is a classic of British invasion literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisRobbery Under Arms (1888) is a novel by Rolf Boldrewood, the pseudonym of Australian novelist Thomas Browne. A squatter for nearly twenty-five years, he came to know the ways of life on the outskirts of civilization, which allowed him to lead a peaceful, uncomplicated, and inexpensive existence. Originally serialized in Australian weekly magazines, Browne’s work as Rolf Bolfrewood is an incomparable record of colonial Australia, where outlaws and speculators lived side by side on land stolen from the continent’s Aboriginal peoples. Robbery Under Arms has been adapted several times for film and theater. “My name's Dick Marston, Sydney-side native. I'm twenty-nine years old, six feet in my stocking soles, and thirteen stone weight. Pretty strong and active with it, so they say. I don't want to blow—not here, any road—but it takes a good man to put me on my back, or stand up to me with the gloves, or the naked mauleys.” Imprisoned for his crimes, Dick Marston prepares to be executed. With one month to live, he sits down to write the story of his life as an Australian bushranger. Alongside Captain Starlight, an English nobleman turned outlaw, he participated in a string of cattle thefts and armed robberies that would bring him enough gold and infamy to last a lifetime. Action-packed and fast-paced, Robbery Under Arms is a brilliant adventure novel from one of nineteenth century Australia’s most popular writers of fiction. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Rolf Boldrewood’s Robbery Under Arms is a classic work of Australian literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisAs the Revolutionary War progressed, tensions and resentments ran high with the promise of lasting long after the surrender. Amid this chaos, the daily lives of citizens and soldiers were changed, often characterized by the polarizing political beliefs they held. Amid this disarray, a wealthy merchant, Col. Johnanthan Hamilton, welcomes Captain John Paul Jones to dinner in his lavish home in Berwick, Maine. While the two men discuss the war and enjoy their dinner, the colonel’s daughter, Mary is only concerned about a ship sailing away from America with news of surrender. Named the Ranger, the ship is full of men from different backgrounds, but Mary is only concerned with one. When he and Mary first met, Roger Wallingford was a man of loyalist leanings. This greatly opposed Mary’s views, as she and her family are greatly dedicated to the American cause. However, as the two grew closer, Roger began to see the error in his thoughts, slowly losing the sympathy he held for the British as he fell in love with Mary. Now, Roger is doing his part to be a helpful crew member on the Ranger, but while a traitor lurks on the ship, seeking turmoil, Roger’s newly found allegiance to America is tested, and his future with Mary is threatened. With settings of Maine, the Atlantic, France, and England, The Tory Lover provides detailed insight and description of multiple landscapes and people during the Revolutionary War. While portraying the opposing ideologies, high tension, and betrayal expected during the war, Sarah Orne Jewett’s work also depicts a touching romance between star-crossed lovers. With these exciting elements and the insightful portrayal of historical figures and settings, The Tory Lover remains to be just as entertaining to a modern audience as it is educational. This edition of The Tory Lover by Sarah Orne Jewett features an eye-catching new cover design and is presented in a font that is both modern and readable. With these accommodations, this edition is accessible and appealing to contemporary audiences, restoring The Tory Lover to modern standards while preserving the original genius and beauty of Sarah Orne Jewett’s work.

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Book SynopsisThe Beetle (1897) is a novel by Richard Marsh. Immensely popular upon publication, The Beetle was an instant bestseller and went on to inspire a 1919 silent film adaptation starring Maudie Dunham. Despite its success, the novel was largely forgotten until scholarly attention in the late-20th century highlighted its importance to the fields of gothic fiction, postcolonial criticism, and women and gender studies. “To have tramped about all day looking for work; to have begged even for a job which would give me money enough to buy a little food; and to have tramped and to have begged in vain,—that was bad. But, sick at heart, depressed in mind and in body, exhausted by hunger and fatigue, to have been compelled to pocket any little pride I might have left, […] and to solicit it in vain!—that was worse. Much worse.” Down on his luck, Robert Holt wanders the streets of London in search of food, a job, and shelter. Turned away from a Fulham workhouse, he finds himself standing before a seemingly abandoned house and, with nowhere to go, cautiously enters. There, he comes face to face with the mysterious Beetle, a figure from ancient Egypt who controls his subjects with mesmerism. Soon, Robert is used to commit a series of crimes against Paul Lessingham, a powerful member of the House of Commons. As the plot unfolds, a love triangle involving Lessingham, the beautiful Marjorie Lindon, and a vindictive chemist named Sydney Atherton falls victim to the scheming Beetle. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Richard Marsh’s The Beetle is a classic work of British horror fiction reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisFeaturing eleven short works of fiction, Sarah Orne Jewett’s Strangers and Wayfarers invokes sentiment and nostalgia. The opening story, A Winter Courtship, depicts the budding relationship between a wagon driver, Jefferson Briley, and a passenger, Fanny Tobin. Despite their opposing personalities, Fanny and Jefferson enjoy each other’s company as they transition from coy flirting to seriously considering if their unconventional pairing could function as a long-term relationship. As the winter month melts away in The Town Poor, two ladies ride together in a horse-drawn carriage. As they take in the sight of the countryside, the two friends discuss the difficult winter that their hometown was just starting to overcome. While the inhabitants of this town struggled through the winter, few citizens were forced to overcome more obstacles than 19th century immigrants. This is portrayed in The Luck of the Bogans, which follows a beloved Irish family as they migrate to America. Succeeding the theme of family, Fair Day depicts an elderly woman as she spends the day alone after her son and his family go to the local fair, leaving her time for reflection. Born and raised in South Berwick, Maine, author Sarah Orne Jewett knew the New England area intimately, and translated her familiarity with the region to her masterful descriptive prose featured in each of her works of short fiction. Through carriage rides, lonely days on the farm, and discussions of struggling towns, Strangers and Wayfarers by Sarah Orne Jewett allows readers to explore the country and oceanside of New England. With themes of immigration, romance, family, and nostalgia, Strangers and Wayfarers continues to address relevant sentimentality in modern society, despite its original publication in 1890. This edition of Strangers and Wayfarers by Sarah Orne Jewett features an eye-catching new cover design and is presented in a font that is both modern and readable. With these accommodations, this edition is accessible and appealing to contemporary audiences, restoring Strangers and Wayfarers to modern standards while preserving the original tranquility and beauty of Sarah Orne Jewett’s work.

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Book SynopsisWith eleven short stories, Sarah Orne Jewett’s The Life of Nancy is a serene and heart-touching collection of 19th century fiction. In A War Debt, Tom Burton finds himself stuck in Boston, as he is the primary caretaker of his grandmother. Though he has long given up the dream of a vacation, he is forced to a long trip to Virgina when his grandmother admits guilt over possessing an item stolen during the war, and is desperate for it to be returned to its owner. In A Second Spring a grieving farmer must adjust to his new life after the passing of his wife of forty years. Depicting a widow who has already made peace with her predicament, My Sad Captains follows the exciting love life of a woman that has won the attention of three fishing boat captains. Finally, the title story, The Life of Nancy follows a serendipitous relationship that is forged between Tom and Nancy after Tom is stranded with her family. When Tom’s friend suffers an injury during their vacation, the two are unable to travel, and are forced to find somewhere to stay. Though it was originally out of desperation, Tom grows to enjoy his time staying with Nacy’s family on the Maine island. Still, he must leave after his friend heals and is sad to say goodbye to Nancy. However, as the two grow older, they find that their paths cross more than expected, and their bond stands the test of time. With stories of romance, mourning, and new beginnings, The Life of Nancy is a sentimental collection filled with masterful descriptions of its settings and characters. Featuring themes of nostalgia and tradition, this Sarah Orne Jewett collection is emotional and beautiful, sure to resonate with readers even over a century after its original publication. This edition of The Life of Nancy by Sarah Orne Jewett features an eye-catching new cover design and is presented in a font that is both modern and readable. With these accommodations, this edition is accessible and appealing to contemporary audiences, restoring The Life of Nancy to modern standards while preserving the original tranquility and beauty of Sarah Orne Jewett’s work.

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