Publisher: Project Gutenberg
The narrative of Clotel plays with history by relating the "perilous antebellum adventures" of a young slave Currer and her mixed-race, light-skinned daughters fathered by Thomas Jefferson. Their girls are born into slavery.
Here is Oscar Wilde's most brilliant tour de force, a witty and buoyant comedy of manners that has delighted millions in countless productions since its first performance in London's St. James' Theatre on February 14, 1895. The Importance of Being Earnest is celebrated not only for the lighthearted ingenuity of its plot, but for its inspired dialogue, rich with scintillating epigrams still savored by all who enjoy artful conversation. From the play's effervescent beginnings in Algernon Moncrieff's London flat to its hilarious denouement in the drawing room of Jack Worthing's country manor in Hertfordshire, this comic masterpiece keeps audiences breathlessly anticipating a new bon mot or a fresh twist of plot moment to moment.Show book
Siddhartha, a 1922 novel by Hermann Hesse, deals with the spiritual journey of self-discovery of a man named Siddhartha during the time of the Gautama Buddha. After learning what he can from Goutama, the young man decides to go off into the busy city, and leads a life of greed and lust. When he realizes that the lifestyle is not fulfilling, he reflects on his life and goes to a river to contemplate suicide. However, it is here that Siddhartha meets a man who will change his life and help lead him to enlightenment, in this classic coming of age story about finding meaning and purpose. Hesse's ninth novel, it was written in German, in a simple, lyrical style. Published in the U.S. in 1951, it became popular during the 1960s owing to its central theme of spiritual awakening.Show book
"The Red Room" is a short gothic story written by H. G. Wells in 1894. It was first published in the March 1896 edition of The Idler magazine.An unnamed protagonist chooses to spend the night in an allegedly haunted room, colored bright red in Lorraine Castle. He intends to disprove the legends surrounding it. Despite vague warnings from the three infirm custodians who reside in the castle, the narrator ascends to "the Red Room" to begin his night's vigil.Show book
Richard Barham Middleton (1882-1911) was an English poet and author who is remembered mostly for his supernatural tales and ghost stories, in particular 'The Ghost Ship', 'The Coffin Merchant' and 'On the Brighton Road'.'The Coffin Merchant' is the peculiar tale of Eustace Reynolds, who is handed a handbill by a stranger one day. The flyer reads: "You will soon be wanting a coffin! At 606 Gray's Inn Road, your order will be attended to with civility and despatch. Call and see us!"Eustace is curious enough to go to see the coffin merchant, and what happens next is unexpected, to say the least.Show book
The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby is a children's novel by Charles Kingsley. Written in 1862-63 as a serial for Macmillan's Magazine, it was first published in its entirety in 1863. It was written as part satire in support of Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species. The book was extremely popular in England, and was a mainstay of British children's literature for many decades, but eventually fell out of favour in part due to its prejudices (common at the time) against Irish, Jews, Catholics and Americans.The protagonist is Tom, a young chimney sweep, who falls into a river after encountering an upper-class girl named Ellie and being chased out of her house. There he appears to drown and is transformed into a "water-baby", as he is told by a caddisfly - an insect that sheds its skin-and begins his moral education. The story is thematically concerned with Christian redemption, though Kingsley also uses the book to argue that England treats its poor badly, and to question child labour, among other themes.Show book
The year is 1870. The elderly Colonel Jouve has suffered a medical collapse and is confined to his bed. It is uncertain whether or not he will pull through.His granddaughter takes over his care. Then one day, news reaches Paris of military successes in the war against Prussia. Colonel Jouve senses the optimism in the air and his health begins to improve. Almost immediately further news reaches Paris. The previous news was wrong - in fact the French are being beaten back. Colonel Jouve's son has been taken prisoner. The Prussians are marching on Paris.Fearful that this news will prove the death-blow to Colonel Jouve, his granddaughter, with the complicity of the doctor, decides to create the illusion that the French are winning the war. But the Colonel demands constant details. Where are battles being fought? What route are the French regiments taking on their advance towards Berlin? News bulletins and letters must be faked in order to deceive the old invalid.White bread and meat must be procured for him...for he must not guess that it is Paris itself that is besieged and not Berlin. But then finally the day arrives when the Prussians enter Paris and parade down the Champs Elyssées....Show book
