Publisher: WS
First published in 1890, The Sign of Four is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's second book starring legendary detective Sherlock Holmes. The story is complex, involving a secret between four ex-cons from India and a hidden treasure. More complex than the first Holmes novel, The Sign of Four also introduces the detective's drug habit and leaves breadcrumbs for the reader that lead toward the final resolution.
"The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe" is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published in 1719. Just as in its significantly more popular predecessor, Robinson Crusoe (1719), the first edition credits the work's fictional protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author. It was published under the considerably longer original title: The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe; Being the Second and Last Part of His Life, And of the Strange Surprising Accounts of his Travels Round three Parts of the Globe. Although intended to be the last Crusoe tale, the novel is followed by a non-fiction book involving Crusoe by Defoe entitled Serious Reflections During the Life and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe: With his Vision of the Angelick World (1720). The story is speculated to be partially based on Moscow embassy secretary Adam Brand's journal detailing the embassy's journey from Moscow to Peking from 1693 to 1695. The book starts with the statement about Crusoe's marriage in England. He bought a little farm in Bedford and had three children: two sons and one daughter. Our hero suffered a distemper and a desire to see "his island." He could talk of nothing else, and one can imagine that no one took his stories seriously, except his wife. She told him, in tears, "I will go with you, but I won't leave you." But in the middle of this felicity, Providence unhinged him at once, with the loss of his wife.Show book
A short Southern story, Fitzgerald takes the listener on a trip to Lily of Tarleton, Georgia. "The Jelly-Bean," published in "The Metropolitan," was written under strange circumstances shortly after his first novel was published, and, moreover, it was the first story in which he had a collaborator. Fitzgerald's wife, who was a Southern girl, acted as his expert on the topic.Show book
"Ann Veronica" is a novel written by H.G. Wells and published in 1909. It tells the story of Ann Veronica Stanley, a young woman who rebels against the restrictive social norms and expectations placed upon women in Edwardian society. The novel explores themes of feminism, women's rights, and the pursuit of personal freedom and self-fulfillment. The protagonist, Ann Veronica, is a strong-willed and independent-minded young woman who seeks to break free from the constraints of her conventional middle-class life. She yearns for intellectual and personal growth, desiring a life beyond societal expectations of marriage and domesticity. The novel follows Ann Veronica's journey as she challenges societal norms, engages in political activism, and navigates romantic relationships. "Ann Veronica" is considered a significant work in the feminist literature of its time. Wells uses the character of Ann Veronica to highlight the limitations placed on women in a patriarchal society and to advocate for their rights and autonomy. The novel explores issues such as women's suffrage, gender inequality, and the double standards applied to men and women in matters of love and sexuality. Wells' writing in "Ann Veronica" is characterized by his sharp social commentary and his portrayal of the complexities of gender dynamics. The novel reflects the changing attitudes and aspirations of women during the early 20th century and raises questions about the role of women in society and their struggle for equality. "Ann Veronica" remains relevant today as a reflection of the ongoing fight for gender equality and the pursuit of individual freedom and self-determination. The novel stands as a testament to Wells' progressive views and his contribution to the feminist movement.Show book
Victor-Marie Hugo (26 February 1802 - 22 May 1885) was a French poet, novelist, essayist, playwright, and dramatist of the Romantic movement. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote abundantly in an exceptional variety of genres: lyrics, satires, epics, philosophical poems, epigrams, novels, history, critical essays, political speeches, funeral orations, diaries, and letters public and private, as well as dramas in verse and prose.BOOK 3: THE GRANDFATHER AND THE GRANDSON: When M. Gillenormand lived in the Rue Servandoni, he had frequented many very good and very aristocratic salons. Although a bourgeois, M. Gillenormand was received in society. As he had a double measure of wit, in the first place, that which was born with him, and secondly, that which was attributed to him, he was even sought out and made much of.Show book
Considered to be one of the greatest novels ever written in English, Wuthering Heights is a wild, passionate story of the intense love between Catherine and Heathcliff. They meet as children. They grow up together. It’s only after one fatefully misheard conversation that Heathcliff leaves, believing his love for Catherine isn’t reciprocated. When he returns, he is a wealthy and polished man but things have now changed – drastically – and Heathcliff starts to exact terrible revenge on those who wronged him… “Be with me always—take any form—drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you!”Show book
Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantes is confined to the grim fortress of If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and he becomes determined not only to escape, but also to unearth the treasure and use it to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration. Dumas' epic tale of suffering and retribution, inspired by a real-life case of wrongful imprisonment, was a huge popular success when it was first serialized in the 1840s.VOLUME 4: Two days after, a considerable crowd was assembled, towards ten o'clock in the morning, around the door of M. de Villefort's house, and a long file of mourning-coaches and private carriages extended along the Faubourg Saint-Honoré and the Rue de la Pépinière.Show book
