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  Adam Bede

  George Eliot

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  Adam Bede was the first novel by Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot), and was published in 1859. It was published pseudonymously, even though Evans was a well-published and highly respected scholar of her time.

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  David Swan - From their pens to...

  Nathaniel Hawthorne

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  Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on 4th July 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, a town synonymous with the earlier Salem Witch Trials. It was instrumental in Hawthorne’s later use of American Gothic and dark romanticism in his writing. 
  He was a mere four years old when his father died and his mother took him and his two sisters to live with her family and then on to their own home in Raymond, Maine. The young Hawthorne had a passion for fiction and poetry and voraciously read the works of Ann Radcliffe, Henry Fielding and Lord Byron.  
  He was sent to college at his maternal uncle’s insistence. During these years he met and befriended Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and future U S president Franklin Pierce. These friendships were lifelong and to have a crucial impact on his writings and career.  
  At college Hawthorne had made attempts at writing short stories and essays but without opportunities to publish. It was only in 1828 that he finally published his novel ‘Franshawe’ to little success and so he began work as editor for the American Magazine of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge.  
  Hawthorne’s short stories were first published in magazines but in 1837 were collected and published as ‘Twice-Told Tales’. A steady literary career still did not come his way and so he worked in a good position at Salem’s port and married the love of his life Sophia Peabody. They moved to live in ‘The Old Manse’ at Concord, Massachusetts.   
  Finally. in 1850 came spectacular literary and commercial success with ‘The Scarlet Letter’ followed by ‘The House of the Seven Gables’ the following year.  
  In 1852, Hawthorne published a biography of presidential candidate Franklin Pierce. After Pierce’s victory he was appointed consul in Liverpool, a position that offered prestige, money and fame. At the end of this appointment he returned several times to Europe before settling in Massachusetts and resuming writing and publication. 
  During the early 1860’s his health declined and on 19th May 1864 during a trip to Plymouth, New Hampshire. He was 59 and was buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts.

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  A Redeeming Sacrifice - From...

  Lucy Ward Montgomery

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  The bookshelves of American literature are incredible collections that have gathered together centuries of very talented authors.  From this continent their fame spread and whilst among their number many are now forgotten or neglected their talents endure.  Among them is Lucy Ward Montgomery.

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  The Bittermeads Mystery - A...

  E. R. Punshon

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  A young man takes a post at a lonely house called Bittermeads under a false name, looking for a missing man, and finds a packing case, a girl who will not explain herself, and a household where everyone is watching everyone. Punshon spent years as a laborer in Canada and America before settling to write some fifty detective novels; Dorothy L. Sayers reviewed him with real admiration, and this early one shows why. Sixty plates of quiet interiors, lamplit streets and harbour scenes by painters such as John Atkinson Grimshaw and Carl Holsøe carry the watchful, half-lit mood of the novel through its length.

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  Curious if true

  Elizabeth Gaskell

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  "I had a feeling that I was in the presence of those who had lived for centuries."
  
  While traveling through the dense forests of France, a pragmatic Englishman named Richard Whittingham loses his way and stumbles upon a mysterious chateau. Inside, he is invited to a grand soirée populated by an assembly of aristocrats who seem strangely familiar. As the evening unfolds, he realizes he is a guest at a living reunion of legendary figures—from a sleeping lady just awakened to a gentleman with a penchant for glass slippers. Elizabeth Gaskell, the celebrated author of Northport and South, trades industrial realism for a sparkling, eerie, and witty deconstruction of the world's most famous folklore.
  
  A Sophisticated Literary Game: Curious, if true is a delight for lovers of intertextuality. Gaskell treats these mythical characters as aging French nobles, bound by the rigid etiquette of the 19th century. Through Whittingham's bewildered eyes, we see how the "happily ever after" would actually function in a society obsessed with lineage, marriage contracts, and social standing.
  
  Gaskell's Hidden Masterpiece: Often overlooked in favor of her larger novels, this story proves Gaskell's immense range. It balances a sense of "Gothic" atmosphere—the dark forest, the ancient house—with a sharp, satirical bite. It is a precursor to modern "fractured fairy tales," exploring the humanity, the vanity, and the lingering magic behind the legends we think we know.
  
  Step through the shadows of the forest and into the salon of legends. Purchase "Curious, if true" today and discover a different side of Elizabeth Gaskell.

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  The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

  Anne Brontë

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  The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is a bold and groundbreaking novel that challenges the social norms of its time. The story centers on Helen Graham, a mysterious woman who arrives at a secluded estate with her young son, determined to live independently.As her past is revealed, listeners discover a powerful story about a troubled marriage, alcoholism, and a woman's fight for freedom and dignity. Considered one of the first feminist novels, this work offers a compelling critique of gender roles and societal expectations.Gripping, emotional, and ahead of its time, this audiobook is essential for fans of classic literature, women's rights themes, and dramatic storytelling.

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