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  Ruth

  Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell

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  The book is a social novel, dealing with Victorian views about sin and illegitimacy. It is a surprisingly compassionate portrayal of a 'fallen woman', a type of person normally outcast from respectable society. The title of the novel refers to the main character Ruth Hilton, an orphaned young seamstress who is seduced and then abandoned by gentleman Henry Bellingham. Ruth, pregnant and alone, is taken in by a minister and his sister. They conceal her single status under the pretence of widowhood in order to protect her child from the social stigma of illegitimacy. Ruth goes on to gain a respectable position in society as a governess, which is threatened by the return of Bellingham and the revelation of her secret. (Wikipedia)

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  The Lacemaker

  Mary Kingswood

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  A traditional Regency romance, drawing room rather than bedroom. 
  Caroline Milburn and her younger sisters live in two cramped rooms, struggling to survive by their skills in lace making and weaving. When their previously unknown grandfather drowns on the Brig Minerva and bequeaths them a cottage in the country, their lives seem set to improve. But where will the daughters of a linen draper fit into rural life, now that they are better off? How will Caroline find husbands for her younger sisters? Why have purses of money been buried in the garden? And why are the neighbours so interested in them? 
  Charles Leatham was happy in the army, where all he had to do was to follow orders. With both his older brothers dead, he’s forced to return home and he knows where his duty lies - he must marry, and soon, to secure the inheritance. He doesn’t care who he marries, but why is his step-mother so keen to pair him with the ill-bred linen draper’s daughter? She’s a termagant and a shrew, but he always follows orders so he resigns himself to the inevitable. At least she’ll be grateful for the offer… won’t she? 
  This is a complete story with a HEA. Book 2 of a 6 book series.

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  Mary Ann Sate Imbecile (Unabridged)

  Alice Jolly

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  If you tell a story oft enoughSo it become trueAs the nineteenth century draws towards a close, Mary Ann Sate, an elderly maidservant, sets out to write her truth.She writes of the Valleys that she loves, of the poisonous rivalry between her employer's two sons and of a terrible choice which tore her world apart.Her haunting and poignant story brings to life a period of strife and rapid social change, and evokes the struggles of those who lived in poverty and have been forgotten by history.In this fictional found memoir, novelist Alice Jolly uses the astonishing voice of Mary Ann to recreate history as seen from a woman's perspective and to give joyful, poetic voice to the silenced women of the past.

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  Misérables Les

  Victor Hugo

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  This is an Abridged EditionVictor Hugo began writing Les Misérables twenty years before its eventual publication in 1862. Les Misérables is primarily a great humanitarian work that encourages compassion and hope in the face of adversity and injustice. It is also a historical novel of great scope, and provides a detailed vision of nineteenth-century French politics and society. Hugo hoped Les Misérables would encourage a more progressive and democratic future. Hugo wrote Les Misérables with a literary and political revolution in mind.Les Misérables emphasizes the three major predicaments of the nineteenth century. Each of the three major characters in the novel symbolizes one of these predicaments: Jean Valjean represents the degradation of man in the proletariat, Fantine represents the subjection of women through hunger, and Cosette represents the atrophy of the child by darkness.

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  I Claudius

  Robert Graves

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  “One of the really remarkable books of our day”—the story of the Roman emperor on which the award-winning BBC TV series was based (The New York Times).   Once a rather bookish young man with a limp and a stammer, a man who spent most of his time trying to stay away from the danger and risk of the line of ascension, Claudius seemed an unlikely candidate for emperor. Yet, on the death of Caligula, Claudius finds himself next in line for the throne, and must stay alive as well as keep control.   Drawing on the histories of Plutarch, Suetonius, and Tacitus, noted historian and classicist Robert Graves tells the story of the much-maligned Emperor Claudius with both skill and compassion. Weaving important themes throughout about the nature of freedom and safety possible in a monarchy, Graves’s Claudius is both more effective and more tragic than history typically remembers him. A bestselling novel and one of Graves’ most successful, I, Claudius has been adapted to television, film, theatre, and audio. “[A] legendary tale of Claudius . . . [A] gem of modern literature.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

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  Romola

  George Eliot

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  George Eliot's own favorite among her novels, this novel tells the story of Romola, the intelligent daughter of a blind scholar, who is falling in love with a man who is going to change her life and the politics of Florence in a way she doesn't like. Set in 15th century Florence, it is "a deep study of life in the city of Florence from an intellectual, artistic, religious, and social point of view". Summary by Stav Nisser and Wikipedia.

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