"Middlemarch" by George Eliot is a literary masterpiece that immerses readers in the tapestry of a small English town during the 19th century. This novel presents a rich and intricate exploration of human lives, ambitions, and societal dynamics. The story interweaves the lives of various characters, notably Dorothea Brooke and Dr. Tertius Lydgate, as they navigate personal aspirations, love, and the challenges of their time. Dorothea, an intelligent...

In 'Miss Mackenzie' Trollope made a deliberate attempt 'to prove that a novel may be produced without any love', but as he candidly admits in his 'Autobiography, the attempt 'breaks down before the conclusion. In taking for his heroine an middle - aged spinster, his contemporaries of writing about young girls in love. Instead he depicts Margaret Mackenzie, overwhelmed with money troubles', as she tries to assess the worth and motives of four very...

Oliver Goldsmith's 18th century novel "The Vicar of Wakefield" was so popular in Victorian times that it is mentioned in many classics of that era including George Eliot's "Middlemarch," Jane Austen's "Emma," Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" and Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein", amongst others. It is the story of Dr. Charles Primrose, the titular Vicar, his wife Deborah and their six children who live an idyllic life in a country parish. The Vicar...

The complex moral ambiguities of seduction and revenge make "Dangerous Liaisons" (1782) one of the most scandalous and controversial novels in European literature. Its prime movers, the Viscount de Valmont and the Marchioness de Merteuil - gifted, wealthy, and bored - form an unholy alliance and turn seduction into a game. And they play this game with such wit and style that it is impossible not to admire them, until they discover mysterious rules...

The Lifted Veil's sickly narrator, Latimer, believes himself to be cursed with the ability to see the future and sense the thoughts and feelings of those around him. Disgusted by what he sees in the minds of others, he accepts that he will lead an unobtrusive life, constantly overshadowed by his more vigorous elder brother. That is, until he meets and becomes fascinated with Bertha, his brother's beautiful and coquettish fiancée. The Lifted Veil...

Mrs. Pauline Manford is a busy woman, as any upstanding New York society lady should be. Parties, dinners, charity luncheons, balls, and strict exercise and beauty regimes fill her daily schedule to an exhausting degree. Her secretary can hardly keep up. To manage a modern household is to hold the family together, staying on trend with all things helpful, but her daughter has horrible taste in married men, her ex-husband is unwell, and her son is...

The beloved ecclesiastical satire and enduring political novel, by one of the finest English authors of the nineteenth century. Part social commentary, part high comedy, the second installment in the Chronicles of Barsetshire is one of Anthony Trollope's most beloved novels, and cemented the author's reputation as the preeminent chronicler of Victorian England. When the well-regarded bishop of Barchester Cathedral unexpectedly passes away, the Evangelical...

The Last Chronicle of Barset is a novel by Anthony Trollope, published in 1867. It is the final book of a series of six, often referred to collectively as the Chronicles of Barsetshire. The Last Chronicle of Barset concerns an indigent but learned clergyman, the Reverend Josiah Crawley, the perpetual curate of Hogglestock, who stands accused of stealing a cheque. The novel is notable for the non-resolution of a plot continued from the previous novel...

One of the most famous of Honore de Balzac's novels, "Lost Illusions" paints a faithful picture of the spectacular but superficial world of mid-19th century French society, and the indissoluble relationship between the bourgeois and aristocratic classes. Originally published serially from 1837 to 1843, the story features the main characters Lucien Chardon, a vain and naïve poet and journalist, and his friend and brother-in-law David Sechard, an innovative,...

For fans of HBO's The Gilded Age, explore the dazzling world of America's 19th century elite in this lush series of sparkling, page-turning love stories...
New York City's Gilded Age shimmers with unimaginable wealth and glittering power. The men of the Knickerbocker Club know this more than anyone else. But for one titan of industry, the business of love is not what he expected...
Born in the slums of Five Points, Emmett...