Olvier Twist is a poor orphan boy cruelly treated in the public workhouse. Pennyless and hungry, he runs away to London, only to fall into the clutches of a gang of thieves and pickpockets led by the master crimminal, fagin. Befriended by a man robbed by the gang, Oliver ultimately learns his true identity and gains a home, a fortune, and a family!

A masterpiece of stories by H. G. Wells, masterfully tied together by time and place. First, a shop owner named Mr. Cave, enraptured by a crystal egg, struggles to find a way to keep his magical possession... Then we are, taken to a time when cave people struggled to find their place on the planet and keep their lives. The forward to the far future where, in the place the cave people once camped, a young couple's back are, bowed beneath the tyranny...

In search of himself in the Arizona wilds, shellshocked war veteran Glenn Kilbourne realizes that he can never return to his former shallow life, but to give it up means giving up the love of his life.

"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...

The Awakening is a novel by Kate Chopin, first published in 1899. Set in New Orleans and on the Louisiana Gulf coast at the end of the 19th century, the plot centers on Edna Pontellier and her struggle between her increasingly unorthodox views on femininity and motherhood with the prevailing social attitudes of the turn-of-the-century American South. It is one of the earliest American novels that focuses on women's issues without condescension. It...

John Stuart Mill's resolute dedication to the cause of freedom inspired this 1859 treatise. Discussed and debated from time immemorial, the concept of personal liberty went without codification until the publication of this enduring work which applies an ethical system of utilitarianism to society and the state which to this day remains well known and studied. Mills (1806-1873), a British economist, philosopher, and ethical theorist whose argument...

She (1887), an intoxicating mix of adventure, fantasy, and romance, is an underappreciated classic of English literature. Among his most successful works, She-which was inspired by Haggard's experience living in South Africa-helped the author establish his reputation as a leading writer of his generation and an invaluable pioneer of the lost world genre of fantasy fiction. Horace Holly, a young Cambridge professor, receives an unexpected opportunity...

The Bishop and Other Stories (1919) is a collection of short stories by Russian writer, Anton Chekhov. The title story of the collection, originally published in 1902, finds the author at his most introspective. Written while Chekhov was dealing with the long term effects of tuberculosis, a period in which he began to accept the inevitability of his own death, "The Bishop" is a meditative story that follows a dedicated man who, in the face of oblivion,...

Mortal Coils Aldous Huxley - Mortal Coils is a collection of five short fictional pieces written by Aldous Huxley in 1921. As a Hollywood screenwriter Huxley used much of his earnings to bring Jewish and left-wing writer and artist refugees from Hitler's Germany to the US. He worked for many of the major studios including MGM and Disney. In 1953, Huxley and Maria applied for United States citizenship. When Huxley refused to bear arms for the U.S....

From America's favorite storyteller: A rich selection of twenty-five tales by the author of "The Gift of the Magi." Writing under the pseudonym O. Henry, William Sydney Porter was an incredibly prolific and popular master of the short story in the early twentieth century. His stories are known for being witty, playful, full of plot twists, and marked by surprise endings. The author had a special fondness for New York City and a deep interest and appreciation...