In this, the first collection of Holmes stories, the detective uses his uncanny skills to rescue a king from blackmail, capture an ingenious bank robber, and save an innocent son accused of patricide.

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...

Originally published as a serial story, Wives and Daughters is told with an episodic narrative, following a young woman named Molly Gibson as she comes of age. Molly is the only child of a widowed doctor. Raised in an English provincial town, Molly's childhood is filled with trips to aristocratic mansions and bonding experiences with her father. As she grows older however, men become more interested in her because of her attractive appearance. When...

Set in late-nineteenth-century London, Joseph Conrad's intense political thriller anticipates the espionage novels of such writers as Graham Greene and John le Carre. It concerns a double agent who is charged with provoking the radical group he has infiltrated into an act of sabotage that will bring about its own destruction.

"Agnes Grey" is an 1847 novel by English author Anne Brontë. Her debut novel, it tells the story of a governess called Agnes Grey who works in families of the English upper class in the early nineteenth century. Widely believed to have been heavily influenced by her own experiences as a governess, is an authentic portrayal of their delicate roles and how they affected young women. Anne Brontë (1820 – 1849) was an English novelist and poet. She...

"When it comes to walking the mean streets, Dickens could give modern genre authors the tour of their lives." -Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times When a corpse is found in the Thames River and identified as John Harmon, many lives will be forever changed. John, who had been abroad and estranged from his miserly father for years, will no longer collect his inheritance. It will instead go to the miser's employees, Mr. and Mrs. Boffin, transforming...

Relates the various activities and adventures of the members of the Pickwick Club.

The strong-willed and beautiful Bathsheba Everdene arrives to take charge of her late uncle's thriving farm at Weatherbury, thus ensuring that life in the area will never be the same again. She attracts three suitors, each of whom is very different: the faithful shepherd Gabriel Oak; dour gentleman-farmer William Boldwood; and the dashing seducer Sergeant Francis (Frank) Troy. Impulsive and independent, Bathsheba's wavering passions commit her to...

Pip, a blacksmith's boy, is desperate to escape his humble background. When he receives a legacy, he promptly leaves for London to become a gentleman. There he begins learning about the gulf between appearances and reality.--Adapted from publisher description.

Maisie Dobbs entered domestic service in 1910 at thirteen, working for Lady Rowan Compton. When her remarkable intelligence is discovered by her employer, Maisie becomes the pupil of Maurice Blanche, a learned friend of the Comptons. In 1929, following an apprenticeship with Blanche, Maisie hangs out her shingle: "M. Dobbs, trade and personal investigations." She soon becomes enmeshed in a mystery surrounding The Retreat, a reclusive community of...