If Winter Comes, was in many aspects ahead of its time, dealing with an unhappy marriage, eventual divorce, and an unwed mother who commits suicide. According to the New York Times, "If Winter Comes" was the best-selling book in the United States for all of 1922.
This novel was perhaps the most daring and affirmative LGBT literature of the first two decades of the 20th century in America. In this story, Bertram Cope is a young college instructor, about twenty-four years old ("certainly not a day over twenty-five"), who is pursued by men and women, both younger and older than himself. In writing this novel, Fuller had to carefully craft his plot schemes so as not to offend the sensibilities of publishers. As a result, today's reader is left somewhat, but not entirely, confused about the precise feelings that characters develop for one another by the end of the book. Nevertheless, no publishing house would touch it, which ultimately required that Fuller go the self-publishing route.
Bertram Cope's Year was the first novel by an established American writer that dealt exclusively with the subject of homosexuality. Although it did not achieve the notariety it deserved at the time, it set the tone for the increasingly open discussion of gay themes in literary form.
The Harbor was written in 1915 by Ernest Poole. The novel is considered by many to be one of Poole’s best efforts even though his book, The Family won a Pulitzer Prize. The Harbor is a fictional account of life on a Brooklyn waterfront through the eyes of Billy as he is growing up. The novel starts with Billy the child, living on the harbor with his father, mother, and sister, Sue. During this time he also meets Eleanor who, at that time, he considers to be strange. She later becomes an important character in the novel. His father owns a shipping business, is hard-working, and can think of little else. As a young man, Billy begins to detest the harbor and longs for escape to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a writer and avoiding his father’s business. With his mother’s blessing, he takes flight to Paris to hone his trade. While in Paris, he meets Joe Kramer (J.K.) and a sometimes stormy relationship begins. J.K. forces him to confront human situations that Billy would prefer to close his eyes to. Billy eventually returns to the harbor after some years and recognizes changes are taking place in the harbor, and in his life. The harbor becomes a subject for his writing and his personal relationships. His attitude about the harbor begins to evolve. Throughout the novel, J.K. continues to make appearances in Billy’s life, challenging him to write about things as they really are and not as Billy’s world of comfort shows them to be. Billy’s life is changed when the harbor goes on strike and he becomes involved in the labor movement. What more can be said about a book that starts with the words, “You Chump!”?
Helen and Olivia Rossetti were rather precocious girls in Victorian London. While still extremely young, they published a renowned anarchist journal in their home which drew prominent figures to their salon. From their expriences, they co-authored this 1903 novel, in which the narrator, Isabel Meredith, reveals a first-hand inside account of the countercultural community of late-19th century British anarchism. This was certainly far outside the normal purview of the women of Victorian society.
Maturin Murray Ballou was the author of dozens of books, chiefly centered around his extensive sea travel. He was deputy navy-agent in the Boston Custom House and circumnavigated in 1882, collecting material for several travel accounts and various nautical romances, amongst which The Sea-Witch can be counted.
An American Robinson Crusoe is a short version of the original story. An indolent, rebellious teen goes on a marine voyage against his parents' wishes. The ship (and all of its crew) is lost in a storm, but Robinson makes it to a deserted island. He has no tools, no weapons, but he lives for over 28 years on the island. He befriends many animals on the island and after over 20 years living solo, he is joined by a young "savage" who becomes his constant companion. The transformation from the young, lazy teen to a self-sustaining, incredibly knowledgeable adult is one of the major themes in the story.
It was a night to drive any man indoors. Not only was the darkness impenetrable, but the raw mist enveloping hill and valley made the open road anything but desirable to a belated wayfarer like myself.
Being young, untrammeled, and naturally indifferent to danger, I was not averse to adventure; and having my fortune to make, was always on the lookout for El Dorado, which, to ardent souls, lies ever beyond the next turning. Consequently, when I saw a light shimmering through the mist at my right, I resolved to make for it and the shelter it so opportunely offered.
But I did not realize then, as I do now, that shelter does not necessarily imply refuge, or I might not have undertaken this adventure with so light a heart. Yet, who knows? The impulses of an unfettered spirit lean toward daring, and youth, as I have said, seeks the strange, the unknown and, sometimes, the terrible. (Exerpt from Chapter I)
The author is considered the first great Irish writer of realist fiction and is said to have been an inspiration for James Joyce. Celibates is a novel of three characters: Mildred Lawson, John Norton and Agnes Lahens.They have nothing in common other than an absolute love of themselves and an inability to sympathize with others. In that vein, it constitutes a striking image of our own modern day self-absorbed society.
A short but intense novel, Footsteps of Fate tells of the friendship of two young Dutchmen in London, Frank and Bertie. Arriving destitute at Frank's home one night, Bertie is taken in by his old friend and soon begins to enjoy a life of fashion and dissolution at Frank's expense. On a holiday in Norway, Frank meets Eva and they decide to marry. But Eva struggles to come to terms with Bertie's passion for Frank, which seems to exceed her own. Reluctant to let go of either relationship, Frank finds that the course of life is to be decided by fate. 'Noodlot' (Fate) was the second published novel of the celebrated Dutch novelist, Louis Couperus, and the first to published in English translation, under the title, 'Footsteps of Fate'.
Set in the invigorating wilds of Scotland, clans are crumbling and emigrating as their homeland is bought out from under them. The characters quickly become your friends as you identify with and learn from their struggles and joys. Contrasts abound between true and false (or shallow) relationships, convictions, morals, and faith.
Gwendoline Wynn, our heroine, is an orphan-heiress who lives on the river Wye. She will live with aunt until she comes of age and her money. Vivian Ryecroft, our hero and a captain in the Hussars, is on a leave of absence in Herefordshire, salmon fishing on the Wye. Gwen and Vivian have a chance, and brief, encounter on the Wye, and Vivian is enchanted. Will our hero and heroine find love? Will it last?
Morton Carlton, an easy-going, rich young artist, has never taken the concepts of love and marriage all that seriously -- until by accident a copy of an English illustrated paper falls into his hands, which contains a photograph of the young Princess Aline of Hohenwald. Instantly, Carlton is captivated by the princess, and decides that he must meet her. But how to get close to a princess, who lives in a small German duchy well protected by guards and etiquette?
Carlton decides to travel to Europe and try his luck...
Harold Bindloss, while born in England, based most of his novels in western Canada, and The Protector is based primarily in and around Vancouver and Victoria.
There is often danger involved in the mining and timber industries north of Vancouver, and there is also danger in the trust given to people who own and operate these mines and timber lands. And finding one's way in locating them can be equally as difficult as well. Wallace Vane and his trusted friend Carroll seemed to encounter these dangers in a seemingly endless journey both for business purposes and for adventure in their search for adequate timber land which they had inadvertently heard of.
What is the driving force behind Wallace Vane? Did he regret leaving his home country and the people he knew when he left England, therefore had something to prove, but didn't even realize it himself? Was it simply a secret joy that he received whenever he observed the beauty of his adopted country with its mountains, forests, and crystal clear water? Perhaps it was his reasonable success in the lumber industry? Or was it something deeper within him? Something, perhaps, that he didn't even recognize himself?
Baroness Emma Orczy (full name: Emma ("Emmuska") Magdolna Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála Orczy de Orczi) (September 23, 1865 – November 12, 1947) was a British novelist, playwright and artist of Hungarian noble origin. She was most notable for her series of novels featuring the Scarlet Pimpernel.
Castles in the Air, a short novel or perhaps more like a collection of short stories with memories of a French rogue in the early 19th century Paris, was published in 1921 and about it I quote from the foreword: "In very truth my good friend Ratichon is an unblushing liar, thief, a forger--anything you will; his vanity is past belief, his scruples are non-existent. How he escaped a convict settlement it is difficult to imagine, and hard to realize that he died--presumably some years after the event recorded in the last chapter of his autobiography--a respected member of the community, honoured by that same society which should have raised a punitive hand against him."
Susan is a perfect gem of a maid until suddenly she begins to mess things ups and is so distracted that her mistress Gertrude is determined to find out what is bothering her. After much prodding Susan confesses that she has had a marriage proposal by letter from a Lord Ruddington whom she has never met. Should she accept?? Things get a little complicated as we follow this delightful story which unfolds in diary form written by Miss Gertrude. It will make you smile and sometimes laugh out loud. Enjoy!
The stabbing death of a beautiful young woman in a London park at night and the disappearance of her sister; a shocked and heartbroken young suitor; a terrified landlady and her simple husband; a recently unemployed man, the narrator, who is requested to investigate the crime; and the mysterious title character who, as his name suggests, has a devilishness about him in his psychic ability to read minds and to perform other supernatural acts. These are some of the individuals in this inventive, absorbing mystery by the prolific and popular British author, B. L. Farjeon. There are really two mysteries here: the murder and the strange – person? – known as Devlin. ( Lee Smalley)
"The Short Line War is a story that will appeal more particularly to the sterner sex, and we take it that the hyphenated name, Merwin-Webster, stands for two healthy-minded young men who have put their heads together and who have mapped out this story of a railroad war, in which politics form a considerable part. Jim Weeks is the central figure in the fight, and we like him so much better for knowing of the romance in his early life. He was a man 'without much instinct or imagination; he took everything seriously and literally, he could not understand a whim'--therefore a very foolish little woman came into his life only to leave it desolate. And when we meet him again after the years have rounded him, and when he stands 'before the world a man of solid achievement, calm, successful, satisfied,' we are quite prepared for the kind and tender things he does for the son of the woman he once loved. The Short Line War is not essentially a love story, which fact led us at the start to say that its healthy, vigorous style, with its politics and its railroads, will lead many a masculine novel reader to find enjoyment in its pages." -- Bookman (1899)
The home of Roland Clewe, a small house plainly furnished, but good enough for a bachelor's quarters, stood not half a mile from the station, and near it were the extensive buildings which he called his Works. Here were laboratories, large machine-shops in which many men were busy at all sorts of strange contrivances in metal and other materials; and besides other small edifices there was a great round tower --like structure, with smooth iron walls thirty feet high and without windows, and which was lighted and ventilated from the top. This was Clewe's special workshop; and besides old Samuel Block and such workmen as were absolutely necessary and could be trusted, few people ever entered it but himself. The industries in the various buildings were diverse, some of them having no apparent relation to the others. Each of them was expected to turn out something which would revolutionize something or other in this world, but it was to his lens-house that Roland Clewe gave, in these days, his special attention. Here a great enterprise was soon to begin, more important in his eyes than anything else which had engaged human endeavor. . . .
Eve Edgarton is not who she seems she is. A short encounter with Mr. Barton show that first impressions are not always right or indicative of one's seemingly obvious preference or one's proclivity.
Aucassin and Nicolette is a medieval romance written in a combination of prose and verse called a “song-story.” Created probably in the early 13th century by an unknown French author, the work deals with the love between the son of a count and a Saracen slave girl who has been converted to Christianity and adopted by a viscount. Since Aucassin’s father is strongly opposed to their marriage, the two lovers must endure imprisonment, flight, separation in foreign lands, and many other ordeals before their ardent love and fierce determination finally bring them back together. Aucassin is the very model of an intrepid knight, totally devoted to his love; and Nicolette is daring and ingenious in her staunch perseverance against all odds. This translation, completed in 1887, is by Scottish poet, novelist, critic, and collector of folk tales Andrew Lang (1844-1912).
From the cold and mountainous regions of Wyoming to the bright lights of the big city, The Branding Iron is the story of a remarkable woman, Joan Carver. Born of poor means, at a fairly young age Joan decides to leave her father and strike out on her own, but she is to face more difficulties and hardships than she had reckoned for, and the men she encounters on her way share different means of dealing with her; and she of them. She becomes her own individual, with a strong will and a determination to lead her life as she sees fit. As with many of Ms. Burt's stories, The Branding Iron is filled with unexpected surprises at each turn.
What secrets lay within the walls of the house by the lock? What secrets, if any, are held by the man who owns that mysterious house?
A body is found in a backwater creek not far from the house by the lock, but what leads Noel Stanton on a quest to determine who the killer might be is more than merely the disappearance of his American friend Harvey Farnham. He has reason to believe that the wealthy and influential owner of the house, Carson Wildred, might somehow be implicated in the coincidental disappearance and murder. But as Stanton's search progresses, he learns that his friend is safe and sound back in the U.S. and he therefore must learn more about the house itself with its peculiar construction, it's hidden passageways, and the peculiar smoke occasionally seen rising from its inaccessible areas. But everything is accounted for by the police, the servants, and Mr. Wildred during his investigation, leaving a most strange mystery left for Stanton to unravel.
Jane and Elsie Melville were raised by their kindly but eccentric uncle, Mr Hogarth who believed that women were just as good as men, and thus gave his nieces a boy's education. Upon his death, they find that he has left his entire fortune to his heretofore unknown son and left them only a small allowance, expecting them to make their own way in the world using the education he furnished them. Will the girls survive in a world that expects them, at the most, to become governesses?
It's described as "A SPRIGHTLY LOVE STORY" and it is written by F. H. Burnett, "one of the most charming among American writers!"
Mary Augusta Ward (Mrs. Humphry Ward) was a very popular author at the end of the 19th century. The arrival of Marcella was discussed a lot in the London news papers. This popular novel tells about Marcella Boyce, a beauty of the 1880s, who thinks she truly believes in the values of socialism. A 21-year-old art student, she lives in a boarding house in Kensington until her father inherits Mellor Park, the family estate which is located in the Midlands. She unwillingly leaving her studies, all the things she loves and wants to do, and her friends, and starts her new life at Mellor Park, determined to help the poor people she sees around her. Then Aldous Raeburn, Tory candidate for Parliament and heir to Lord Maxwell's estate, falls in love with her. But Marcella is torn between her "love of power" and her "power to love." But she'll have to learn in the hard way that high morals are apt to clash with reality.
Bungay Castle is a gothic novel by Elizabeth Bonhôte. It was first published in 1796 and follows the fortunes of the De Morney family at Bungay Castle in Suffolk. Two young members of the family, Roseline and Edwin, search for the source of strange, unearthly cries and discover a terrifying secret in the castle's bowels which will change their lives forever. The story combines the classic Gothic tropes of mystery, betrayal and a heroine in peril in suitably imposing surroundings and has been praised in modern times for its proto-feminist sensibility. The young women in the story keep their fates in their own hands, rather than wait for some dashing hero to come to the rescue. (Wikipedia)
A scathing criticism of social climbing underlies this unsettling story by Frances Eleanor Trollope, sister-in-law to Anthony and daughter-in-law to Frances Milton Trollope. Published in 1876, A Charming Fellow is a serious exploration of a bitterly unhappy marriage and its consequences, as seen through the eyes of diverse, well-drawn characters.
Some books have plots that drive relentlessly toward a conclusion. Others, like "This Is The End", just meander. It is the story of a Family halfheartedly searching for a missing relation who does not want to be found, while just off-stage, World War I is raging on the continent. It is a story about ordinary people trying to live ordinary lives in extraordinary times. The things they do are less important than the ways in which they do them: often comic, occasionally tragic, but always touching and true to life. It reminds us that Poetry and Romance can be found anywhere, hidden beneath the surface of the most commonplace things.
Michael Berrington is a bachelor leading a quiet life in London. Overhearing a conversation at his club one day, he becomes interested in a discussion regarding a man named Gastrell. Gastrell is somewhat of a mystery to the club members in spite of his renting a house from one of them. Berrington’s interest in Gastrell intensifies as his fiancé, Dulcie Challoner, befriends a wealthy widow, Mrs. Connie Stapleton who evidently has some type of relationship with Gastrell. As the plot progresses, Berrington finds himself involved with sensational robberies, brutal murders, coded messages, and even mind control! As in many Le Queux books, there are twists and turns as new characters and locations are introduced. When you are sure you know the ending, something new occurs and you wonder how it will affect the conclusion of the book.
A young man, Owen Biddulph, is drawn to a beautiful young woman with a mysterious past... a past that seems to have returned to cause her disappearance! Is she his new found love or his nemesis? And who is this mysterious clergyman that warns him to avoid this young woman, at risk of his very life! What possible harm could this sweet young woman inflict? Written by one of the Masters of Mystery, William Le Queux.
The story revolves around Carter Brent, an alcoholic and gambler who had struck gold many times in the Yukon, but gambled and drank it away in Dawson; and Snowdrift, the half-breed who had spent her life with a wandering band of Indians in the frozen north country. Snowdrift had been raised by Wananebish, yet never knew who her father was, and yet Wananebish had somehow been able to send her to be schooled at a nearby mission.
The paths of this unlikely pair would cross in the barren lands of the Yukon where Brent had hopes of finding more gold, but it was well known that there was no gold in the region between Dawson and the MacKenzie. But Brent had that certain knack for striking gold, and due to his way of life, also had a certain knack for gambling and drinking it away. Plenty of action follows, while Brent performs his search with little or no money, runs across Snowdrift, and while a band of fellow gamblers who know of his luck follows closely on his trail, he must get his prize back to Dawson.
An unlikely pair of wanderers they were; the orphan girl Lou and her travelling partner Jim Botts. Jim appeared in need of following some apparent 'rules' during the journey, while Lou seemed in need of better clothing, and perhaps some refinement. But who was most benefitting whom on the week-long journey from rural village to big city? And which of the two was willing to try anything once?
The story of a man and a woman, as they experience The Thirteen Truly Great Things of Life: Dreams, Occupation, Knowledge, Ignorance, Religion, Tradition, Temptation, Life, Death, Failure, Success, Love, and Memories.
A light-hearted account of a successful middle aged widower who chances to visit the small town in which he grew up to renew old acquaintances and perhaps reflect on his successes since his departure.
This visit, however, becomes far more to him than he would have imagined, as he finds that one of his dearest childhood girlfriends had died not long after his departure, and the widower envisions a relationship with none other than her daughter, who he senses to be her mother incarnate.
The short story of a young man who came to terms with himself and became a man on a day when he had proven to be a failure to his family, his friends, his classmates, the girl he liked, and most importantly to himself.
Four short stories by Mary Hallock Foote (1847–1938), an American author and illustrator. She is best known for her illustrated short stories and novels portraying life in the mining communities of the turn-of-the-century American West. She is famous for her stories of place, in which she portrayed the rough, picturesque life she experienced and observed in the old West, especially that in the early mining towns. She wrote several novels, and illustrated stories and novels by other authors for various publishers. She died at age 90. Her legacy in American history is as a stalwart of the American Old West and a teller of its stories. Her work—the numerous stories for books and periodicals, with her drawings and woodcut illustrations; the correspondence from western outposts; her novels and nonfiction—gained her notice as a skilled observer of the frontier
A story of love and adventure, following the fortunes of a young man and woman each trying to make their way in the wide world. Horatio and Louisa are twins, abandoned in infancy and adopted by a wealthy bachelor. For various reasons both leave his protection and set off independently: Plucky and determined Louisa must defend her virtue and make her way in a man’s world, and her spirited brother seeks his fortune in the army. This energetic narrative gallops from city to court, from battlefield to convent, and across a number of European countries. Written in 1744 (when the novel was just emerging as a form) by actress and prolific author Eliza Haywood, this is an eighteenth century rollercoaster - action packed, passionate, melodramatic, and often unashamedly sentimental.
This short novel by Beatrice Harraden, who was known for her work as a suffragist, was a bestseller in its time. In it, teacher and activist Bernardine Holme takes up residence at a tuberculosis sanatorium after falling ill. There she meets Robert Allitsen, known to sanatorium residents as “the Disagreeable Man.” As their friendship grows, the mutual influence of each character’s outlook on life and illness comes to have a lasting effect on the two.
Originally printed in The Morning Telegraph in New York, this is the story of Miss Sabrina, the show girl, and her ups and downs with the unpredictable theatrical industry and the Great White Way, the lights and glamour of Broadway. "In order to set myself right with both the public and the vast army of Sabrinas that add youth and beauty to our stage, and brilliancy and gaiety to our well known cafes, I wish to say that she is all that she should be...”- Kenneth McGaffey
"Levity" is not a word often applied to Henry James, but this story has about it an attractively lighthearted quality. It tells of Peter Baron, a poor, young struggling writer of adequate, if not transcendent, talent, who lives in a dreary London boarding house inhabited also by a mysteriously clairvoyant and beautiful young widow, with her small boy. When Baron buys himself a second-hand writing desk to stimulate the creative juices, he finds carefully hidden within it a cache of letters that appear to compromise a recently deceased statesman. The discovery and his struggle to handle the questions they pose ultimately change his life. Along the way he also discovers, as a fringe benefit, a talent for what Americans (though probably not Jamesians) call Tin Pan Alley.
The author Thomas Archer lived 1830 – 1893; he wrote several juvenile stories, and this book: Miss Grantley’s Girls – And the Stories She Told Them, was published in 1886. It is a book in 7 chapters. Miss Grantley is a teacher and works as a governess, and she after some coaxing tells somewhat romantic stories to "her" girls. In the first chapter it says: "There was nothing romantic in Miss Grantley's appearance, and yet she was the sort of person that you could not help looking at again and again if you once saw her. . . We found out too that she could tell stories of her own; and now and then we used to persuade her to 'spin a yarn,' as Bella Dornton, whose father had been a naval officer, used to say. . . I don't suppose that any of us will ever forget Miss Grantley's pretty parlour." So join the girls in the parlour and listen when Miss Grantley tells her stories.
’St. George and St. Michael’ is a little-known historical romance telling the story of a young couple who find themselves on opposing sides during the tumultuous years of the English Civil Wars.
Tensions are rising between king and parliament, the Church of England and the numerous independent puritans, and rumours abound that Charles I will soon declare open war on the dissident elements within his realm. Seventeen-year-old Dorothy Vaughan knows little of the brewing conflict, yet is sure that her loyalty must be with her king and her nation. When she challenges her childhood friend, Richard Heywood, to prove himself a man and so worthy of winning her hand in marriage by becoming involved in the larger events that surround them, he finds that his convictions – both political and spiritual – lie with his father’s and the puritans. Determined to do what he believes is right, Richard finds that he cannot shake his immovable conscience, even for the woman he loves.
Though it is, for the most part, a realistic novel, ‘St. George and St. Michael’ is not without either the otherwordly atmosphere of the fantastic or the rich spiritual depth that characterises so much of MacDonald’s writing.
American friends begin to summer in a beautiful French country house when WWI breaks out. They decide not to evacuate as the war encroaches. Their interactions are interwoven by the stories that they take turns telling after dinner each night to stimulate their nightly conversation and distract their thoughts from the war.
The Austrian nobility in Rome forms a very close circle, into which only those of high rank and wealth are admitted. They managed to get along with Cecil Sterzl, who, although not one of their own, is regarded as quite an amiable man. However, when he brings his younger sister Zinka into that circle, she is received very coldly at first, if at all. And when, with her fresh and unaffected manners, she wins one heart after another, especially that of the handsome Count Sempaly, she also excites jealousy and contempt in many members of that "set". They are not willing to give up the old notions of social rank and status without a fight...
Ossip Schubin [Aloisia Kirschner] is a now half-forgotten Austrian novelist of Bohemian descent, who has herself spent several years of her youth in Rome.