One of Dickens’ most enduringly popular stories is Oliver Twist, an early work published 1837-8. Like many of his later novels, its central theme is the hardship faced by the dispossessed and those of the outside of ‘polite’ society. Oliver...
Mr. Dombey, a wealthy London merchant, puts all his hopes in his sickly son Paul to succeed him in running the firm, and ignores his good daughter Florence. The firm is nearly ruined by a trusted employee named Carker who also runs away with...
Soon after she returns to Bleak House, Esther decides to go to London to see Mr. Guppy. First, she visits Caddy and Prince Turveydrop. Taken aback by Esther's scarred face, Guppy emphatically retracts his former marriage proposal to Esther....
Girl With a Pearl Earring tells the story of Griet, a 16-year-old Dutch girl who becomes a maid in the house of the painter Johannes Vermeer. Her calm and perceptive manner not only helps her in her household duties, but also attracts the...
It is very difficult to classify THE MAN WHO WAS THURSDAY. It is possible to say that it is a gripping adventure story of murderous criminals and brilliant policemen; but it was to be expected that the author of the Father Brown stories should...
Originally titled "Elinor and Marianne", "Sense and Sensibility" was the first of Jane Austen's novels to be published. The contrasting personalities of two sisters are the centre of the story, supported by a wealth of satirically portrayed minor...