Victorian Social Critiques
This collection features novels that explore the complexities of social class, gender roles, and moral dilemmas in Victorian society. Each work offers a critical lens on the societal norms of the time, revealing the struggles of individuals against the backdrop of rigid social structures.
Fathers and Sons
The fathers and children of the novel refers to the growing divide between the two generations of Russians, and the character Yevgeny Bazaro…
Tess of the d'Urbervilles
One of the greatest English tragic novels, TESS OF THE D’URBERVILLES (1891) is the story of a “pure woman” who is victimized both by convent…
Cousin Phillis
Cousin Phillis is a poignant exploration of youth and the complexities of growing up, set against the backdrop of rural England in the 19th …
The Old Curiosity Shop
Written in the years 1840 to 1841, when Dickens was twenty-eight years old, this is a ‘Road’ tale in the very best tradition. Little Nell Tr…
Mrs. Dalloway
Clarissa Dalloway is having a party. Join her and a web of connections in exploring London, their memories and their innermost thoughts and …
The Touchstone
Stephen Glennard's career is falling apart and he desperately needs money so that he may marry his beautiful fiancee. He happens upon an adv…
The Doctor's Wife
This is one of the Victorian “Sensationist” Mary Elizabeth Braddon's many novels (best known among them: “Lady Audley’s Secret”). It is extr…
Passing
Nella Larsen, a novelist of the Harlem Renaissance, wrote two brilliant novels that interrogated issues of gender and race. In Passing, her…
Wives and Daughters
If you like Jane Austen, you will probably like this book!Mrs. Gaskell, as she was often referred to, is considered one of the greatest Brit…
Dombey and Son
Charles Dickens the author of Dombey and Son, originally wrote the book in installments which were published from October 1846 to April 1848…
Howards End
The book is about three families in England at the beginning of the twentieth century. The three families represent different gradations of …
The Brothers Karamazov
Originally published in serial form in 1879-80, “The Brothers Karamazov” is recognized as one of the very greatest masterpieces of world lit…
The House of Mirth
The House of Mirth (1905), by Edith Wharton, is a novel about New York socialite Lily Bart attempting to secure a husband and a place in ric…
Notes From The Underground
Notes from Underground is an 1864 novella by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Notes is considered by many to be the first existentialist novel. It presen…
Master and Man
A land owner, Vasili Andreevich, takes along one of his peasants, Nikita, for a short journey to another town. He wishes to get to the town …
Simon the Jester
Simon de Gex, a wealthy and successful MP, is diagnosed with a terminal illness and decides to use his last few months using his wealth and …
The Awakening
Kate Chopin's 1899 novella The Awakening is about the personal, sexual, and artistic awakening of a young wife and mother, Edna Pontellier. …
The Morals of Marcus Ordeyne
Marcus Ordeyne is a middle aged bachelor schoolmaster who has inherited both money and a title and thus is able to lead a life of leisure. O…
The Last Chronicle of Barset
Both Trollope and some of his later critics have considered The Last Chronicle to be his greatest novel. Many of its characters are familiar…
The Death of Ivan Ilyitch
The Death of Ivan Ilyitch is the story of a socially ambitious middle-aged judge who contracts an unexplained and untreatable illness. As I…