'The Ball at Sceaux' is one of the oldest books in Balzac's 'The Human Comedy' series. It tells the story of Émilie de Fontaine, a pretentious and spoiled young lady who refuses t ...

Exquisitely deploying the story-within-a-story narrative, 'Honorine' is a tale casting piercing insight into the fabric of the human condition. Comtesse Honorine de Bauvan was marr ...

'Germinal', often considered Zola’s masterpiece, tells the story of Etienne Lantier, a bright however uneducated young man with a volatile temperament who has just lost his job as ...

'An Historical Mystery' tells the story of a mysterious kidnapping, coupled with the romantic intrigue blossoming within the higher circles of power while Napoleon I was at the hei ...

When the narrator and his wife visit an idyllic and picturesque town near the sea they meet a fisherman and a hermit. The ubiquitous poverty and squalor of the seaside town spills ...

Due to Balzac’s death in 1850, 'The Deputy of Arcis' was left incomplete at its most compelling moment. A political satire criticizing the electoral system, taking place in the pro ...

In 'Ferragus, Chief of the Devorants' Balzac skillfully traces a dazzling panorama of 19th century Parisian streets and vividly invokes a sparkling menagerie of characters in ultra ...

If you have ever come across the word 'rogue' before, chances are you have either been playing video games, perused old X-Men comics or have overheard it as part of your aunt's voc ...

When Marie is gifted a nutcracker on Christmas Eve, the last thing she expects is for it to come alive. When she wakes to find a very mobile nutcracker engaged in a battle between ...

Milkmaid Rhoda Brooks cannot control her jealousy of Gertrude - a beautiful woman who has just married a rich farmer. So when Gertrude appears in her dream she cannot help but reac ...

First published anonymously in 1823, ''Twas The Night Before Christmas' has played a vital role in the tradition of Christmas. The jolly, red-cheeked, gift-bearing Santa Claus that ...

Joy Ogilvie, the lovely young daughter of an American colonel, fancies herself Lady Athlyne while playing make-believe with her friends. She hardly suspects that the real-life Lord ...

Rediscover your childhood's favourite fairy tales or introduce a young reader to the magical world of one of the greatest storytellers, Hans Christian Andersen. Nearly two centurie ...

'Room 13' is the first crime novel in the J. G. Reeder series, featuring a sympathetic and astute civil servant, who is simultaneously a gifted detective. This fast-paced, mystery- ...

A rich misanthropic man with no friends die and leaves all his money to his estranged son, John Harmon, who lives abroad. But Harmon can only inherit the money on the condition tha ...

‘Little Dorrit’ is a highly personal novel by Charles Dickens that many critics state is one of his finest later works. The story revolves around Amy Dorrit, a kind-hearted young w ...

"I enjoy the spring more than the autumn now. One does, I think, as one gets older." 'Jacob's Room' (1922) is Virginia Woolf’s third novel and established her influence as a symbol ...

‘The Possessed’ is considered to be one of the four masterpieces written by Dostoevsky after he returned from his Siberian exile. The story takes place in a small Russian town that ...

A collection of three long stories, 'Twixt Land and Sea' explores the troubled life of young captains at sea. Mired by dire circumstances and moral dilemmas, Conrad’s characters ar ...

Even in peace the scars of war remain. "The Tale of Old Mortality", from Scott’s collection "Tales of my Landlord", provides a window in to a time many of us could hardly imagine. ...

The first volume in Scott’s "Tales of my Landlord", "The Black Dwarf" is set right after the Union between England and Scotland in 1707. "The Black Dwarf" focuses on the character ...

‘A Faint Heart’ is one of Dostoevsky’s earliest short stories and it focuses on the tragedy of Vasya Shumkov, a passionate but naïve young man. The tale begins with Vasya informing ...

Strange happenings are afoot. Flight enthusiasts discuss possibilities of mastering the skies using lighter-than-air craft. A great inventor claims the opposite that mankind can co ...

The gun club of "From the Earth to the Moon" and "Around the Moon" returns after a long retirement. "The Purchase of the North Pole" brings back the three explorers who have come u ...

'The Valley of Ghosts' squarely plants you smack-bang in the middle of a tiny close-knit aristocratic English town that is beset by more than just ghosts alone, as he is all too qu ...