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Charles W. Chesnutt was an author, essayist, and political activist whose works addressed the complex issues of racial and social identity at the turn of the century. Chesnutt’s early works explored political issues somewhat indirectly, with the intention of changing the attitudes of Caucasians slowly and carefully. However, “The Marrow of Tradition” marked a turning point in Chesnutt’s career, with its direct and overt treatment of racism and political injustices in the South. The story of the white Carterets and the mixed-race Millers, whose lives are intertwined because the wives are half sisters, delves into a wide range of social and race issues. The novel’s depiction of lynchings that occurred during the Wilmington Race Riot proved to be too controversial for readers of the time; however, Chesnutt considered it his best, and modern critics have recognized the novel as a milestone in the Civil Rights movement. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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Immensely popular throughout France and Europe upon its first publication in 1721, “Persian Letters” exemplifies the spirit of eighteenth-century libertinism and Enlightenment. Written by Charles de Montesquieu, this epistolary novel is told through a collection of letters and recounts the observations and experiences of two Persian noblemen traveling through France. The various writers of the letters are astute observers and this satirical story of eighteenth-century French society touches on fundamental questions of human nature, the manners and flirtations of polite society, attitudes on morality, the structures of power, and the hypocrisy of religion. Montesquieu’s subtle, witty criticisms of government and social customs are softened through the lens of his central character, Usbek, a young courtier who has travelled to Europe to escape persecution along with Rica, his good-humored travel companion. This brilliant work is a colorful interpretation of early eighteenth-century society as well as an enduring exploration of morality and societal customs in an increasingly modern world.

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First serialized in 1908, “Martin Eden” is Jack London’s classic and tragic tale of its title character and his struggle to become a writer. Martin Eden is an idealistic and self-educated young man who struggles to overcome poverty and a lack of opportunities in a quest to become an educated and successful artist. He hopes to find acceptance in the world of the wealthy and refined, though he finds it hard to shake off his coarse working-class background. Eden falls in love with Ruth Morse, but he feels that he is not good enough to win her hand, as she comes from a bourgeois family. Eden hopes that she will wait for him while he seeks to establish himself as a successful writer and improve his social status so that he may one day feel worthy of his true love. The novel is heartbreaking, tragic, and rich with the themes of class struggle and prejudice. It is also hopeful in its faith in art to transform lives and has inspired countless young writers and artists to follow their dreams. “Martin Eden” remains one of Jack London’s best-loved works. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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First published serially in 1861, Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s “Lady Audley’s Secret” is the wildly successful Victorian-era sensation novel. Sensation novels were very popular in English literature in the 1860s and 1870s. The novels were a combination of realism and romance and were usually tales of terrible crimes, such as murder, kidnapping, bigamy, adultery, and theft, occurring in otherwise normal, tranquil domestic settings. “Lady Audley’s Secret” was one of the most popular novels of the genre and revolves around Robert Audley, a man determined to find out the cause of his friend’s, George Talboys, disappearance. At the center of the mystery is Robert’s uncle’s wife, Lucy Audley, the Lady Audley of the novel’s title and who Robert suspects of keeping secrets. With George’s young son in questionable safety and lies, deception, and treachery surrounding him, Robert must uncover all that Lady Audley has hidden about her past while finding himself in increasing danger. A bestseller in Victorian England despite its scandalously immoral content, “Lady Audley’s Secret” addresses the domestic anxieties and gender and class conflicts of the era while at the same time featuring a remarkable and complex female character. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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Despite a declining popularity throughout his career, Anthony Trollope has become one of the most notable and respected English novelists of the Victorian Era. His penetrating novels on political, social and gender issues of his day have placed him among such nineteenth century literary icons as Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and George Eliot. Trollope penned 47 novels in his career, in addition to various short stories, travel books, and biographies. First published in 1858, “Doctor Thorne” is the third novel in Trollope’s series known as the “Chronicles of Barsetshire”, and is argued to be one of Trollope’s best works. It tells the story of Mary Thorne, the niece of Dr. Thomas Thorne, whose illegitimacy remains a secret for much of the novel as she is raised by her kind uncle and falls in love with the rich Frank Gresham. This melodramatic novel displays Trollope’s brilliant management of plot and dialogue while exploring themes of illegitimacy, class division and the practice of marrying for money. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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Mary Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, whose gothic style and progressive ideas have had a permanent influence on literary history. Daughter of political philosopher William Godwin and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Shelley quickly developed ideas about female independence, sexual freedom, and how to compromise in the face of nineteenth century English convention. Her 1826 novel, “The Last Man”, reflects Shelley’s fears about civilization and the shortcomings of human behavior. The narrator discovers a prophetic manuscript, written in 2100 by the last survivor of a twenty-first century apocalypse, which recounts how a deadly plague spread throughout Europe and the world. The scribe, Lionel Verney, describes a world that is both fantasy, and a reflection of Shelley’s reality. She used this novel to scrutinize the machinations of politics and philosophy, and reflect upon pitfalls of human behavior—selfishness, brutality, pride—that she saw in the world around her. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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First published anonymously in 1814, “Waverley” was Sir Walter Scott’s first novel and one of his most popular. The story is set in the Scotland of 1745 amidst the Jacobite uprising and follows the young Edward Waverley, an English officer in the Hanoverian army. He is sent to Scotland and while on leave from training he visits friends of his family in the Lowlands and the Highlands. Waverley meets lairds and chieftains, and he is soon caught up in the Jacobite cause and develops romantic feelings for both Rose, the lovely daughter of Baron Bradwardine, and the passionately political Flora Mac-Ivor, sister to Chieftain Fergus. While the English question Waverley’s loyalty, his honor and courage gain him allies on both sides of the conflict. Full of beautiful descriptions of the natural scenery of Scotland and thrilling accounts of battle and danger, Scott drew on his childhood memories and exhaustive historical research to document Scottish history and to preserve a way of life threatened by civil war. The result is a moving and inspiring tale which contains to entertain and educate readers two centuries later. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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Fully entitled “Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of ’Eighty,” this novel was Dickens’ first attempt at a historical novel. As such, it is the precursor to his more famous “A Tale of Two Cities”, in which his exploration of mob violence, and especially the effect of public events on individual lives, becomes apparent. This work centers on Barnaby Rudge, a mentally simple son, and his loving mother, who are a part of the small village of Epping Forest, just outside of London. This community displays both ties of enmity and love between its members, but all is threatened when the misguided Lord George Gordon arrives in the village with his followers. Their lives are disrupted and caught up in riots that incite destruction in London. This tangle of events leads to misunderstandings that wrongly sentence Barnaby to mount the scaffold. The climactic conclusion of the novel attests to Dickens’ early skill as a writer and makes “Barnaby Rudge” a worthy selection for fans of the author. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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First serialized in 1845, Alexandre Dumas’ “Twenty Years After” is the second part of the “D’Artagnan Romances”, the first sequel to “The Three Musketeers”. It was followed by “The Vicomte de Bragelonne”, which was first serialized in 1847. Dumas’s beloved characters return for more adventurous duty, and as the title suggests, two decades have elapsed since D’Artagnan and his friends have prevailed over the evil machinations of Cardinal Richelieu and the icy Milady. However, danger and political intrigue still abound in both France and England, where the former is on the brink of civil war and the latter is nearly in the control of Cromwell. Due to the scheming of Cardinal Mazarin and the malevolent Mordaunt, son of Milady, the retired Musketeers find themselves whisked out of retirement and directly into the center of danger and intrigue as they fight to save the young Louis XIV in France and Charles I in England from plots against the monarchs. Dumas’ story is full of the chaotic swirl of stratagems, conflicted loyalties, and thrilling battles as the valiant and aging Musketeers fight for Queen and country. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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“Five Children and It” is the enduringly popular children’s tale by English author Edith Nesbit, also well-known for her classic story “The Railway Children”. First published in 1902 in “Strand Magazine”, “Five Children and It” is a magical story that cleverly illustrates the wisdom of the saying “be careful what you wish for”. The novel begins when five siblings, who have recently moved from London to a house in the country, discover Psammead, a sand fairy, in a gravel pit where they are playing. Psammead is a strange looking and grumpy creature who has the power to make wishes come true. He promises to grant the children one magical wish per day with the rule that each wish ends at sunset. The children soon discover that their wishes never turn out exactly as they had imagined, as their choices often lead to unexpected mishaps and adventures, including dangerous encounters with wild people, kidnapping attempts, a narrow escape from a besieged castle, and humorous changes in their appearance and size. “Five Children and It” has inspired many adaptations and sequels and remains an entertaining and enduring classic tale of fantasy and adventure. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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