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Set in New York City in the 1840s, this celebrated novel tells the story of Catherine Sloper, the docile and affectionate daughter of a well-to-do physician, who appears destined for a lifetime of spinsterhood with only the companionship of her sardonic father and fatuous aunt.When a flurry of attention from an attractive suitor causes the plain and unremarkable Catherine to fall deeply in love, the stage is set for a struggle of opposing wills between Catherine and her adored father. Dismayed by his prospective son-in-law's shallowness and lack of prospects, and strongly suspecting him of fortune-hunting, Dr. Sloper threatens Catherine with disinheritance and forces her into a choice between father and lover. As the tale unfolds, James explores, with acute psychological penetration and masterly storytelling skill, the moral consequences of the callous exploitation of trust and the ruthless manipulation of a tender heart.While this memorable story plays itself out in the vanished world of nineteenth-century New York, its underlying themes and moral concerns are timeless and universal. Students and other lovers of great literature will appreciate this inexpensive edition of one of the great American novels.

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In this moving collection of interrelated stories, Ohio-born Sherwood Anderson (1876-1941) illuminates the loneliness and frustration — spiritual, emotional and artistic — of life in a small American town. Winesburg, Ohio subtly portrays as well a young writer's coming of age, searching for love, yearning for a less stifling world.Through the eyes of young George Willard, the inner lives of many of Winesburg's inhabitants open to us. Before George leaves the community, we have learned much about his mother Elizabeth, his friend Helen White, his teacher Kate Swift and other Winesburg residents — the lonely, sensitive Dr. Reefy, the tormented Rev. Charles Hartman and the enigmatic Wing Biddlebaum among them.Through Anderson's art, their stories are woven into a powerful portrayal of community life, and, ironically, of the isolation its close atmosphere can engender. A great success on its first publication in 1919, Winesburg, Ohio profoundly influenced a generation of fiction writers with its deeply moving poetic realism. It endures as a classic portrait of American life.

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Rich with wisdom and gentle irony, Oliver Goldsmith's only novel is a charming comedy that tells of an unworldly and generous vicar who lives contentedly with his large family until disaster strikes. When his idyllic life is brutally interrupted by bankruptcy and his daughter's abduction, he lands in prison. Yet these misfortunes fail to conquer the vicar's spirit or cause him to lose sight of Christian morality.A delightful lampoon of such literary conventions of the day as pastoral scenes, artificial romance, and the hero's stoic bravery, The Vicar of Wakefield has remained a classic since its first publication in 1766.

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From the author of Crime and Punishment comes this remarkable collection of short fiction. A selection of ten compelling tales, steeped in Dostoyevsky's characteristic themes of spiritual torment and psychological struggle, evoke life in Czarist Russia. Featured stories include «The Dream of a Ridiculous Man,» «Bobok,» «An Honest Thief,» «An Unpleasant Predicament,» «Another Man's Wife,» «The Peasant Marey,» «The Crocodile,» "A Faint Heart," «A Christmas Tree and a Wedding,» and the title work. Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821–1881) created powerful depictions of the human condition that led to significant developments in twentieth-century thought, including psychoanalysis and existentialism. His influence resonates in the works of latter-day authors such as Proust, Faulkner, Hemingway, and Kafka. This collection of his short stories offers thought-provoking glimpses into the Russian author's moving portrayals of the conflict between flesh and spirit.

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The «man who invented the future,» French novelist Jules Verne fanned mankind's desire to explore earth's hidden territories. His prophetic 1870 adventure novel, featuring a fabulous underwater craft commanded by the brilliant and mysterious Captain Nemo, predated the deep-water submarine.Weaving amazing scientific achievements with simple, everyday occurrences, this memorable tale brims with detailed descriptions of a futuristic vessel and bizarre scenes of life on the ocean's bottom. On-board travelers view Red Sea coral, wrecks of a historic naval battle, Antarctic ice shelves, and the fictional Atlantis. In addition, they confront a giant squid and belligerent cannibals, among other rousing adventures.The crowning achievement of Verne's literary career, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea not only influenced H. G. Wells and future generations of writers, but also inspired numerous films.

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The ne'er-do-well sire of a starving brood suddenly discovers a family connection to the aristocracy, and his selfish scheme to capitalize on their wealth sets a fateful plot in motion. Jack Durbeyfield dispatches his gentle daughter Tess to the home of their noble kin, anticipating a lucrative match between the lovely girl and a titled cousin. Innocent Tess finds the path of the d'Urberville estate paved with ruin in this gripping tale of the inevitability of fate and the tragic nature of existence.Subtitled A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented, Thomas Hardy's sympathetic portrait of a blameless young woman's destruction first appeared in 1891. Its powerful indictment of Victorian hypocrisy, along with its unconventional focus on the rural lower class and its direct treatment of sexuality and religion, raised a ferocious public outcry. Tess of the D'Ubervilles is Hardy's penultimate novel; the pressures of critical infamy shortly afterward drove the author to abandon the genre in favor of poetry. Like his fictional heroine, the artist fell victim to a rigidly oppressive moral code. Today, Tess is regarded as Hardy's masterpiece, embodying all of the most profoundly moving elements of its creator's dark vision. No perspective on 19th-century fiction is complete without a consideration of this compelling tale, now available in an inexpensive and high-quality edition.

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"Someone must have been telling lies about Josef K., he knew he had done nothing wrong but, one morning, he was arrested." From its gripping first sentence onward, this novel exemplifies the term "«Kafkaesque.» Its darkly humorous narrative recounts a bank clerk's entrapment — based on an undisclosed charge — in a maze of nonsensical rules and bureaucratic roadblocks.Written in 1914 and published posthumously in 1925, Kafka's engrossing parable about the human condition plunges an isolated individual into an impersonal, illogical system. Josef K.'s ordeals raise provocative, ever-relevant issues related to the role of government and the nature of justice. This inexpensive edition of one of the 20th century's most important novels features an acclaimed translation by David Wyllie.

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Selling more than 300,000 copies the first year it was published, Stowe's powerful abolitionist novel fueled the fire of the human rights debate in 1852. Denouncing the institution of slavery in dramatic terms, the incendiary novel quickly draws the reader into the world of slaves and their masters. Stowe's characters are powerfully and humanly realized in Uncle Tom, a majestic and heroic slave whose faith and dignity are never corrupted; Eliza and her husband, George, who elude slave catchers and eventually flee a country that condones slavery; Simon Legree, a brutal plantation owner; Little Eva, who suffers emotionally and physically from the suffering of slaves; and fun-loving Topsy, Eva's slave playmate. Critics, scholars, and students are today revisiting this monumental work with a new objectivity, focusing on Stowe’s compelling portrayal of women and the novel's theological underpinnings.

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Includes the unabridged text of Shakespeare's classic play plus a complete study guide that helps readers gain a thorough understanding of the work's content and context. The comprehensive guide includes scene-by-scene summaries, explanations and discussions of the plot, question-and-answer sections, author biography, analytical paper topics, list of characters, bibliography, and more.

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Widely recognized as one of literature's most gripping ghost stories, this classic tale of moral degradation concerns the sinister transformation of two innocent children into flagrant liars and hypocrites. The story begins when a governess arrives at an English country estate to look after Miles, aged ten, and Flora, eight. At first, everything appears normal but then events gradually begin to weave a spell of psychological terror.One night a ghost appears before the governess. It is the dead lover of Miss Jessel, the former governess. Later, the ghost of Miss Jessel herself appears before the governess and the little girl. Moreover, both the governess and the housekeeper suspect that the two spirits have appeared to the boy in private. The children, however, adamantly refuse to acknowledge the presence of the two spirits, in spite of indications that there is some sort of evil communication going on between the children and the ghosts.Without resorting to clattering chains, demonic noises, and other melodramatic techniques, this elegantly told tale succeeds in creating an atmosphere of tingling suspense and unspoken horror matched by few other books in the genre. Known for his probing psychological novels dealing with the upper classes, James in this story tried his hand at the occult — and created a masterpiece of the supernatural that has frightened and delighted readers for nearly a century.

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