Catalog Search Results
82) East Angels
Constance Fenimore Woolson was the great niece of James Fenimore Cooper and a close friend and correspondent of Henry James. A successful short story and novel writer Woolson was one of the "local color", or American literary regionalism authors popular in late-nineteenth century America. She travelled a great deal through America and Europe where she gathered material for her works. Woolson's stories focus on character, dialects, customs and landscape
...83) Hide and Seek
This domestic drama from beloved author Wilkie Collins focuses on the abiding power of family, whether by birth or by chance. A profoundly disabled girl is adopted by a loving family, but her true origins are shrouded in mystery. When a few intrepid friends begin trying to find out more about her history, a wholly unexpected chain of events is set into motion.
If you're craving a classic adventure novel from times gone by, King of the Khyber Rifles will definitely do the trick. Set in India around the time of the outbreak of World War I, the tale outlines the tensions between the restless and defiant natives of India and the British forces, which have been weakened by the demands of fighting against the Germans. Can secret agent Athelstan King quell the simmering conflict before it's too late?
...Love Jane Austen's Emma? If so, you'll relish every page of Margaret Oliphant's Miss Marjoribanks. Part of the author's Carlingford Chronicles, this delightful novel follows the indomitable Lucilla Marjoribanks, who returns to her hometown to take care of her father. She inserts herself into the local social scene with her trademark abundance of confidence, but will her machinations and plans be well received by the townspeople?
An alternate translation of Tolstoy's classic novella, Family Happiness, this tale revisits a theme that resonates throughout Tolstoy's work and is perhaps best elucidated in Anna Karenina: "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." A young woman who is still reeling from the death of her mother agrees to be wed to a much older family friend, but soon finds out that married life is not all it's
...This unique nineteenth-century novel, originally published in French, is the result of a fascinating literary experiment. It takes the form of an epistolary dialogue of letters exchanged among four characters, each of which is an alter ego of one of the book's four authors.
The Metamorphoses of Lucius Apuleius is the only complete Latin novel to have survived to this day. Lucius of Maudorus is insatiably curious about magic, but when he tries to magic himself into a bird, he transforms instead into a donkey. The story follows his literal and metaphorical journey, and was called by St Augustine The Golden Ass.
89) The Bostonians
First published in 1886, The Bostonians is one of James' wittiest social satires. It begins with the arrival in Boston of Basil Ransom, in search of a career. The book turns on the relationship between Ransom, a conservative civil war veteran, his feminist cousin Olive Chancellor, and Verena Tarrant, a newcomer to their circle whose affections are sought by both Olive and Basil.
James' ambivalence towards the reformist movement is made
...An Unsocial Socialist begins in an unruly girl's school, comically portraying their tricks and pranks. The narrative then moves to a seemingly ill-bred laborer, who is in fact a wealthy gentleman in disguise. He wishes, in part, to avoid his overly-affectionate wife, but also to preach socialism, of which he is a staunch convert. The story is then largely subsumed in a discussion of socialism and briefly concludes with the suitable marriages
...Looking for an engaging and emotionally resonant read from a novelist who was inspired by the works of both Charles Dickens and Charlotte Bronte? Elizabeth Gaskell's 1850 short novel The Moorland Cottage offers up a unflinching slice of nineteenth-century family life, with a particular focus on family dynamics in an era where sons were openly favored.
92) Beatrix
Honore de Balzac excelled at creating unforgettable characters, but most of his creations were works of pure fiction. Many critics have asserted that the novel Beatrix is a roman a clef depicting the life of the French memoirist George Sand, as well as the larger cultural shift from an era of genteel aristocracy and class stratification to a more democratic way of living.
93) The Path of Duty
In this tale from the master of subtle psychological insight, American writer Henry James, the narrator tells a story about a pair of star-crossed lovers who never find a way to make their ill-fated relationship work — and who punish everyone around them by constantly harping on the failed romance.
95) Lost Illusions
Honoré de Balzac's renowned Lost Illusions consists of two volumes, both contained in this edition. The first, from 1837, contains the stories The Two Poets and A Distinguished Provincial at Paris, Part 1. The second, from 1839, contains A Distinguished Provincial at Paris, Part 2 and Eve and David. Both form part of Balzac's ambitious Human Comedy.
96) Captain Dieppe
A chance invitation to spend time at the luxurious manse of the Count of Fieramondi sparks a mystery that ensnares the dashing Captain Dieppe, a French gentlemen who seems to have a preternatural ability to sniff out intrigue and dastardly deeds. Can Dieppe put things right before it's too late?
Based on historical events, this tale from the imagination of beloved English author William Makepeace Thackeray blends his trademark wit and spot-on satire with an engaging mystery. A must-read for fans of closely observed social satire and lovers of Thackeray's other works, such as Vanity Fair and The Rose and the Ring.
In American author Booth Tarkington's best-known novels and stories, he describes the changing of the cultural guard in the United States as the moneyed aristocracy gave way to the up-and-coming robber barons and titans of industry. In The Guest of Quesnay, Tarkington casts his social scrutiny on a different continent, using the figure of an American painter in Paris as a lens through which to explore relationships between European and American
...99) Dawn
H. Rider Haggard's Dawn offers something for everyone: thrilling action sequences, tender romance, and a fascinating glimpse into the social forces that governed courtship in the nineteenth century. If you prefer your tales of star-crossed lovers to be served up with a whole lot of page-turning suspense and excitement, put this novel on your must-read list.
Aphra Behn was one of the first professional English female writers and Oroonoko was one of her earliest works. It is the love story between Oroonoko, the grandson of an African king, and the daughter of that king's general. The king takes the girl into his harem, and when she plans to escape with his grandson, sells her as a slave. When Oroonoko tries to follow her he is caught by an English slave trader and taken to the same West Indian
...Borrow from another library
Didn't find what you need? Items not owned by Darien Library can be requested from other libraries via our interlibrary loan system (ILL).