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Hard Times

Hard Times (originally Hard Times—For These Times ) was published in 1854, and is the shortest novel Charles Dickens ever published. It’s set in Coketown, a fictional mill-town set in the north of England. One of the major themes of the book is the miserable treatment of workers in the mills, and the resistance to their unionization by the mill owners, typified by the character Josiah Bounderby, who absurdly asserts that the workers live a near-idyllic life but they all “expect to be set up in a coach and six, and to be fed on turtle soup and venison, with a gold spoon.” The truth, of course, is far different.

Charles Dickens · Drama · 37 ch

He Knew He Was Right

While on travels in the Mandarin Islands, Louis Trevelyan meets and then, on return to England, marries Emily Rowley, the eldest daughter of the governor of the Islands. They seem ideally suited, but Emily’s mother spots a potential sore spot: they both like to have their “own way.” For two years, and with the birth of their child, all goes well. But when the philandering Colonel Osborne—a lifelong friend of Emily’s father—comes calling in the Trevelyan home, their equilibrium is disastrously unsettled.

Anthony Trollope · Drama · 99 ch

Heart of Darkness

A steamboat captain journeys up the Congo in search of a celebrated ivory trader whose reputation has curdled into rumor. Told by a sailor waiting out the tide on the Thames, it is a story about what empire does to the men who carry it out.

Joseph Conrad · Adventure · 3 ch

Herland

Three male explorers set out to reach a legendary land where only women live, and find—to their surprise—that the legends are true. This country hidden in the mountains is a feminist utopia. There are no men, nor is there war, poverty, or crime.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman · Sci Fi · 12 ch

His Family

Roger Gale, a media-monitoring business owner nearing retirement, observes life in early 20th century New York City through the eyes of his three daughters. The youngest, Laura, is a social butterfly always going to the latest excitements the city can offer. The middle, Edith, is a mother to four children, on whom she dotes.

Ernest Poole · Drama · 44 ch

His Last Bow

His Last Bow: Some Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes is the fourth collection of Sherlock Holmes stories published by Arthur Conan Doyle. It begins with a preface by Dr. John Watson, supposedly written in 1917, assuring the reader that Holmes is still alive but living in quiet retirement in Sussex. This collection contains the well-known stories “The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans,” in which Holmes has to track down stolen plans for a new kind of submarine; and “The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot” in which a Cornish family is found one morning driven mad or dead, with expressions of horror on their faces.

Arthur Conan Doyle · Mystery · 8 ch

Huntingtower

Published in 1922, Huntingtower is the first of John Buchan’s novels to feature Dickson McCunn. McCunn, recently retired, embarks upon a walking tour of southwestern Scotland and encounters a poet and former soldier on his travels. They spend the evening in a small village, and when they investigate a large empty house nearby, they hear a woman singing from within.

John Buchan · Adventure · 18 ch

Hypatia

Philammon is a young monk living in an isolated Egyptian monastery circa 400 AD. He feels a longing to see the world, so he embarks on a trip to Alexandria, a city teeming with culture and learning. On his way he meets Pelagia, a beautiful courtesan traveling up the Nile with a band of Goths in search of Asgard.

Charles Kingsley · Historical · 32 ch

I Will Repay

The young Vicomte de Marny rashly challenges a French official to a duel, and dies as a result. The Vicomte’s father, the ancient Duc de Marny, insists that his daughter, Juliette, swear an oath before God to seek revenge on the man who killed her brother. Years later, as the French Revolution rages, Juliette insinuates herself into the official’s household, and quickly discovers a way to anonymously accuse him before the National Convention.

Baroness Orczy · Adventure · 32 ch

In Search of the Castaways

Following the clues found in a bottle cast into the ocean, Lord and Lady Genarvan set off for South America and Australia in their ship Duncan to search for the shipwrecked Captain Grant. Their eventful and perilous journey gives Verne the opportunity to describe a variety of exotic places. Originally titled Les Enfants du Capitaine Grant (“The Children of Captain Grant”), the story has inspired several movie adaptations.

Jules Verne · Adventure · 67 ch

In the Days of the Comet

In the Days of the Comet, first published in 1906, is one of H. G. Wells’ “scientific romances.” Though it’s clearly a work of science fiction in that it features the collision of a huge comet with Earth, it has a greater than usual emphasis on Wells’ typical social commentary and criticism.

H. G. Wells · Sci Fi · 13 ch

Ivanhoe

Set in 12th-century England, Prince John rules while his brother King Richard is away during the Crusades. During his reign, Prince John and others of Norman nobility abuse their power over the Saxons, forcing Saxons off their lands and many Saxon nobles into serfdom. Ivanhoe, a man disowned by his own Saxon father for going to war alongside the Norman King Richard, returns from the Crusades in disguise and appears in a tournament at Ashby.

Walter Scott · Historical · 46 ch

Jacob’s Room

In her third novel, Virginia Woolf departs from conventional narrative and explores storytelling through discordant scenes and impressions. Jacob Flanders’ life story is told through the perspectives of the people in his life. In Jacob’s Room, we see Jacob grow from a young boy to an ardent student of Classical culture while the world around him moves closer to an impending war.

Virginia Woolf · Drama · 14 ch

Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre experienced abuse at a young age, not only from her aunt—who raised her after both her parents died—but also from the headmaster of Lowood Institution, where she is sent away to. After ten years of living and teaching at Lowood Jane decides she is ready to see more of the world and takes a position as a governess at Thornfield Hall. Jane later meets the mysterious master of Thornfield Hall, Mr. Rochester, and becomes drawn to him.

Charlotte Brontë · Romance · 40 ch

Jibby Jones

The narrator and his friends, Tad, Skippy, and Wampus, enjoy a calm but playful life in the small community of Birch Island along the Mississippi River. One day, a strange boy who has come to live on their island tries to make their acquaintance. Introducing himself as Oliver Parmenter Jones, or “Jibby Jones” due to his prominent nose, he quickly joins the group after fixing a motorboat and sharing incredible stories of the places he’s been.

Ellis Parker Butler · Adventure · 24 ch

Journey to the Center of the Earth

A classic science fiction novel by French writer Jules Verne, this work is one of the most well-known subterranean fictions to this day. It inspired many similar works and adaptations. First published in 1864 in French as Voyage au centre de la Terre, it was quickly translated to English by several different publishers in the 1870s.

Jules Verne · Sci Fi · 45 ch

Jude the Obscure

Jude the Obscure was first published in its complete form in 1895, just after finishing its serial run in Harper’s Magazine. At the time, its unconventional and somewhat scandalous themes earned it widespread criticism and condemnation. In the 1912 “Wessex Edition,” Hardy appended a postscript to the book’s preface in which he stated that the outrage ultimately abated with no lingering effect other than “completely curing me of further interest in novel-writing.” Indeed, Jude was to be Hardy’s last novel.

Thomas Hardy · Tragedy · 60 ch

Kate Plus 10

Scotland Yard Inspector Michael Pretherston has been called to attend a case of missing jewelry at Lord Flanborough’s home. While investigating, Inspector Pretherston comes across a familiar face—and an intriguing mystery to challenge his skills and intellect: a woman by the name of Katharine Westhanger. Kate has been a person of interest in various capers across Europe despite her innocent looks and charming personality.

Edgar Wallace · Mystery · 20 ch

Khaled

Khaled is a hard-working and faithful genie who, in his zeal, goes a little too far and kills a faithless man. This puts him under scrutiny from the powers above, who curse him to live as a human. Since genies have no souls, he will vanish from existence when he dies; but, if he can find true love, he’ll be granted a soul and thus be allowed into heaven.

F. Marion Crawford · Fantasy · 26 ch

Kidnapped

Written in 1886, Kidnapped is an adventure novel set in Scotland in the mid-1700s, not long after the Jacobite rebellion in the Highlands which had attempted to set Bonnie Prince Charlie on the throne. This rebellion was put down brutally and afterwards the Government imposed strict controls on Highlanders, outlawing many clan leaders. The protagonist of Stevenson’s novel is young David Balfour, who is in his late teens.

Robert Louis Stevenson · Adventure · 33 ch