Eight Cousins (1875) is a novel by American author, feminist, and abolitionist Louisa May Alcott. Based on her experience of being raised by a father dedicated to education reform, and grounded in her radical beliefs on the role of women in society, Eight Cousins is a masterpiece of children's literature that explores themes of family, death, and perseverance. Rose Campbell is a young girl when her parents pass away. Orphaned, she is taken to the...

The Warden makes an excellent introduction to Trollope's work. It tells of a dispute that arises between the Church of England and reformers. The Reverend Harding is the warden of small home providing quarters for 12 retired, impoverished workers. The facility is provided for by a trust set up by its founder over 200 years ago. Income off the land provides income for the maintenance of the home and a living for the warden, who is a gentle,

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A sweeping saga of a military wife and her search for happiness from the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Hidden.

Having left behind a bitter childhood, Ruby Connors quickly finds that marriage is not quite the escape she imagined. Instead, as a military wife in Washington, DC, loneliness turns out to be her most dependable companion. But determined to realize her faith in happiness, she raises her two children

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Jude the Obscure, the semi-autobiographical final novel from Thomas Hardy explores notions of surprising candor; within the eponymous protagonist lies the tragic truth of failed ambitions and relationships. In a fierce exploration of the darkness of love and the intellect, this is one of the great tragic novels of English literature. Jude Fawley, an earnest boy from a rural English village, dreams of a life of academia despite his working-class background....

The antics of a group of women in a small town where they were expected to raise babies, not Cain. The story is recounted by a mother to a daughter, the daughter thinking she is so much better because she got out of that town and is now a theater producer. The moral: mothers too were once rebels.

Mark Robarts, an easy-going young vicar, is given the living of Framley by his old school friend Lord Lufton. He foolishly signs two notes of guarantee for the unscrupulous MP Nate Sowerby for a considerable sum of money. Sowerby makes little or no attempt to pay this note, leaving Mark facing scandal and ruin. Mark's sister Lucy comes to live at Framley parsonage and Lord Lufton soon falls in love with her, much to the displeasure of his mother.

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Visit Nantucket's Beach Plum Cove Inn this Christmas for a feel-good holiday story from the author of the USA Today bestsellers, The Nantucket Inn and Nantucket Neighbors.

Born on Christmas, Angela Stark has always hated the holiday. Bad things always seem to happen and this year is no exception when she is fired and evicted on the first day of December.

She was living and working as a maid in San Francisco. Who will hire her

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Published to unprecedented literary acclaim in 1924, the Pulitzer-winning novel So Big established Edna Ferber as one of the twentieth century's major American storytellers. The enthralling and compellingly readable novel recounts a redoubtable woman's efforts to create an authentic version of the American dream for herself and her son, nicknamed "So Big," by moving up without selling out. Today, So Big can find a new audience among readers who care...

In the early 1900s, young Bessie Bawtry grows up in a mining town in South Yorkshire, England. Unusually gifted, she longs to escape a life burdened by unquestioned tradition. She studies patiently, dreaming of the day when she will take the entrance exam for Cambridge and leave her narrow world. A generation later, Bessie's daughter Chrissie feels a similar impulse to expand her horizons, which she in turn passes on to her own daughter. Nearly...

Wives and Daughters, by Elizabeth Gaskell, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics: • New introductions commissioned from todays top writers and scholars • Biographies of the authors • Chronologies...