Title search results
Showing 1 - 20 of 1195 items
A Little Princess: A New Play
By Frances Hodgson Burnett. 2017
A timeless Cinderella story, A Little Princess is one of the best-loved children's classics of all time. A heartwarming tale…
that champions the power of imagination.'I'd read Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden and loved it - so I tried A Little Princess and liked it even more!' Jacqueline Wilson'Sara Crewe is a Cinderella figure... She is intelligent and good humoured with an infectious warmth that embraces the lowliest of her new acquaintances. The sunshine continues when impoverishment and drudgery befall her and she relies on her private fantasies to preserve her natural zest for life' Guardian'It would be easy to be a princess if I were dressed in cloth of gold, but it is a great deal more of a triumph to be one all the time when no one knows it.'When Sara Crewe is sent to Miss Minchin's school for young ladies, her indulgent father provides for her as if she were a little princess. But although her toys and clothes are the envy of the other girls, Sara's kindness and gift for storytelling soon win her lots of friends. Then, the tragic news arrives that her father has died penniless and, without wealth or a guardian, Sara is at the mercy of Miss Minchin. Forced to work from dawn until dusk as the school's unpaid servant, she looks over the rooftops from her damp attic room and dreams of a better life. All is not lost: she has friends, courage and imagination - maybe that's all she really needs.A collection that will be coveted by children and adults alike, this list is the best in children's literature, curated by Virago. These are timeless tales with beautiful covers, that will be treasured and shared across the generations. Some titles you will already know; some will be new to you, but there are stories for everyone to love, whatever your age. Our list includes Nina Bawden (Carrie's War, The Peppermint Pig), Rumer Godden (The Dark Horse, An Episode of Sparrows), Joan Aiken (The Serial Garden, The Gift Giving) E. Nesbit (The Psammead Trilogy, The Bastable Trilogy, The Railway Children), L. M. Montgomery (The Anne of Green Gables series) and Susan Coolidge (The What Katy Did Trilogy). Discover Virago Children's Classics.Jane of Lantern Hill: A Virago Modern Classic (Vmc Ser. #707)
By L. M. Montgomery. 2011
Jane and her mother live in a gloomy old mansion, where their lives are ruled by her ovebearing grandmother. For…
most of her life Jane has believed that her father is dead. Then, one dull April morning, a letter comes. Not only is her father alive and well, but he wants Jane to spend the summer with him on Prince Edward Island. For a blissful summer she lives at her father's cottage on Lantern Hill, making friends, having adventures and discovering that life can be wonderful after all. And she dares to dream that there could be such a house where she, Mother and Father could live together without Grandmother's disapproval - a house that could be called home.The Enchanted Castle
By E. Nesbit. 2013
Main Street
By Sinclair Lewis. 1999
In 1930 Sinclair Lewis became the first American to win the Nobel Prize for literature, and the 1920 publication of…
Main Street brought him his first serious critical recognition. Born and raised in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, Lewis knew the American heartland as few other writers have. He both loved and despised small towns, and the tension between those feelings permeates this classic novel. The setting is Gopher Prairie, a bastion of prosaic, small-minded, middle-class values. Its newest inhabitant is the beautiful young Carol Kennicott, who dreams of transforming her adopted hometown into an oasis of beauty, refinement, and culture. But Carol is no match for the town's provincialism, and her struggle to overcome the complacency, bigotry, and hypocrisy of Gopher Prairie becomes the author's devastating and satiric take on all small towns.Moby Dick: The Illustrated Novel (Literatura Juvenil (panamericana Editorial) Ser.)
By Herman Melville, Anton Lomaev. 1994
Perhaps the greatest of all American novels, Moby Dick is newly presented with sixty inspiring full-page illustrations that bring fresh…
life and emotional depth to this classic of literature. Every reader knows the obsessive story of Captain Ahab and the famous white whale. Moby Dick is the great American novel, a monument of literature. Based on the events depicted in the “Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex” and the legend of “Mocha Dick," it is the story of the wandering sailor Ishmael and his voyage aboard the whaling ship the Pequod. Commanded by the obsessed Captain Ahab, a man who is hell-bent on revenge against a white whale of incredible ferocity, the Pequod and its crew are tasked with this singular goal, whatever the emotional or human cost. It is a novel rich with symbolism and complex themes. But this mythical adventure has never been portrayed in such a powerful way and with such striking illustrations, presenting a new perspective on this cornerstone of American literature. It marks a wonderful entry point for new readers to discover Melville's universe—and a beautiful edition for the countless dedicated readers of this unique novel.Tarzan of the Apes
By Edgar Rice Burroughs. 1997
Unabridged classic adventure novel (1914) tells of an aristocratic English infant, abandoned on the death of his parents in the…
African jungle, who is reared by apes. Story includes riveting encounters with man-eating beasts, Tarzan's love affair with the beautiful Jane Porter, buried treasure, much more. Original, exotic, highly readable.The Aspern Papers (Dover Thrift Editions)
By Henry James. 2001
In this classic 1888 novella, an anonymous narrator relates his obsessive quest to acquire some letters and other private documents…
that once belonged to the deceased Romantic poet Jeffrey Aspern. Attempting to gain access to the papers, the property of Aspern's former mistress, he rents a room in a decaying Venetian villa where the woman lives with her aging niece. Led by his zeal into increasingly unscrupulous behavior, the narrator is faced in the end with relinquishing his heart's desire or attaining it an an overwhelming price. Inspired by an actual incident involving Claire Clairmont, once the mistress of Lord Byron, this masterfully written tale incorporates all those elements expected from James: psychological subtlety, deft plotting, the clash of cultures, and profoundly nuanced representation of scene, mood, and character. This volume also contains James's celebrated Preface from the New York edition of his collected works.A Sentimental Journey
By Laurence Sterne. 2004
Mr. Yorick, the sentimental traveller, refrains from the customary reflections on monuments and landscapes. Instead, he focuses on his sweet…
and affectionate emotions, experiencing them everywhere he goes and with every creature who crosses his path -- from bursts of sympathy for a caged bird and an abused donkey, to bonhomie among peasants at dinner and flirtation with women of every social degree. Closer in spirit to a novel than a travelogue, Mr. Yorick's account of his wanderings satirizes conventional travel books, and his comic mishaps along the path to tender emotions are as much a critique of pure sentiment as they are an exploration of human sympathy. Unabridged republication of the classic 1768 edition.The Decameron: Selected Tales (Dover Thrift Editions)
By Giovanni Boccaccio, Bob Blaisdell. 2011
While the Black Death rages through 14th-century Florence, a group of young people retreat to the healthful air of the…
countryside and amuse themselves by telling tales of romance and adventure. This is the premise of Boccaccio's Decameron, a landmark of early Renaissance literature and one of the world's great story collections. Vast in scope, teeming with colorful characters, and rich in worldly wisdom, these 25 tales from the original 100 encompass a variety of genres -- folktales, ancient myths, fables, and anecdotes ranging from earthy satires of hypocritical clergy to gripping tales of murder and revenge and stories of passionate love. Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Keats drew upon Boccaccio's masterpiece for inspiration, and the grand old storyteller's fables continue to captivate modern readers.The Metamorphosis Thrift Study Edition
By Franz Kafka. 2009
A traveling salesman awakens from troubled slumbers to find himself transformed into a giant insect. Franz Kafka's matter-of-fact tone brings…
an air of absolute truth to his fantastic narrative, which chronicles the effects of this monstrous conversion upon the protagonist's business and family life. Interpretations of Kafka's acclaimed 1915 novella range from religious allegory to psychoanalytic case history. All agree upon its status as a landmark work of twentieth-century fiction. A definitive survey, this Dover Thrift Study Edition offers the novel's complete and unabridged text, plus a comprehensive study guide. Created to help readers gain a thorough understanding of the content and context of The Metamorphosis, the guide includes: * Chapter-by-chapter summaries* Explanations and discussions of the plot* Question-and-answer sections* Kafka biography* List of characters and more Dover Thrift Study Editions feature everything that students need to undertake a confident reading of a classic text, as well as to prepare themselves for class discussions, essays, and exams. A selection of the Common Core State Standards Initiative.Sister Carrie: Large Print (Dover Thrift Editions: Classic Novels)
By Theodore Dreiser. 2004
An 18-year-old girl without money or connections ventures forth from her small town in search of a better life in…
Theodore Dreiser's revolutionary first novel. The chronicle of Carrie Meeber's rise from obscurity to fame -- and the effects of her progress on the men who use her and are used in turn -- aroused a storm of controversy and debate upon its debut in 1900. The author's nonjudgmental portrait of a heroine who violates the contemporary moral code outraged some critics and elated others. A century later, Dreiser's compelling plot and realistic characters continue to fascinate readers. Unabridged republication of the classic 1900 edition.Twelfth Night Thrift Study Edition
By William Shakespeare. 2010
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.Looking Backward: From 2000 To 1887 (Dover Thrift Editions)
By Edward Bellamy. 1850
First published in 1888, Looking Backward was one of the most popular novels of its day. Translated into more than…
20 languages, its utopian fantasy influenced such thinkers as John Dewey, Thorstein Veblen, Eugene V. Debs, and Norman Thomas. Writing from a 19th century perspective and poignantly critical of his own time, Bellamy advanced a remarkable vision of the future, including such daring predictions as the existence of radio, television, motion pictures, credit cards, and covered pedestrian malls.On the surface, the novel is the story of time-traveler Julian West, a young Bostonian who is put into a hypnotic sleep in the late 19th century, and awakens in the year 2000 in a socialist utopia. In conversations with the doctor who awakened him, he discovers a brilliantly realized vision of an ideal future, one that seemed unthinkable in his own century. Crime, war, personal animosity, and want are nonexistent. Equality of the sexes is a fact of life. In short, a messianic state of brotherly love is in effect.Entertaining, stimulating, and thought-provoking, Looking Backward, with its ingenious plot and appealing socialism, is a provocative study of human society as it is and as it might be.The House of the Dead
By Fyodor Dostoyevsky. 2004
Accused of political subversion as a young man, Dostoyevsky was sentenced to four years of hard labor at a Siberian…
prison camp -- a horrifying experience from which, years later, he developed this semi-autobiographical memoir of a man condemned to penal servitude for murdering his wife. Describing in relentless detail the physical and mental suffering of the convicts, this haunting and remarkable work ranks amoung Dostoyevsky's greatest masterpieces.A bestseller when it was originally published nearly a century ago, Wharton's first literary success was set amid the previously…
unexplored territory of fashionable, turn-of-the-century New York society, an area with which she was intimately familiar.The tragic love story reveals the destructive effects of wealth and social hypocrisy on Lily Bart, a ravishing beauty. Impoverished but well-born, Lily realizes a secure future depends on her acquiring a wealthy husband. Her downfall begins with a romantic indiscretion, intensifies with an accumulation of gambling debts, and climaxes in a maelstrom of social disasters.More a tale of social exclusion than of failed love, The House of Mirth reveals Wharton's compelling gifts as a storyteller and her clear-eyed observations of the savagery beneath the well-bred surface of high society. As with The Age of Innocence and Ethan Frome, this novel was also made into a successful motion picture.Jacob's Room: Large Print (Dover Thrift Editions)
By Virginia Woolf. 1998
Prized for their lyrical qualities, the novels of Virginia Woolf favor the psychological realms inhabited by her characters, where thoughts…
are so revealed that actions lose much of their importance. Most are also concerned with the structure of narrative, including the present novel, in which Woolf conveys the impression of time present and of time passing in individual experience as well as in the characters' awareness of historic time.Considered Woolf's first original and distinguished work, Jacob's Room (1922) concerns a sensitive young man, Jacob Flanders, who finds himself unable to reconcile his love of classical culture with the chaotic reality of World War I. His story unfolds in a series of brief impressions and conversations, stream-of-consciousness narratives, internal monologues, and letters.This inexpensive edition of Woolf's intense and affecting novel offers readers a first-rate example of subtle style and innovative techniques for which the author is admired.The Gambler (Dover Thrift Editions: Classic Novels)
By Fyodor Dostoyevsky. 1996
A compulsive gambler himself at a certain period of his life, Dostoyevsky wrote this novel with real authority. Set in…
the appropriately named Roulettenburg, a German spa with a casino and an international clientele, it concerns the gambling episodes, tangled love affairs, and complicated lives of Alexey Ivanovitch, a young gambler; Polina Alexandrovna, the woman he loves; a pair of French adventurers, and other characters.Although not as dark as some of Dostoyevsky's other works, The Gambler nevertheless offers a grim and psychologically probing picture of the fatal attractions of gambling. Among its strengths are its well-drawn characters -- Aunt Antonida, although lightly sketched in, is especially delightful -- and its faithful depiction of life among the gambling set in fashionable German watering holes. This edition reprints Constance Garnett's authoritative translation.The Cat Who Went to Heaven
By Elizabeth Coatsworth, Raoul Vitale. 2008
In ancient Japan, a struggling artist is angered when his housekeeper brings home a tiny white cat he can barely…
afford to feed. But when the village’s head priest commissions a painting of the Buddha for a healthy sum, the artist softens toward the animal he believes has brought him luck. According to legend, the proud and haughty cat was denied the Buddha’s blessing for refusing to accept his teachings and pay him homage. So when the artist, moved by compassion for his pet, includes the cat in his painting, the priest rejects the work and decrees that it must be destroyed. It seems the artist’s life is ruined as well—until he is rewarded for his act of love by a Buddhist miracle. This timeless fable has been a classic since its first publication in 1930, and this beautifully reillustrated edition brings the magic and wonder of the tale to a new generation of readers.Initially published in 1912 and the first of Zane Grey's many bestsellers, this stirring tale of adventure in the high…
country established the prototype for western novels of the twentieth century. The plot's focus is a proud young heroine who's determined to defend her Utah ranch. She stands alone against the villains who rustle and stampede her cattle--until a stranger rides into the territory. Notorious as the scourge of Mormon transgressors, the stranger stays on to assist in the inevitable showdown, and romance blooms amid the canyons and cottonwoods. A classic of American frontier fiction, Riders of the Purple Sage teems with color, authenticity, and thrills.The Castle of Otranto
By Horace Walpole. 1966
In a faraway medieval realm, Manfred, an arrogant and evil prince, rules with an iron fist. Banishing his wife to…
the castle dungeon, he confines -- and plans to wed -- the lovely Isabella, fiancée of his recently deceased son. The prince's plans are foiled, however, when a well-meaning peasant helps the young woman escape through the castle's underground passages. Grisly, supernatural events further aid in fulfilling a prophecy that spells doom for the prince and justice for Isabella's rescuer and rightful heir to the throne.One of the first and greatest of Gothic novels, this thrilling tale ranks among the most influential books in literary history. Serving as the model for plots, characterizations, settings, and tone for hundreds of successors, The Castle of Otranto abounds with colorful scenes, adventure, suspense, and inexplicable phenomena.