“The White Companyis a lively romance, and very good reading for boys and friends of old times and tall knights.” -Andrew Lang“Start a story by Conan Doyle and you cannot stop reading, whether you are ten or sixty.”-Michael Dirda“The immense talent, passion and literary brilliance that Conan Doyle brought to his work gives him a unique place in English letters.”-Stephen FryArthur Conan Doyle’s The White Company (1891) is a vivid and action-packed h...

Songs of Jamaica (1912) is a poetry collection by Claude McKay. Published before the poet left Jamaica for the United States, Songs of Jamaica is a pioneering collection of verse written in Jamaican Patois, the first of its kind. As a committed leftist, McKay was a keen observer of the Black experience in the Caribbean, the American South, and later in New York, where he gained a reputation during the Harlem Renaissance for celebrating the resilience and cultural achievem...

Dark Laughter (1925) is a novel by Sherwood Anderson. Inspired by his own decision to abandon his family and career in order to establish himself as a professional writer, Anderson explores the guilts, routines, desires, and disappointments driving the lives of many Americans in the early-twentieth century. Although he is known today for his story collection Winesburg, Ohio, a pioneering work of Modernist fiction admired for its plainspoken language and psychological deta...

Sweeney Todd: The Barber of Fleet Street (1846-1847) is a penny dreadful novel by British writers James Malcolm Rymer and Thomas Peckett Prest. Originally serialized in cheap volumes, the novel marks the debut of Sweeney Todd, a villain whose story inspired Stephen Sondheim’s legendary musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979), which won a Tony Award for Best Musical and an Olivier Award for Best New Musical before serving as source material for Tim Bu...

The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (1816) is a story by E.T.A. Hoffmann. A leading writer of the German Romantic period, Hoffmann inspired generations of artists with his thrilling blend of fantasy, science fiction, and fairy tale. In 1892, Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky turned Alexandre Dumas’ adaptation of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King into The Nutcracker, which remains one of the most popular ballets of all time.On Christmas Eve, Fritz an...

The Magician (1909) is a novel by W. Somerset Maugham. Controversial for its portrayal of infidelity and occult ritual, The Magician was instrumental in establishing Maugham’s reputation as a leading author of the late Victorian era. Inspired by stories of Aleister Crowley, an influential occultist and magician, Maugham crafted a masterpiece of fantasy fiction that would inspire Crowley himself to write a hit piece for Vanity Fair erroneously accusing the novelis...

Initially published in 1920, Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil is a combination of essays that tackle the power dynamics of gender, race and religion. It’s a searing portrait of America influenced by Du Bois’ own personal experiences. Du Bois delivers a contemporary examination of African American life during the first half of the twentieth century. He addresses issues of segregation, employment disparity and misogyny, specifically toward Black women. Dar...

Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry (1888) is a collection of stories edited by W.B. Yeats. Compiled at the height of the Celtic Twilight, a movement to revive the myths and traditions of Ancient Ireland, Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry captures a wide range of stories, songs, poems, and firsthand accounts from artists and storytellers dedicated to the preservation of Irish culture.In “Frank Martin and the Fairies,” a sickly man discusses the p...

New Grub Street (1891) is a novel by George Gissing. Inspired by his own struggles as a working writer and unhappily married man, Gissing crafts a tale of talent, ambition, and the strain placed on romance by financial need. New Grub Street poses important questions about convention in Victorian England while proving surprisingly relevant for our own times. In 18th century London, Grub Street was where the desperate writer went once their dreams of literary achievement ha...

The expanded story of orphan Sara Crewe and her stay at Miss Minchin’s Seminary for Young Ladies where she’s subjected to neglect and unnecessary cruelty. Despite the circumstances, Sara’s imagination becomes a source escapism and much-needed comfort.Sara Crewe is the daughter of a wealthy military captain who serves in India. While stationed abroad, he enrolls his daughter in Miss Minchin’s Seminary for Young Ladies. He plans for her to receive a superior educatio...

Psmith (the p is silent) is a man of contrasts. He is overly confident, but smart, and prone to mischief, but resourceful enough to get himself out of trouble. Down on his luck and out of a job, Psmith meets Eve Halliday in the middle of a downpour. Immediately drawn to her beauty, Psmith decides to help Eve get out of the rain. After he borrows an umbrella from a nearby club without asking, Psmith offers it to Eve, so that she is able to finish her walk. Thankful, Eve continues to walk wi...

Dreamers of the Ghetto (1892) is a collection of stories by Israel Zangwill. Raised in London by parents from Latvia and Poland, Zangwill understood the plight of the city’s Jewish community firsthand. Having risen through poverty to become an educator and author, he dedicated his career to the voiceless, the oppressed, and the needy, advocating for their rights and bearing witness to their suffering in some of the most powerful novels and stories of the Victorian era. “This is a ...