Contemporary fiction. 'I walk'd about on the shore, lifting up my hands, and my whole being, as I may say, wrapt up in the contemplation of my deliverance . . . reflecting upon all my comrades that were drown'd, and that there should not be one soul sav'd but my self . . . ' Who has not dreamed of life on an exotic isle, far away from civilization? Here is the novel which has inspired countless imitations by lesser writers, none of which equal the...

With their estate entangled in an interminable legal case, the young wards of the court Richard Carstone and Ada Clare are taken into the benevolent care of the kindly John Jarndyce. Ada's companion, the gentle and good-hearted Esther Summerson, is devoted to the old man and, although she loves another, becomes betrothed to him. But behind Esther's supposed orphan past lies a dark secret that leads tragically to deceit, blackmail and murder. And as...

The stern and highminded hero, Adam Bede, loves the vain and selfish Hetty Sorrel, but their happiness is ruined when Hetty is seduced by a young squire.

"Dr. Henry Jekyll, fascinated by the dichotomy of good and evil, no longer wants to inhibit his dark side. He concocts a potion to create the alter ego of Mr. Edward Hyde. With the burden of evil placed on Hyde, Jekyll can now take pleasure in his immoral, nefarious fantasies-- free of conscience and guilt. It's when Hyde turns to murder that Jekyll realizes how monstrous his impulses are and how hard they are to suppress"--Back cover.

In fifteenth-century Paris, a disfigured man named Quasimodo, who was abandoned as an infant in the cathedral of Notre-Dame and now lives in its bell tower, must come to the aid of a beautiful gypsy girl named Esmeralda after she repels the advances of the cruel archdeacon Don Claude Frollo.

"Set in the mystical depths of the Indian jungle, where tigers roam the land and monkeys swing from trees, Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book gets reimagined like never before in this stunning new unabridged edition. Originally published in 1894, the beloved collection of stories includes such favorites as the story of the man-cub Mowgli versus the ferocious tiger Shere Khan, the brave mongoose Rikki-tikki-Tavi, and more. Filled with all-new lush illustrations...

Anna Karenina is the wife of a prominant Russian government official. She leads a correct but confining upper-middle-class existence. She seems content with her life as a proper companion to her dignified, unaffectionate husband and an adoring mother to her young son, until she meets Count Vronsky, a young officer of the guards. He pursues her and she falls madly in love with him. Her husband refuses to divorce her, so she gives up everything, including...

Presents Jules Verne's classic novel in which a French professor and his two companions sail above and below the world's oceans as prisoners on the fabulous electric submarine of the deranged Captain Nemo, and includes historical context, explanatory notes, excerpts of criticism, discussion questions, and other study tools.

The Count of Monte Cristo (Paris, 1844-45), by French novelist and playwright Alexandre Dumas, is one of the most popular novels ever written. This book presents a tale of love and revenge in the post-Napoleonic era. Edmond Dantes, a nineteen-year-old sailor from Marseilles, is soon to be captain of his own ship and to marry his beloved, the beautiful Mercedes. But spiteful enemies provoke his arrest on his wedding day, and he is condemned to...

This is not the great classic novel but a few little-known episodes that Dickens excerpted from the book for his dramatic public readings. His performances were for adults who knew the book, and it may be that only readers familiar with the novel will understand what's going on. Because it is quite seriously abridged, the story concentrates primarily on the extended family of Mr. Peggotty: his orphaned nephew, Ham; his adopted niece, Little Emily;...