The whole shelf
All free summaries — page 696
47,382 public-domain books, summarised. Page 696 of 988.
The Trawler
James B. (James Brendan) Connolly
A grieving father's quiet judgment gives way to a young fisherman's realization that the captain everyone calls ruthless carries a sacrifice deeper than the sea itself.
The triumph of the nut, and other parodies
Christopher Ward
Foolish lovers, pompous intellectuals, and melodramatic heroes fall like bowling pins before Christopher Ward’s sharp-witted satirical gaze.
The Tyranny of Tears: A Comedy in Four Acts
C. Haddon (Charles Haddon) Chambers
A husband’s meek rebellion against his wife’s tearful dominance triggers a hilarious battle of wills inside a quietly chaotic Victorian study.
The Web of Time
Robert E. (Robert Edward) Knowles
A young man struggles to uphold his family’s integrity while fighting his own internal demons. This story explores the quiet, profound strength found in poverty, duty, and the invisible bonds of love.
The White Cat: Captains All, Book 10
W. W. (William Wymark) Jacobs
A sly tale of rustic avarice, where a local inheritance hinges entirely on the lifespan of a two-eyed white cat.
The white countess
Florence Warden
Accused of a bank forgery he did not commit, a young clerk goes to prison, leaving his wife to navigate a dangerous London underworld of fake identities, illegal gambling, and treacherous high-society friends.
The wounded Eros
Charles Gibson
The heart of a lover, wounded by its own affection, finds its only enduring relief by transforming rejection into art.
The yule log
Georgianna M. Bishop
Gathering around the hearth on a cold winter night, a family lights the traditional Yule log to inspire magical tales of moral discovery and fairy-tale wonders.
There is a tide
J. C. (John Collis) Snaith
An ambitious American girl arrives in London determined to conquer its upper crust through journalism, only to find that class barriers, money troubles, and her own wild impulsiveness complicate her rise.
This Misery of Boots
H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
A childhood view of the street through a cellar grating reveals a world where most people walk in cheap, ill-fitting footwear that pinches, leaks, and distorts their feet.
Two young lumbermen
Edward Stratemeyer
Two industrious young men pursue their fortunes through the rugged timberlands of America, transitioning from the fading forests of Maine to the booming, untapped wilderness of Oregon.
Upper Canada Sketches
Thomas Conant
A record of frontier endurance gives way to an affection for the clearing, where hard-won soil becomes home.
Wilt Thou Torchy
Sewell Ford
The fast-talking, irrepressible private secretary to a New York business tycoon finds himself unexpectedly caught up in a high-seas adventure. This breezy, lighthearted tale follows a young man navigating the complex social circles of his boss, his own burgeoning romance, and the improbable discovery of pirate gold.
A Gray Eye or So. In Three Volumes—Volume I
Frank Frankfort Moore
Under the rugged cliffs of western Ireland, where ancient legends echo through the fog, a group of high-society guests gathers at Castle Innisfail to play at love, politics, and local color.
A Guide to Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah
Anonymous
A self-guided tour through a remote canyon landscape becomes a meditation on geology, deep time, and human responsibility.
A modern exodus: a novel
Violet Guttenberg
An anti-Semitic Prime Minister banishes all Jews from England, forcing a newlywed couple into an exile that upends their faith, tests their marriage, and reshapes a nation.
A Parody on Princess Ida
D. (Davison) Dalziel
An old comic opera finds new life when transformed into a brazen promotional vessel for a Midwestern railway line.
A Party in Mother Goose Land: A One Act Play for Primary Children
Effa E. (Effa Estelle) Preston
Beloved nursery rhyme icons and storybook figures step out of their classic tales to gather for an evening of music, updates, and celebration.
A Phantom Lover
Vernon Lee
A portrait painter’s commission at a secluded English manor house descends into a harrowing psychological nightmare of obsession, historical reenactment, and tragic delusion.
A Reply to Dr. Lightfoot's Essays, by the Author of "Supernatural religion"
Walter Richard Cassels
A meticulous, sharp-edged defense of freethought that turns ecclesiastical scholarship back upon itself with cool analytical rigor.
A Stone and a Spear
Raymond F. Jones
A military biochemist visits a colleague’s strange farm, only to uncover a clandestine temporal war fought with silent, crop-borne weapons to avert mankind’s total self-destruction.
A Truthful Woman in Southern California
Kate Sanborn
A candid, practical guide from the late nineteenth century, this work serves as an essential manual for those seeking health and sunshine in the burgeoning settlements of Southern California.
A Volunteer Poilu
Henry Beston
The brutal, quiet intimacy of the front line reveals the strange endurance of the human spirit in the face of industrial-scale destruction.
Adrien Leroy
Charles Garvice
A young man of means is ensnared by a web of debt and deceit woven by a trusted companion. His path to redemption lies in navigating a treacherous social landscape where appearances mask a crushing reality.
All But Lost: A Novel. Vol. 2 of 3
G. A. (George Alfred) Henty
A sweeping tale of Victorian deceit, mistaken identity, and ruined reputations, where a single calculated lie alters the lives of two upper-class families and dooms a desperate girl in the shadows of London.
Allegories of Life
Adams, J. S., Mrs.
The moral landscapes of these fables reveal that true growth requires embracing the hardship of the climb, for only at the summit can one find the clarity necessary to navigate life’s deepest valleys.
An Estimate of the Value and Influence of Works of Fiction in Modern Times
Thomas Hill Green
Literature reveals its deepest power when it forces the reader to abandon trivial amusements and confront the fundamental laws governing human thought and spirit.
Andy the Acrobat
Peter T. Harkness
Expelled for an acrobatic vault over a classroom desk, a restless village boy runs away from a harsh aunt to join a traveling circus and discovers his true calling under the big top.
Another Earth
David Evans
A high-pressure aerospace test triggers an unexpected linguistic anomaly in an astronaut's mind.
Because of conscience
Amy Ella Blanchard
Persecuted Huguenot refugees flee across continents, risking capture and wilderness dangers to claim their faith, preserve their family integrity, and secure forbidden love.
Billy Bunny and Uncle Bull Frog
David Cory
Whimsical woodland adventures, unpredictable mechanical contraptions, and gentle humor turn an eccentric animal town into an endlessly surprising playground.
Black Nick, the hermit of the hills
Frederick Whittaker
A ghost haunts the Revolutionary woods, driving British invaders to madness while two former friends settle an old, deadly score.
Boy Labour and Apprenticeship
Reginald A. (Reginald Arthur) Bray
Industrial Britain routinely transforms educated schoolboys into discarded adult labor by funneling them into dead-end juvenile jobs that offer immediate pocket money but zero long-term skills.
Busy Brownies
E. Veale
When misfortune strikes, strange guests arrive, or helpless creatures suffer, a band of tiny, tireless caretakers slips out under the moonlight to set the world right through sheer hard work, clever mischief, and boundless goodwill.
Cad Metti, The Female Detective Strategist
Old Sleuth
Underneath the brassy flash of dime-novel thrillers lies an unexpectedly slick game of shadows, disguises, and deadly counter-traps.
Caste
William Alexander Fraser
The stability of the British Raj in India is precariously balanced against the hidden machinations of local rulers and the fanatical devotion of ancient, ritual-bound sects. This historical fiction weaves a tale of duty, betrayal, and a doomed romance that plays out against the backdrop of an empire on the brink of…
Castle Nowhere
Constance Fenimore Woolson
A world of dense pine, blinding fogs, and forgotten islands frames these stories of isolated souls fighting against their own pride and the wilderness.
Change Signals: A Story of the New Football
Ralph Henry Barbour
A newly arrived Maine country boy navigates the social dynamics and rigorous athletic rivalries of Yardley Hall while possessing an unheralded talent for football kicking.
Cherry & Violet: A Tale of the Great Plague
Anne Manning
Life on London Bridge is measured by the rising of the tide and the steady rhythm of trade, until political upheaval and a sudden, terrible pestilence tear a young woman’s ordinary world apart.
Children of the Arctic
Josephine Diebitsch Peary
A child sails into the far north, where floating ice castles turn upside down and frozen months melt into a world of sled dogs, snow huts, and endless daylight.
Christopher Columbus and the New World of His Discovery
Filson Young
A soul driven by immense visionary pride sails into uncharted oceans, only to watch his triumph collapse into mutiny, squalor, and the destruction of the world he claimed.
Dew Drops, Vol. 37, No. 10, March 8, 1914
Various
Quiet acts of daily obedience, simple kindness, and patient duty transform the small worlds of children.
Edina: A Novel
Wood, Henry, Mrs.
A hidden tragedy in a bleak Cornish mining village casts a lifelong shadow over a young doctor, testing the quiet endurance of the woman who loves his family.
Elbow-Room: A Novel Without a Plot
Charles Heber Clark
This collection of sketches captures the absurd, low-stakes friction of small-town life, where absent-minded inventors and stubborn neighbors collide with hilarious, innocent persistence. It serves as a refreshing reminder that the happiest man is often the one who knows how to laugh at the nonsense of existence.
Electro-episoded in A.D. 2025
E. D. Skinner
A alcohol-fueled dream of A.D. 2025 collapses into the cold, domestic reality of a Prohibition-era bedroom.
Elsie at Viamede
Martha Finley
A peaceful plantation setting gives way to detailed historical lectures, family affection, and domestic moral lessons as a devout Southern family travels through coastal Mississippi and Louisiana.
Ernesto Garcia Cabral: A Mexican Cartoonist
G. R. G. (George Robert Graham) Conway
Caricature reveals the heart of a culture, translating political volatility and daily urban struggles into a universal visual language.
Evered
Ben Ames Williams
A man’s jealous fury turns inward when the violent tragedy he invited reveals how little he understood his quiet, devoted wife.