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American Literature — page 100
4,848 public-domain american literature books, summarised. Page 100 of 101.
Black Eyes and the Daily Grind
Stephen Marlowe
The hunter discovers a creature that refuses to be hunted, and in doing so, he accidentally unplugs the engine of modern civilization. This story follows the quiet, invasive transformation of a bustling metropolis into a graveyard of ambition.
Her country
Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews
A young woman’s ambition for fame and wealth collides with the sudden, overwhelming call of national duty during the height of the Great War.
John Lothrop Motley. a memoir
Oliver Wendell Holmes
A life of profound intellectual labor, this portrait traces the path of a distinguished American historian and diplomat as he transforms from a brilliant youth into a man of global letters and public service.
Pennsylvania Pilgrim, and other poems: Part 6 From Volume I of The Works of John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier
This collection gathers the contemplative work of a nineteenth-century American poet, centering on a long, meditative narrative about a seventeenth-century German immigrant and his utopian vision for a new, peaceful society. It is an exploration of faith, conscience, and the persistence of the human spirit.
The breach of trust
Madeline Leslie
The divide between empty religious posturing and the quiet, steady practice of faith is tested when a guardian’s greed destroys the inheritance of the two orphans in his care.
The courting of Lady Jane
Josephine Daskam Bacon
When an aging colonel mistakes quiet admiration for romantic devotion, a quiet suburban summer spirals into a delicate comedy of misdirected hearts.
Elkswatawa
James Strange French
An ambitious attempt to reimagine the frontier tensions of 1811, this narrative weaves together historical figures and fictional adventurers against the backdrop of an impending, inevitable war.
The Cold Snap: 1898
Edward Bellamy
The crushing grip of a sudden, unnatural deep freeze tests the limits of human endurance and the fragility of modern life. A family trapped by an unprecedented arctic event confronts the terrifying indifference of nature.
The scientific pioneer
Nelson S. Bond
An unpretentious rural farmer discovers he possesses a preternatural ability to solve the most complex mysteries of the universe using nothing but simple, grounded logic. This talent propels him into the heart of high-society academia, where he must navigate the rigid, ego-driven world of science and the…
Personal Poems II: Part 2 from Volume IV of The Works of John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier
This collection of commemorative verse serves as a quiet, reflective portrait of nineteenth-century American idealism and the enduring bonds of friendship.
"Run To Seed": 1891
Thomas Nelson Page
The story of a young man from a fallen Southern family, this narrative explores the weight of inheritance, the cruelty of social judgment, and the quiet dignity of a life lived for others.
A devil of a fellow, and The yellow cat
Wilbur Daniel Steele
The sea and the psyche collide in these two haunting tales, where the boundaries between reality, superstition, and madness blur under the weight of isolation.
Frank Merriwell's Support
Burt L. Standish
The diamond is a battleground where character, not just talent, decides the victor. Frank Merriwell’s resilience in the face of crooked gamblers and aggressive ruffians defines the spirit of this legendary series.
The Bridal of Pennacook: Part 2 From Volume I of The Works of John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier
A tragic legend of two indigenous nations unfolds as a story-within-a-story, weaving the wild, untamed beauty of the Merrimac River valley with the bitter, unyielding pride of a broken marriage.
The Celebrity, Volume 02
Winston Churchill
A celebrated author assumes a false identity to test his own magnetism, only to find that his charade creates as much confusion for himself as it does for the high-society guests he intends to manipulate.
Tumbling river range
W. C. (Wilbur C.) Tuttle
A pair of drifting cowboys finds themselves entangled in a web of range-land deception, navigating broken promises and a mystery surrounding a missing sheriff.
A Modern Chronicle
Winston Churchill
HOOK A young woman discovers that the romantic promises of her marriage are merely a prelude to a hollow, transactional existence in the glittering, superficial world of early 20th-century American high society.
Potts's Painless Cure: 1898
Edward Bellamy
A heartless college experiment in romantic disenchantment backfires spectacularly when a young man tries to save his sweetheart from a broken heart.
Red Head and Whistle Breeches
Ellis Parker Butler
The story follows a man named Mike Murphy, who travels to the state capital to plead for his son’s pardon. He is shocked to discover that the Governor is a childhood rival from his own school days.
Susan and Edward
Anonymous
Two well-behaved children gain a sense of wonder and worldly knowledge during a morning excursion through the bustling, vibrant heart of nineteenth-century New York City.
Eli: First published in the "Century Magazine"
Heman White Chaplin
An honest Cape Cod fisherman single-handedly holds out against a hostile jury to save an innocent neighbor from prison.
Get Next!
George V. (George Vere) Hobart
Getting swept up in the frenetic, slang-heavy rhythms of early twentieth-century New York is a dizzying experience. This collection of humorous sketches offers a satirical look at a city obsessed with status, fads, and the relentless pursuit of the next big thing.
Mountain Pictures, and other poems: Part 2 From Volume II of The Works of John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier
These meditative poems traverse the rugged peaks and quiet valleys of New England, finding in the changing seasons a bridge between the physical beauty of the earth and the spiritual promise of eternity.
Punchinello, Volume 2, No. 39, December 24, 1870
Various
This artifact captures the chaotic, irreverent spirit of late 19th-century American satire, offering a vibrant time capsule of 1870s political, social, and cultural life. It functions as a mirror to a bygone era of print media, where high-minded cultural criticism and broad, slapstick humor coexisted in a single,…
Sight to the Blind
Lucy S. Furman
A bitter, blind woman living in the isolated Kentucky mountains finds her life transformed when she encounters settlement workers who offer not charity, but the life-changing gift of sight and the promise of modern knowledge.
The Flyers
George Barr McCutcheon
Two couples attempt to elope on a stormy spring night, only to find their paths tangled in a comedy of mistaken identities, secret engines, and a very inconveniently washed-out bridge.
The Poetical Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes
Oliver Wendell Holmes
HOOK A seasoned observer of the nineteenth-century American landscape reflects on the passing of his peers and the enduring power of memory, poetry, and civic duty.
The Celebrity, Volume 04
Winston Churchill
A case of mistaken identity spirals into an elaborate, sun-drenched game of cat-and-mouse, revealing how easily a society obsessed with fame can be fooled by a charming impostor.
At Pinney's Ranch: 1898
Edward Bellamy
A man wrongly accused of murder flees into the wilderness, only to discover years later that his wife, believing him dead, is about to remarry to save their children from poverty.
The Deserter
Richard Harding Davis
This gripping, spare portrait of a soldier at his breaking point captures the immense moral and physical toll of the Great War, exploring the thin line between duty and desperation.
The Long Run: 1916
Edith Wharton
A discreet refusal of a grand passion leaves two upper-class lovers trapped in the dull, conventional life they were once desperate to escape.
Box-garden
Allen Kim Lang
A chance encounter in a neighborhood bar spirals into a paranoid meditation on the hidden, sinister mechanisms of mass-media advertising. The story examines the thin line between psychological manipulation and science fiction.
Comrades
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps
Memorial Day is a lonely vigil for those left behind, but one woman discovers that the power of devotion can sustain a man even as his world fades away.
On the Church Steps
Sarah C. Hallowell
A misunderstanding born of jealousy and silence drives two lovers apart, leading them on a frantic, cross-country search for clarity and reconciliation.
Père Antoine's Date-Palm
Thomas Bailey Aldrich
A solitary date-palm towers over a New Orleans street, standing as a living monument to a love that defied the boundaries of the cloth and the finality of the grave. This quiet legend traces the life of a priest whose earthly devotion becomes anchored in a tree.
The Black Feather: From "Mackinac And Lake Stories", 1899
Mary Hartwell Catherwood
HOOK A boastful voyageur returns from the wilderness to find his wife’s heart shut against him, sparking a jealous confrontation that echoes through the bustling, hard-bitten fur-trading outpost of Mackinac Island.
The Deacon of Dobbinsville: A Story Based on Actual Happenings
John Arch Morrison
A sincere, unvarnished portrait of religious revival in the Ozarks, this story charts the collision between entrenched institutional pride and the disruptive, transformative power of personal faith. It serves as both a period piece and a testament to the author’s conviction regarding the nature of spiritual conversion.
Collected writings of Clarence Edwin Flynn, first series
Clarence Edwin Flynn
These collected writings offer a window into the earnest, tradition-steeped heart of an early twentieth-century American clergyman. They present a thoughtful, moralizing perspective on faith, social duty, and the challenges of a rapidly changing modern world.
Injuneered
W. C. (Wilbur C.) Tuttle
HOOK When a wealthy, eccentric traveler arrives in the dusty town of Piperock with a circus in tow, the ensuing chaos proves that some things—and some animals—are simply too wild to be tamed.
The Fly Leaf, No. 1, Vol. 1, December 1895: A Pamphlet Periodical of the New—the New Man, New Woman, New Ideas, Whimsies and Things
Various
A spirited manifesto for the burgeoning American writer, this inaugural issue champions a modern, irreverent literary voice against the stifling dominance of established, traditionalist periodicals.
The Man Who Wins
Robert Herrick
The life of a man is often measured by what he conquers, but this story reveals the hollow price of a victory built upon the calculated suppression of one’s own heart.
Mademoiselle Olympe Zabriski
Thomas Bailey Aldrich
A wealthy socialite finds his carefully cultivated life upended by a mysterious, silent infatuation that defies his own aristocratic expectations. This tale of obsession and misunderstanding serves as a witty, poignant examination of how easily a rigid identity can be fractured by the allure of the unknown.
Elsket: 1891
Thomas Nelson Page
A fisherman’s solitary journey into the Norwegian wilderness leads to a haunting encounter with a mountain patriarch and his daughter, whose lives have been fractured by a stranger’s broken promise.
Mrs. Christy's Bridge Party
Sara Ware Bassett
A group of status-obsessed socialites in early 20th-century New York find their snobbery undone by the irresistible pull of a lavish party and the convenience of a well-played game.
Quite So
Thomas Bailey Aldrich
A quiet schoolmaster from Maine, burdened by a broken heart, finds an unlikely home among soldiers in the American Civil War. His mysterious, stoic presence masks a deep, self-sacrificing devotion that ultimately defines his end.
A Difficult Problem: 1900
Anna Katharine Green
A calculated act of revenge meets an seemingly impossible cause of death, unraveling a domestic tragedy through psychological pressure and mechanical ingenuity.
Martha By-the-Day
Julie M. Lippmann
A chance encounter in a New York storm binds a struggling governess to a formidable, motherly cleaning woman. Together, they navigate the rigid social divides of a city where survival is a daily battle.
Soldier Songs and Love Songs
A. H. (Alexander Hamilton) Laidlaw
The soldier’s blade and the maiden’s glance collide in this rhythmic collection of verse, where the thunder of the battlefield finds its necessary echo in the quiet longing of the heart.