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American Literature — page 37
3,609 public-domain american literature books, summarised. Page 37 of 76.
The Uncle of an Angel: 1891
Thomas A. (Thomas Allibone) Janvier
A bachelor of settled habits finds his quiet life upended when he takes charge of a manipulative young ward who knows how to bend every social situation to her advantage.
Bobbie, General Manager: A Novel
Olive Higgins Prouty
When sixteen-year-old Lucy "Bobbie" Vars takes the reins of her New England household, managing a sprawling family proves far more chaotic—and transformative—than anything she ever anticipated.
Susanna and Sue
Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin
A heart-weary mother flees an unhappy marriage to seek refuge among the Shakers, only to discover that healing her broken household requires courageously bringing love back into the world she left behind.
The Maid of Maiden Lane
Amelia E. Barr
A courtship disrupted by secret longings and misunderstandings unfolds against the backdrop of 1790s New York, where post-revolutionary pride and lingering European ties clash.
The Man in Gray: A Romance of North and South
Dixon, Thomas, Jr.
A family tears itself apart over a cause built on human bondage, while a nation marches toward the bloody anvil of war.
The moonshiners at Hoho-hebee Falls: 1895
Charles Egbert Craddock
A runaway mountain boy, a hidden still behind a waterfall, and a hypocritical uncle seeking a free clerk converge in the high Smoky Mountain ridges.
The Prophetic Pictures (From "Twice Told Tales")
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Before a young colonial couple weds, a brilliant European painter captures a terrifying future in their portraits—a dark glimpse of human passion that threatens to fulfill its own dark prophecy.
The Reclaimers
Margaret Hill McCarter
Jerry Swaim leaves her comfortable Philadelphia home for a windswept Kansas homestead, determined to turn a dusty claim into a thriving estate.
The Wheel of Life
Ellen Anderson Gholson Glasgow
A sensitive woman's ideal of love fractures against the reality of a selfish world, driving her through heartbreak toward an quiet, enduring self-discovery.
The Wit and Humor of America, Volume VIII (of X)
Unknown
A vibrant mosaic of early twentieth-century American humor, gathering satirical verse, parlor comedies, tall tales, and political roasts into a single slice of turn-of-the-century popular culture.
Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance
Frances Cavanah
A long-legged boy sits in a frontier cabin, holding a borrowed book close to the hearth fire while the night rain leaks through the log walls.
Linda Condon
Joseph Hergesheimer
A aloof girl raised in transient luxury protects her cool, untouched self, only to discover her spirit transformed into immortal art.
Old Judge Priest
Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury) Cobb
A quiet Southern town relies on its oldest judge to untangle its secrets, preserve its memories, and quietly steer its people toward mercy.
Richard Vandermarck: A Novel
Miriam Coles Harris
A young orphan girl, raised without love in her rich uncle’s loveless home, steps blindly into a glittering world of social rivalry, tragic misplaced passion, and painful self-discovery.
Tales of the Chesapeake
George Alfred Townsend
Sunlit tidewaters, coastal pine groves, and quiet Maryland towns frame a world where small lives collide with sweeping shifts of regional history.
The Coast of Chance
Esther Chamberlain
An exquisite sapphire ring vanished into San Francisco’s shadows, binding a willful heiress, her compromised fiancé, and a charming stranger in a web of theft and deception.
The Emigrant Trail
Geraldine Bonner
A journey across early America strips away the delicate fictions of civilized life, demanding that every traveler decide what kind of human being they intend to be when the safety of home vanishes.
The Hand-Made Gentleman: A Tale of the Battles of Peace
Irving Bacheller
An ambitious youth navigates the boom of industrial America, discovering that true nobility is crafted through quiet integrity rather than corporate conquest.
The Lookout Man
B. M. Bower
Fleeing a hit-and-run charge in Los Angeles, a spoiled young man hides out as a Sierra forest lookout, finding redemption and unexpected love in the high country.
The Machine
Upton Sinclair
A corrupt political boss, a ruthless transit tycoon, and an idealist caught in their net clash over a stolen city franchise and the human cost of unbridled greed.
Marjorie Dean, High School Sophomore
Josephine Chase
A warm, bright sophomore year in a turn-of-the-century small town turns into a quiet test of character when an old friend's silent jealousy opens the door to a sharper, legacy-born rivalry.
My Uncle Florimond
Henry Harland
A neglected orphan clings to a dream of a noble life in France, only to discover that the truest worth is found in the humble, steadfast kindness of those he initially overlooks.
The Contrast
Royall Tyler
A young nation finds its voice on the stage by setting plain home-spun virtue against the borrowed hypocrisy of European manners.
The Siege of the Seven Suitors
Meredith Nicholson
An ambitious young chimney consultant finds himself drawn into a labyrinthine plot of architectural secrets, family eccentricities, and the high-stakes romantic vetting of a young woman’s many suitors.
Caleb Wright: A Story of the West
John Habberton
A young couple moves from the city to a rough-hewn western town to inherit a business, only to find their greatest asset is the eccentric, devoted clerk who runs it. This is a story of domestic ingenuity, small-town commerce, and the unexpected bonds that bridge the gap between social classes.
Four Meetings
Henry James
A quiet, unassuming schoolmistress from New England discovers that her lifelong dream of visiting Europe comes at a devastating cost. This story examines the collision between romantic longing and the harsh, transactional reality of the world.
Left Half Harmon
Ralph Henry Barbour
A newcomer to a boarding school finds himself embroiled in a prank-gone-wrong that threatens to derail the football season. This brisk, atmospheric story captures the spirit of early twentieth-century student life with humor and genuine heart.
On the Iron at Big Cloud
Frank L. (Frank Lucius) Packard
HOOK This collection captures the grit, camaraderie, and sudden mortality of early twentieth-century railroading. It is a portrait of men whose lives are measured by coal, steam, and the relentless demands of the iron road.
Ruth Fielding in the Red Cross
Alice B. Emerson
A resourceful young woman leaves her quiet life behind to navigate the dangers and moral complexities of nursing behind the front lines of the Great War.
The "Canary" murder case
S. S. Van Dine
A brilliant investigator navigates a web of high-society deceit to solve the murder of a celebrated night-club singer, ultimately challenging the rigid constraints of the law.
The Wayfarers
Mary Stewart Cutting
A ferry-boat at dusk serves as the threshold for a fragile domestic world, where the exhaustion of the professional man meets the quiet, growing isolation of the wife he leaves behind.
American Scenery, Vol. 1 (of 2)
Nathaniel Parker Willis
This collection captures the untamed majesty of the American wilderness, inviting readers to experience the sublime contrasts between a young nation’s vast, unbridled landscapes and the encroaching marks of its rapid expansion.
Continental Monthly, Vol. III, No IV, April 1863: Devoted to Literature and National Policy
Various
This mid-Civil War periodical captures the urgent pulse of a fractured nation, blending political advocacy, literary criticism, and serialized fiction into a singular, earnest portrait of the American nineteenth-century mind.
Heart of the Blue Ridge
Waldron Baily
Driven by love for a woman left behind, a mountain man ventures into the world to seek his fortune, only to find himself embroiled in a desperate, high-stakes battle against a dangerous criminal.
Learning and Other Essays
John Jay Chapman
A collection of contemplative, sharp-witted prose, these pieces explore the intersection of individual conscience and the soul of a nation. They offer a restless, searching inquiry into what it means to be educated, principled, and human.
Mr. Dooley: In the Hearts of His Countrymen
Finley Peter Dunne
This collection of sketches serves as a sharp-eyed window into the American psyche at the turn of the 20th century, capturing the skepticism of a man who watches the world from his neighborhood bar. It offers a masterclass in using humor to deflate the pomposity of the powerful and the absurdity of the political…
Mr. Jack Hamlin's Mediation
Bret Harte
A collection of frontier tales, these stories explore the hidden tensions, sudden redemptions, and quiet, stubborn loyalties that define life on the fringes of the American West.
People You Know
George Ade
This collection of fables offers a sharp, satirical mirror to the social climbers, dreamers, and hustlers of early 20th-century America. It captures the frantic, often absurd scramble for status and success in a rapidly changing urban landscape.
Show Boat
Edna Ferber
A child of the Mississippi rivers journeys from the floating theater of her youth to the urban stage of adulthood, navigating the shifting currents of love, loss, and the ever-changing American landscape.
The Fortune Hunter
Louis Joseph Vance
The fortune-hunting scheme seems foolproof on paper, but a young man soon discovers that playing a role in a small town requires a sincerity he never intended to possess.
The Little Colonel's House Party
Annie F. (Annie Fellows) Johnston
A summer of laughter and transformation proves that even the most ordinary lives are capable of turning into fairy tales when anchored by friendship and kindness.
The Mystery of Mary
Grace Livingston Hill
A young woman fleeing a dangerous conspiracy finds salvation through the unexpected chivalry of a stranger. Their quiet, burgeoning trust culminates in a daring escape from the shadows of a dark past.
The riddle of the rocks: 1895
Charles Egbert Craddock
A solitary mountaineer discovers divine meaning in natural rock formations, igniting a spiritual fervor that clashes with the petty rivalries of his neighbors. This quiet drama unfolds against the indifferent, expansive beauty of the Great Smoky Mountains.
The Tin Soldier
Temple Bailey
The Great War demands everything from those left behind, forcing them to shed their illusions of ease and confront the reality of sacrifice. In this period drama, the strength of the human spirit is measured not by wealth or comfort, but by the courage to let go of loved ones for the sake of a greater cause.
Whispering Walls
Mildred A. (Mildred Augustine) Wirt
A young reporter’s search for a missing banker draws her into a web of psychological manipulation and dark superstition, all while a powerful storm gathers strength on the horizon.
A Grandmother's Recollections
Ella Rodman Church
A spirited, headstrong girl navigates the perils of childhood mischief, romantic delusions, and family expectations while coming of age in the early 19th century.
A Tramp Abroad
Mark Twain
This account of a walking tour through Europe navigates the tension between the sublime beauty of the Old World and the absurd, sometimes violent, traditions of its inhabitants. It remains a definitive study in how a traveler’s expectations collide with the stubborn reality of foreign customs.
A Tramp Abroad
Mark Twain
A restless traveler wanders through the heart of Europe, documenting the absurdities of foreign customs, the rigors of pedestrianism, and the unpredictable comedy of his own incompetence.