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American Literature — page 60
4,848 public-domain american literature books, summarised. Page 60 of 101.
The American Spirit in the Writings of Americans of Foreign Birth
Unknown
The American journey is an intimate, often difficult process of self-creation, defined by the tension between the traditions of a former home and the evolving, often elusive spirit of a new land.
The boys of Columbia High on the gridiron
Graham B. Forbes
A young athlete fights to secure his place on the school team while navigating the dangerous schemes of jealous rivals and external threats. It is a classic tale of high school loyalty and competitive spirit.
The Iris: An Illuminated Souvenir for MDCCCLII
Unknown
HOOK This collection gathers mid-nineteenth-century tales and traditions of the American frontier, framed by ornate illustrations and a persistent, melancholy focus on the vanished lives of indigenous peoples.
The Princess Sonia
Julia Magruder
The secret life of an elusive Russian aristocrat unravels in Paris, revealing the devastating weight of a broken marriage and the enduring, gravitational pull of a love that refuses to die.
The Shadow
Mary White Ovington
A young woman discovers her racial identity is not what she believed, forcing a journey of self-reckoning that challenges the social boundaries of the American South and North. This story traces the quiet, agonizing process of unmaking a life built on a foundation of silence.
Tom Temple's Career
Alger, Horatio, Jr.
A spirited teenager discovers that true wealth lies in resilience, integrity, and the unexpected kindness of strangers after his inheritance vanishes overnight.
Faith Gartney's Girlhood
A. D. T. (Adeline Dutton Train) Whitney
The search for purpose often begins with the quiet realization that one’s current life is too small to hold one’s aspirations. Faith Gartney’s journey from a constrained city existence to a life of meaning reflects this timeless tension.
From the Easy Chair, Volume 3
George William Curtis
These essays offer a refined, observant window into the late nineteenth-century American conscience, capturing a world in transition through the eyes of a thoughtful, wry, and deeply humane narrator.
Old-Dad
Eleanor Hallowell Abbott
The relationship between an estranged father and his daughter is tested when a sudden scandal forces them together. They find that navigating life’s unexpected fractures requires more humor and honesty than they ever imagined.
The Corner House Girls Growing Up: What Happened First, What Came Next. And How It Ended
Grace Brooks Hill
The Corner House girls return to navigate the complexities of adolescence, learning that growing up involves as many misadventures as it does milestones.
The Mystery of the Sycamore
Carolyn Wells
A house divided by a state line holds a deadly secret, forcing a young woman into a desperate bargain to save her father from a ruinous past.
The Social Secretary
David Graham Phillips
HOOK A young woman navigates the treacherous social currents of Washington, D.C., managing a wealthy political family's rise to power while guarding her own heart against the cynical demands of high society.
The Trumpeter Swan
Temple Bailey
A young woman’s romantic illusions shatter against the cold reality of a wealthy suitor’s indifference, forcing her to confront the true nature of devotion and the depth of her own strength.
Five Little Peppers Midway
Margaret Sidney
The Pepper family grows, learns, and navigates the complicated dynamics of a larger world, finding that kindness and integrity are the truest measures of wealth.
Risen from the Ranks
Alger, Horatio, Jr.
The trajectory of a young man’s life is defined not by chance, but by the steady application of industry, thrift, and integrity. Through the quiet persistence of a determined boy, the path to personal success is revealed as an achievable journey for all.
Signing the Contract, and What It Cost
Martha Finley
This is a story of profound displacement, where the sudden loss of a family legacy forces a young woman into the harsh realities of urban labor, testing her character through struggle and eventual restoration. It chronicles the journey of a girl—raised in comfort as Floy Kemper—who discovers upon the death of her…
The Knickerbocker, Vol. 22, No. 3, September 1843
Various
This issue of a prominent mid-nineteenth-century literary journal captures the vibrant, eclectic intellectual spirit of its time through a mosaic of fiction, travelogues, and critical discourse. It functions as a cultural time capsule, offering both the polished prose of its era and a candid glimpse into the…
The Peace of Roaring River
George Van Schaick
A lonely man in the Canadian wilderness and a desperate woman in New York become unwitting pawns in a cruel deception, leading to a perilous journey through the frozen North.
The phantom hunter
Edward Sylvester Ellis
After a young man is wrongfully hanged for a murder he did not commit, he returns to the frontier settlement in disguise to unmask the true culprit and save his reputation.
The Seven Darlings
Gouverneur Morris
Facing sudden poverty, seven orphaned siblings turn their Adirondack estate into a high-end inn, discovering that managing wealthy guests is as challenging as navigating their own burgeoning romances.
Traits of American Humour, Vol. 1 of 3
Unknown
This collection gathers the spirited, rowdy, and often surreal accounts that defined the early American frontier experience, capturing the voices of a nation still finding its footing. It offers a mosaic of regional dialects, tall tales, and sharp-witted observations that celebrate the sheer audacity of life in the…
A good woman
Louis Bromfield
A mother’s suffocating devotion clashes with her son’s desperate longing for autonomy in this somber study of domestic tyranny. The story traces the destructive legacy of a woman who believes her possessiveness is piety.
Adrift in the City
Alger, Horatio, Jr.
A boy cast out by a cruel stepfather must navigate the dangers of the city and uncover a dark conspiracy to reclaim his rightful inheritance.
David Dunne: A Romance of the Middle West
Belle Kanaris Maniates
A boy from the wrong side of the tracks finds his worth in the quiet virtues of the heart, eventually rising to become a governor who must weigh personal loyalty against the cold demands of the law.
Flowers and fruit from the writings of Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Discover a contemplative collection of wisdom, where the everyday struggles of life find balance through faith, domestic devotion, and the quiet observation of the human heart. This anthology serves as a meditative companion for those who seek beauty in the small, often overlooked details of existence.
Helen in the Editor's Chair
Ruthe S. Wheeler
When her father falls ill and must seek a warmer climate, a teenage girl and her brother seize the reins of their local newspaper to keep the family business—and their future—afloat.
Strong and Steady
Alger, Horatio, Jr.
An orphaned teenager loses his fortune to bad investments and must navigate a world of dishonest adults and rivals to reclaim his future.
The Lonesome Trail
John G. Neihardt
A lonesome wind blows through these stories, where the vast, indifferent beauty of the American plains serves as a stage for human desperation, fleeting dreams, and the quiet tragedy of lives lived on the margins.
The Second Violin
Grace S. (Grace Smith) Richmond
When a family’s domestic life is disrupted by illness, they discover that their greatest strength lies not in their individual talents, but in the shelter and kindness they offer to those in need.
What The Left Hand Was Doing
Randall Garrett
The struggle for the future is not fought with missiles, but through the hidden, volatile power of the human mind. An operative must rescue a captive scientist from the heart of a rival empire.
When Gretel Was Fifteen
Nina Rhoades
When a teenager with a German name finds herself trapped in a world turned hostile by the Great War, she must navigate suspicion, kidnapping, and the painful test of her own divided loyalties.
All-Wool Morrison: Time -- Today, Place -- the United States, Period of Action -- Twenty-four Hours
Holman Day
The mayor of a capital city has exactly twenty-four hours to prevent a political powder keg from leveling his town. In a high-stakes race against corruption, he must navigate mobs, militia, and the schemes of the elite.
Clinton
Walter Aimwell
This narrative follows a young boy’s journey toward maturity in mid-19th-century New England, contrasting his disciplined life with the downward spiral of a wayward peer. It serves as a gentle, earnest guide for developing character, industry, and the moral fortitude to resist temptation.
Find the Woman
Arthur Somers Roche
A young woman arrives in New York City with big dreams, only to find herself entangled in a web of murder, high-stakes card games, and social scandal. Her path to success becomes a race to clear her name.
In Wild Rose Time
Amanda M. Douglas
HOOK Two neglected children living in a harsh city slum find an unexpected, transcendent connection to the world of beauty and faith, setting their brief lives on a journey toward something far greater than their circumstances.
John Greenleaf Whittier: A sketch of his life, with selected poems
John Greenleaf Whittier
The story of an American poet who balanced the quiet rhythms of a New England farm with the clamor of the movement to abolish slavery. This collection offers a portrait of a man whose conscience and verses were forged in the heat of a nation’s deepest moral divide.
Signal in the Dark
Mildred A. (Mildred Augustine) Wirt
A resourceful young reporter hunts for the truth behind a suspicious invention and a series of waterfront crimes. She risks her safety to expose the corrupt forces threatening her father’s newspaper and the industrial peace of her city.
The Chronic Loafer
Nelson Lloyd
The front porch of a country store serves as the stage for a group of men whose lives are measured by the slow passing of seasons and the infinite variety of local gossip. This collection of stories captures the rhythmic, unhurried cadence of a rural Pennsylvania valley, where a simple bench becomes the center of a…
The Mystery of Witch-Face Mountain, and Other Stories
Charles Egbert Craddock
A haunting, atmospheric portrait of life in the Cumberland Mountains, these tales capture the intersection of jagged landscapes and the complex, often isolated hearts of those who dwell among them.
The Nine-Tenths
James Oppenheim
A wealthy printer’s life is shattered by a catastrophic factory fire, leading him to abandon his business to fight for the rights of the city’s most vulnerable laborers. This is a story of personal transformation and the high cost of social justice.
When I was your age
Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards
A warm, candid memoir of a vibrant 19th-century childhood, this collection of recollections offers an intimate window into a household defined by intellect, public service, and boundless imagination. It serves as a gentle bridge between the past and the present, capturing the universal spirit of growing up.
Discovery at Aspen
Sophie (Sophie Z. Liebowitz) Ruskay
A teenage girl spends a pivotal summer surrounded by music, ghost towns, and newfound independence in the Colorado Rockies.
The Abandoned Room
Wadsworth Camp
The mystery of a death in a locked room draws the living into a web of suspicion, forcing them to confront the chilling possibility that some secrets cannot stay buried.
The Bee's Bayonet (a Little Honey and a Little Sting): Camouflage in Word Painting
Edwin Alfred Watrous
An earnest, eccentric artifact of First World War home-front fervor, this 1918 collection mixes fierce anti-German patriotism with light verse, domestic sketches, and biblical parodies.
The Cavaliers of Virginia, vol. 2 of 2
William Alexander Caruthers
The clash between colonial liberty and royal authority explodes across seventeenth-century Virginia, where a young leader must choose between his heart's devotion and his country's freedom.
The Girl From His Town
Marie Van Vorst
A young American heir with millions to spend crosses the Atlantic only to discover that the purest thing money can buy is a quiet life back home with the girl who knew him before he was rich.
The ways of the hour
James Fenimore Cooper
A small-town murder trial exposes a judicial system compromised by public hysteria, greedy lawyers, and a defendant whose calm perfection masks a unsettling truth.
Ann Arbor Tales
Karl Edwin Harriman
Small-town Midwestern university life reveals its quiet heart: a place of sharp academic rivalries, fleeting romantic devotions, and the unsettling realization of what higher education costs the human soul.