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American Literature — page 63

4,848 public-domain american literature books, summarised. Page 63 of 101.

Cover of The Knickerbocker, Vol. 22, No. 1, July 1843

The Knickerbocker, Vol. 22, No. 1, July 1843

Various

This issue of a prominent nineteenth-century literary magazine captures the intellectual pulse of 1843, blending serialized fiction, poetry, and social commentary into a vibrant portrait of the American Victorian sensibility.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Preliminaries, and Other Stories

The Preliminaries, and Other Stories

Cornelia A. P. (Cornelia Atwood Pratt) Comer

Choosing between personal freedom and the enduring obligations of family is a delicate, often painful business. These stories explore the weight of inheritance, the cost of individual desire, and the quiet, heavy necessity of staying true to one's own.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Deficient Saints: A Tale of Maine

Deficient Saints: A Tale of Maine

Marshall Saunders

In the quiet, rigid stone houses of a Maine town, long-held secrets and the rigid piety of the "elect" collide with the messy, redemptive power of human connection.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Elsie Yachting with the Raymonds

Elsie Yachting with the Raymonds

Martha Finley

A chronicle of family unity and patriotic instruction, this volume follows a devoted father as he guides his children through the historical landmarks and moral lessons that define their American identity.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of His Dog

His Dog

Albert Payson Terhune

The bond between a solitary, struggling farmer and the high-bred dog who rescues him from his own failings defines this story of loyalty and hard-won redemption.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Hope Hathaway: A Story of Western Ranch Life

Hope Hathaway: A Story of Western Ranch Life

Frances Parker

This tale of the Montana frontier captures the fading era of the open range, where the old guard of cattle ranchers clashes with the encroaching tide of civilization, sheep-herding, and homesteading.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Ormond

Ormond

Charles Brockden Brown

A resilient young woman navigates a world of deceit and moral complexity, forced to defend her autonomy against the erratic machinations of a brilliant, power-hungry man.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of Plain Mary Smith: A Romance of Red Saunders

Plain Mary Smith: A Romance of Red Saunders

Henry Wallace Phillips

A rambunctious, red-headed youth finds his footing in a foreign land, trading his restless upbringing for a life of adventure and the high-stakes task of reconciling two stubborn lovers.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Quintus Oakes: A Detective Story

Quintus Oakes: A Detective Story

Charles Ross Jackson

A detective arrives in a quiet town to untangle a series of violent, inexplicable assaults, only to find himself in a race against a murderer whose motive is as fractured as his mind.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Crisis

The Crisis

Winston Churchill

The fires of the American Civil War ignite within the intimate, divided lives of a St. Louis household. This sprawling historical drama captures the agony of a nation and a city tearing themselves apart.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Manager of the B. & A.: A Novel

The Manager of the B. & A.: A Novel

Vaughan Kester

The manager of a failing railroad must battle local political corruption, labor unrest, and the crushing weight of his own family history to save a town from ruin.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of The Monster Maker

The Monster Maker

Ray Bradbury

A photographer and a lawman find themselves stranded on a hostile asteroid, armed only with a camera and a pistol. They must outwit a telepathic pirate who weaponizes his victims' own fears against them.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Unseen Hand

The Unseen Hand

Elijah Kellogg

The life of an orphan is transformed by the quiet, persistent influence of a kind family and the belief that a divine hand shapes the course of every individual.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of With Force and Arms: A Tale of Love and Salem Witchcraft

With Force and Arms: A Tale of Love and Salem Witchcraft

Howard Roger Garis

HOOK This historical romance pits a courageous soldier against the fanatical paranoia of Salem’s witch trials and a shadowy rival for his beloved’s hand.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of With Mask and Mitt

With Mask and Mitt

Albertus T. (Albertus True) Dudley

The pursuit of excellence on the diamond and the classroom is rarely a straight line, but for a dedicated athlete, the path to leadership is paved with hard-won experience and quiet integrity.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of A Counterfeit Presentment

A Counterfeit Presentment

William Dean Howells

An artist finds his life upended when he discovers he bears an uncanny, haunting resemblance to the man who once broke a young woman’s heart.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of In the Quarter

In the Quarter

Robert W. (Robert William) Chambers

An expatriate artist struggles to reconcile his bohemian life in Paris with the crushing weight of inheritance, love, and a dangerous past. The city of light acts as both a sanctuary and a trap for a young man finding his footing in an unforgiving world.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Instead of the Thorn: A Novel

Instead of the Thorn: A Novel

Clara Louise Burnham

HOOK A sudden financial ruin forces a privileged young woman to trade her glittering city life for the quiet, rugged coast of Maine, where she must confront the truth about her father’s legacy and her own heart.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Little Button Rose

Little Button Rose

Louisa May Alcott

A small, irrepressible girl arrives at the home of her three elderly, distant cousins, only to discover a household stifled by ancient feuds and rigid habits. By simply being herself, she heals the hearts around her.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Mildred Keith

Mildred Keith

Martha Finley

HOOK This is a story of a young woman’s grace in the face of frontier hardship, where the true battlefields are the hearth and the heart.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Sister Dolorosa, and Posthumous Fame

Sister Dolorosa, and Posthumous Fame

James Lane Allen

A quiet, haunting meditation on the cost of devotion, this volume gathers two tales of souls caught between their earthly longings and the rigid, often silent, demands of sacrifice and memory.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Innocents Abroad

The Innocents Abroad

Mark Twain

The quintessential account of the American traveler abroad, this book chronicles a grand tour that remains as bitingly funny and irreverent today as it was in the nineteenth century.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of The Last Lady of Mulberry: A Story of Italian New York

The Last Lady of Mulberry: A Story of Italian New York

Henry Wilton Thomas

A young artist’s quest for fame collides with the tangled romantic machinations of a close-knit Italian immigrant community in turn-of-the-century New York.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Rising of the Tide: The Story of Sabinsport

The Rising of the Tide: The Story of Sabinsport

Ida M. (Ida Minerva) Tarbell

A small-town newspaper editor struggles to reconcile his local crusade for reform with the overwhelming, world-altering demands of a global war.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The step on the stair

The step on the stair

Anna Katharine Green

A chance encounter in New York leads a man into his namesake cousin’s world, only to find himself entangled in a web of family secrets, sudden death, and a missing inheritance.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of The Twin Mystery

The Twin Mystery

Nicholas (House name) Carter

A cunning master of disguise taunts a legendary detective, sparking a high-stakes chase through the gaslit streets of New York and Philadelphia.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of What's-His-Name

What's-His-Name

George Barr McCutcheon

The quiet, overlooked husband of a rising Broadway star fights to retain his dignity and his daughter as his wife’s fame pulls her into a world that no longer has room for him.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of Betty Leicester's Christmas

Betty Leicester's Christmas

Sarah Orne Jewett

A young girl finds that the secret to a lonely holiday is not in receiving gifts, but in the quiet, intentional work of making others feel at home.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Devil tales

Devil tales

Virginia Frazer Boyle

Bound together by dark conjure, restless spirits, and the heavy air of the plantation Quarters, these ten eerie tales chart the eternal, desperate battle between human souls and the devil's subtle, terrifying guile.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch

Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch

Alice Caldwell Hegan Rice

A resilient woman living in a ramshackle neighborhood proves that even in the deepest poverty, a cheerful spirit can transform a scrap-filled life into something song-worthy.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Sarah Dillard's Ride: A Story of the Carolinas in 1780

Sarah Dillard's Ride: A Story of the Carolinas in 1780

James Otis

Two young patriots race against time to warn their neighbors of a looming British surprise attack, risking everything to outwit a treacherous local spy and change the course of the Revolutionary War.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Annes

The Annes

Marion Ames Taggart

A profound struggle between personal desire and moral duty consumes a young woman caught in an impossible tangle of love and obligation.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Lion and the Mouse

The Lion and the Mouse

Charles Klein

This story explores the collision between unchecked corporate power and individual integrity, centered on a young woman who inadvertently finds herself dismantling the empire of the man who ruined her father.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The School Four

The School Four

Albertus T. (Albertus True) Dudley

The playing field is a crucible for character in this turn-of-the-century tale of schoolboy ambition, where athletic prowess and personal integrity are tested side by side.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of A Good Samaritan

A Good Samaritan

Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews

A young theological student sacrifices his own career prospects to shepherd an intoxicated athlete through the streets of New York, proving that genuine Christian charity belongs in the chaotic real world.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of A Silent Singer

A Silent Singer

Clara Morris

A collection of domestic and theatrical sketches, this late nineteenth-century volume reveals the quiet heartbreaks and sudden warmth tucked into ordinary American lives.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of Bowery Life

Bowery Life

Chuck Connors

Every street has its legend, but turn-of-the-century Chatham Square belongs entirely to Chuck Connors, a prize-fighting raconteur who transforms the rowdy, smoke-filled alleys of New York’s Bowery into a theatrical stage for high-spirited survival and street-corner philosophy.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Meadowlark Basin

Meadowlark Basin

B. M. Bower

A quiet valley hiding stolen gold becomes the battleground for a young cowboy fighting to save an abused orphan and protect his range.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of More "Short Sixes"

More "Short Sixes"

H. C. (Henry Cuyler) Bunner

A small-town scholar buying a home sight unseen finds himself hosting a displaced horse in his new kitchen.

American Literature8 min read
Cover of Nancy Brandon

Nancy Brandon

Lilian Garis

A teenaged girl buys a sleepy village store for a summer lark, only to find herself managing neighborhood chaos, secret chimneypiece vaults, and a vanishing professor.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Roughing It, Part 5

Roughing It, Part 5

Mark Twain

In the lawless boomtowns of the American West, high-stakes speculation transforms daily existence into a surreal theater of sudden fortunes, absurd violence, and instant ruin.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Florentine Dagger: A Novel for Amateur Detectives

The Florentine Dagger: A Novel for Amateur Detectives

Ben Hecht

A brooding playwright believes his ancestral bloodline carries a curse of violence and madness, until a macabre murder in a theatrical apartment forces him to untangle a web of staged clues and inherited secrets.

American Literature8 min read
Cover of The mystery of Central Park

The mystery of Central Park

Nellie Bly

A quiet morning walk in New York turns dark when a wealthy young couple discovers a beautifully dressed woman dead on a Central Park bench, leaving no mark, no identity, and no obvious cause of death.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Throckmorton: A Novel

Throckmorton: A Novel

Molly Elliot Seawell

In quiet Post-Bellum Virginia, romantic longings collide with rigid social expectations when an outcast former Union officer returns to his ancestral home, sparking passions that unravel two local families.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of To Him That Hath

To Him That Hath

Leroy Scott

A silent sacrifice buries a young author's reputation, casting him into the harsh, unforgiving depths of New York’s criminal underworld.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of Whistler

Whistler

Walter Aimwell

A spirited, mid-nineteenth-century boy's adventure, this narrative shows how true courage, quiet honesty, and daily discipline shape a young man far better than mere bravery or bravado.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of Winning his game

Winning his game

Ralph Henry Barbour

A high-school pitcher struggling for recognition must navigate shifting friendships, campus social pressures, and his own self-doubt to earn his place on the team.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of A Pilgrim Maid: A Story of Plymouth Colony in 1620

A Pilgrim Maid: A Story of Plymouth Colony in 1620

Marion Ames Taggart

Young Constance Hopkins carries the burden of a fractured family and a harsh winter as the Mayflower anchors in the New World.

American Literature6 min read