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American Literature — page 69
3,373 public-domain american literature books, summarised. Page 69 of 71.
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.
Samantha at the St. Louis Exposition
Marietta Holley
A sharp-witted observer from rural Jonesville navigates the sprawling, dazzling spectacle of the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair alongside her stubborn, penny-pinching husband.
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.
A Summer Evening's Dream: 1898
Edward Bellamy
A chance encounter in a quiet village garden forces two lifelong, unmarried companions to confront the stagnant ghost of their own youth. The result is a startling, tender, and somewhat surreal resolution to a forty-year hesitation.
Bobby of Cloverfield Farm
Helen Fuller Orton
A young boy navigates the changing seasons of a bustling family farm, learning small, vital lessons about responsibility, nature, and the warmth of home.
By Shore and Sedge
Bret Harte
A young man finds himself caught between the ruthless ambitions of his associates and the quiet, strange dignity of a father and daughter living in an abandoned ship.
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.
Homestead on the Hillside
Mary Jane Holmes
This collection of short stories captures the trials and social maneuvers of mid-19th-century New England life, where domestic virtue and vanity frequently collide. These tales navigate the shifting fortunes of families and the quiet triumphs of the humble over the proud.
Old Jabe's Marital Experiments: 1908
Thomas Nelson Page
A shrewd and irrepressible man treats marriage with the casual pragmatism of a business transaction, outlasting his many wives while maintaining a humorous, parasitic reliance on his former mistress.
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.
Samantha on the Woman Question
Marietta Holley
A sensible woman navigates the absurd politics of her era with sharp wit, proving that the most radical thing a person can do is demand common-sense justice in a world designed to deny it.
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 Cattle-Baron's Daughter
Harold Bindloss
HOOK A fierce struggle for the future of the American frontier unfolds as a cattle-baron’s daughter chooses between her father’s fading empire and the man leading the homesteaders’ revolution.
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 Norsk Nightingale
William Frederick Kirk
A collection of humorous dialect verses brings the rough-and-tumble world of the American lumberjack to life, reimagining classic literature and personal anecdotes through a distinct Scandinavian-American lens.
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 Rubaiyat of Omar Cayenne
Gelett Burgess
A biting, rhythmic satire of the early twentieth-century publishing industry, this work uses the familiar structure of a famous Persian poem to skewer the vanity, commercialism, and literary mediocrity of its day.
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 Beautiful Possibility
Edith Ferguson Black
The beauty of a quiet, faithful life unfolds against the backdrop of shifting fortunes and the enduring power of unconditional love. This narrative explores the intersection of earthly loss and spiritual discovery, mapping the journey from grief to purpose.
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.
Elsie at the World's Fair
Martha Finley
A devout, closely-knit family travels by private yacht to the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, finding that the wonders of human invention only heighten their reverence for the divine.
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 Man Who Stole A Meeting-House: 1878, From "Coupon Bonds"
J. T. (John Townsend) Trowbridge
This story captures a peculiar American frontier humor, blending a tall-tale premise with a sharp, empathetic portrait of domestic struggle. It is a work of regional realism that finds profound weight beneath the absurdity of a man attempting to claim a community church as his own property.
The Mother
Norman Duncan
A mother lives two lives: one a devoted, sheltering sanctuary for her son, the other a desperate, hidden existence in the city's underbelly. Their bond endures as she struggles to give him a future she cannot share.
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.
Kidnapped at the Altar
Laura Jean Libbey
This is a breathless tale of stolen identity, tragic romance, and the enduring struggle between virtue and villainy. It follows a young woman whose life is upended by the sudden disappearance of a wealthy bride, leading to a desperate search for love and truth across a landscape of secrets and social peril.
Marianson: From "Mackinac And Lake Stories", 1899
Mary Hartwell Catherwood
Amid the chaos of the War of 1812, a defiant young soldier and a fiercely independent widow find an unexpected, transcendent connection while hiding in a remote island cavern.
Round Anvil Rock: A Romance
Nancy Huston Banks
The rugged beauty of the Kentucky frontier serves as the backdrop for a tense collision between a sheltered young woman, an honorable doctor, and a charismatic but mysterious guardian.
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…