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American Literature — page 76

4,848 public-domain american literature books, summarised. Page 76 of 101.

Cover of A Hazard of New Fortunes

A Hazard of New Fortunes

William Dean Howells

A literary adventurer of middle age finds his comfortable life in Boston uprooted when he is lured to the bustling, unpredictable, and often brutal landscape of late 19th-century New York.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Bats in the Wall

Bats in the Wall

P. T. Raymond

A young bank clerk finds himself framed for a massive robbery, forced to navigate the dark, treacherous underbelly of Gilded Age New York to clear his name and claim his rightful inheritance.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Coniston

Coniston

Winston Churchill

A quiet mountain storekeeper becomes entangled in the intricate, unseen machinery of state power, discovering that the man who runs the legislature is a figure of both hidden influence and surprising, lonely humanity.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Elsie and the Raymonds

Elsie and the Raymonds

Martha Finley

A Victorian father guides his children through moral lessons and adventurous travels, balancing firm discipline with deep, sentimental affection in this installment of a long-running family saga.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of Footprints

Footprints

Kay Cleaver Strahan

A single shot shatters a snowbound Oregon ranch house at midnight, leaving a family patriarch dead inside a locked room surrounded by untouched, pristine snow.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of For the good of the team

For the good of the team

Ralph Henry Barbour

At Manning School, the social fabric of the football team is tested when a proud, established captain clashes with a modern, no-nonsense coach. This conflict forces the protagonist to reconcile his personal ego with the genuine needs of his schoolmates.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXX, No. 3, March 1847

Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXX, No. 3, March 1847

Various

This mid-century anthology offers a vivid, multifaceted portrait of the Victorian-era American literary imagination, capturing the intellectual vigor and domestic preoccupations of 1847.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXXI, No. 5, November 1847

Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXXI, No. 5, November 1847

Various

This collection of mid-century prose, poetry, and social commentary serves as a time capsule, capturing the literary tastes and preoccupations of the American reading public in 1847.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Samuel Hopkins Adams

Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Samuel Hopkins Adams

Samuel Hopkins Adams

These collected works offer a sprawling, multifaceted portrait of early twentieth-century American life, moving seamlessly from investigative crusades against corporate deception to the intimate, character-driven dramas of neighborhood squares and transatlantic voyages.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Isabel Leicester

Isabel Leicester

Maude Alma

Stripped of her fortune by her father’s death, a young Victorian woman enters domestic service as a governess, navigating spiteful relatives, romantic entanglements, and her own bruised pride.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of Jane Allen, Right Guard

Jane Allen, Right Guard

Edith Bancroft

When a spirited college athlete finds herself the target of a malicious campaign, she discovers that true victory is won through character rather than just the score on the basketball court.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Laicus

Laicus

Lyman Abbott

A layperson’s quiet journey through the challenges of parish life reveals that true faith is not a matter of intellectual debate, but a transformative experience found in service and sincerity.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Making the Nine

Making the Nine

Albertus T. (Albertus True) Dudley

The boys of Phillips Exeter Academy pursue athletic glory and moral character with equal fervor, proving that the toughest games are often played off the field.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Modern daughters

Modern daughters

Alexander Black

HOOK This collection of conversational sketches explores the shifting landscape of American womanhood at the close of the nineteenth century through the eyes of a candid, observant male narrator.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Patty at Home

Patty at Home

Carolyn Wells

Patty Fairfield, a spirited and affectionate young girl, embarks on the challenges and joys of setting up a new home, discovering that true maturity is found in domestic warmth and the steady exercise of common sense.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Phœbe

Phœbe

Eleanor Gates

A girl swept away from her New York life by a sudden, mysterious telegram must navigate the bewildering world of her father’s relatives and the terrifying specter of her parents’ impending divorce.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Prejudices

Prejudices

Charles Macomb Flandrau

A man who keeps his eyes open while wandering the world finds that the most profound truths are often hidden in the smallest, most inconvenient details of daily life. This collection of essays serves as a sharp, unsentimental map of the early twentieth-century American experience.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Riley Love-Lyrics

Riley Love-Lyrics

James Whitcomb Riley

A heart looks back through the haze of lost summers, finding that true devotion outlasts both youthful rapture and time itself.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of Sally in her fur coat

Sally in her fur coat

Eliza Orne White

The world is wide and full of wondrous things for those who, earth-bound, never fear a fall. This gentle tale follows two orphaned tiger kittens as they seek a home and discover the joys of domestic life.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Tales for Fifteen

Tales for Fifteen

James Fenimore Cooper

Two cautionary tales explore how young women navigate the perils of romantic delusion, contrasting the pitfalls of unchecked sentimentality with the quiet dignity of a devout, unyielding devotion.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Draw

The Draw

Jerome Bixby

The small-town sheriff faces an impossible gunslinger, a boy whose weapon appears in his hand before he can physically reach for it. This tale explores the intersection of human ego and the dormant, terrifying power of the mind.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Primrose Ring

The Primrose Ring

Ruth Sawyer

This story serves as a bridge between the clinical rigidity of a hospital ward and the boundless, restorative power of the human imagination. It explores the necessity of wonder in environments defined by physical suffering.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Woman in the Alcove

The Woman in the Alcove

Jennette Lee

A quiet, introspective drama of a marriage suspended between the drudgery of domestic life and the shimmering possibilities of a secret, inner self. This story reveals how the people closest to us often remain, by our own design, total strangers.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of What Can She Do?

What Can She Do?

Edward Payson Roe

When sudden financial ruin strips three pampered New York sisters of their Fifth Avenue home, they are forced into the country to face the cold realities of self-reliance, temptation, and survival.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Part 5

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Part 5

Mark Twain

A nineteenth-century engineer is thrust into the medieval past, where he must rely on his technological knowledge and sharp wits to survive, reshape a primitive society, and maintain his precarious status as a miracle-worker.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of A private chivalry

A private chivalry

Francis Lynde

When a disgraced former gambler takes the fall for a murder he believes the woman he loves committed, his quiet self-sacrifice sets off a tense moral reckoning in the Colorado mining mountains.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of Ade's Fables

Ade's Fables

George Ade

These satirical vignettes capture the frantic, status-obsessed pulse of early twentieth-century American life, exposing the hollow vanities of those who trade their authentic selves for the hollow promise of social prestige.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Arnold's Tempter

Arnold's Tempter

Benjamin F. (Benjamin Freeman) Comfort

This historical novel explores the moral disintegration of Benedict Arnold, viewed through the eyes of a mysterious British operative tasked with testing the general’s loyalty and avarice.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Homestead on the Hillside

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.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Jurgen and the law

Jurgen and the law

Unknown

This volume serves as a vital historical record of a celebrated literary obscenity trial, documenting the legal defense of a work that once challenged the boundaries of early 20th-century censorship. It offers an intimate look at how art and law collided in a New York courtroom, ultimately shaping the standards by…

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Keeban

Keeban

Edwin Balmer

This atmospheric thriller follows an ordinary man thrust into the orbit of a dangerous criminal double, exploring how an encounter with the underworld can permanently alter one’s perception of reality.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of Love in Idleness: A Bar Harbour Tale

Love in Idleness: A Bar Harbour Tale

F. Marion (Francis Marion) Crawford

The rugged, pine-scented landscape of Bar Harbor provides the backdrop for a quiet, unfolding tension between two young people testing the boundaries of their own feelings.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of Punchinello, Volume 1, No. 14, July 2, 1870

Punchinello, Volume 1, No. 14, July 2, 1870

Various

A rowdy, colorful window into Gilded Age America, capturing a nation wrestling with post-Civil War tension through sharp political satire and absurd parodies.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Rippling Rhymes

Rippling Rhymes

Walt Mason

A jaunty, quick-witted look at small-town American life, where everyday frustrations and comic hypocrisies are captured in clever prose disguise.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Sunday at Home (From "Twice Told Tales")

Sunday at Home (From "Twice Told Tales")

Nathaniel Hawthorne

A reclusive observer sits hidden behind his window curtain on a summer Sunday, watching the quiet pulse of a New England town as it gathers, worships, and scatters around the parish church.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of The Gospel of Slavery: A Primer of Freedom

The Gospel of Slavery: A Primer of Freedom

Abel C. (Abel Charles) Thomas

The path to human freedom is a moral imperative, clearing the way for a society where every individual stands equal before their Creator. This urgent call for justice remains a foundational testament to the American conscience.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Mormon Prophet

The Mormon Prophet

L. (Lily) Dougall

A woman caught in the fervor of an emerging American faith struggles to reconcile her private conscience with the charisma and mounting violence surrounding a controversial prophet. Caught between two men—one a devoted idealist, the other a complex religious leader—she seeks a path toward personal truth.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Yellow Pearl: A Story of the East and the West

The Yellow Pearl: A Story of the East and the West

Adeline M. (Adeline Margaret) Teskey

A young woman born of two worlds navigates the alienation of her new home in America, searching for a place where her mixed heritage is not a stigma but a source of strength.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Transplanted

Transplanted

Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton

Divided by an ocean and contrasting worlds, a spirited California belle and a rigid English heir discover whether love can bridge two entirely different civilizations.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of As the hart panteth

As the hart panteth

Hallie Erminie Rives

A gifted young violinist struggles against isolation and heartbreak, torn between her devotion to an older mentor and her fierce ambition in New York.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Castle Craneycrow

Castle Craneycrow

George Barr McCutcheon

An American man kidnaps the woman he loves to save her from a loveless marriage to an Italian prince. This daring escapade unfolds within a classic tale of European intrigue, high-stakes romance, and aristocratic betrayal.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Homeburg Memories

Homeburg Memories

George Fitch

A seasoned traveler shares the quiet, interconnected pulse of a small American town, revealing how every arrival, fire alarm, and school election binds its residents together in a web of shared, often humorous, history.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of Nick Carter Stories No. 149, July 17, 1915: A Network of Crime

Nick Carter Stories No. 149, July 17, 1915: A Network of Crime

Nicholas (House name) Carter

When a brutal double murder shatters a quiet Manhattanville home, master detective Nick Carter dives into a web of underworld gangs, stolen jewels, and betrayal.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Reality Unlimited

Reality Unlimited

Robert Silverberg

The ultimate immersive cinema experience promises a reality more convincing than life itself, but a single screening threatens to shatter the fragile boundaries of the human mind.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The colonel's daughter

The colonel's daughter

Charles King

The quiet, grueling life of an isolated Arizona military outpost provides the backdrop for a story of professional betrayal and the slow, difficult path to personal redemption.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Road to Providence

The Road to Providence

Maria Thompson Daviess

In a Tennessee farming community where local gossip runs deep and neighbors share every burden, a brilliant young doctor and a sheltered professional singer find their lives unexpectedly intertwined.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of Young Captain Jack

Young Captain Jack

Alger, Horatio, Jr.

An orphaned boy finds his place in a Southern home during the Civil War, only to face a dangerous conspiracy threatening his identity and his future.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of Anton's last dream

Anton's last dream

Edwin Baird

A brilliant chemist achieves the ultimate scientific breakthrough, only to discover a devastating truth that turns his greatest triumph into a final, irreversible act of despair.

American Literature6 min read