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American Literature — page 96

4,619 public-domain american literature books, summarised. Page 96 of 97.

Cover of Barclay of Ury, and other poems: Part 3 From Volume I of The Works of John Greenleaf Whittier

Barclay of Ury, and other poems: Part 3 From Volume I of The Works of John Greenleaf Whittier

John Greenleaf Whittier

These rhythmic ballads and reflective verses capture the quiet endurance of the human spirit, transforming colonial history and simple country life into enduring meditations on faith, justice, and the sanctity of the everyday.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Blind mice

Blind mice

C. (Cyril) Kay-Scott

A domestic portrait of a fraying marriage, this narrative observes how the arrival of an intrusive mother-in-law dismantles the fragile peace of a young suburban couple.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Forest Pictures in the Adirondacks

Forest Pictures in the Adirondacks

Alfred Billings Street

The wilderness of the Adirondacks unfolds through verse, capturing the shifting moods of mountains, the rush of hidden rivers, and the quiet, crystalline life of the forest’s hidden lakes.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Mary Louise and Josie O'Gorman

Mary Louise and Josie O'Gorman

Emma Speed Sampson

An resourceful young woman goes undercover as a maid to dismantle a villain's scheme and reunite two lost children with their long-lost parents.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Only an Incident

Only an Incident

Grace Denio Litchfield

A small-town young woman falls quietly in love with her parish's new minister, unaware that he views her only as a sweet fixture of his new home while pining secretly for her brilliant, aristocratic friend.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Some honeymoon!

Some honeymoon!

Charles Everett Hall

This whirlwind tale of mistaken identity and marital chaos follows a hard-driving businessman whose life upends the moment he weds a woman who may not be who she claims. It is a frantic, often humorous, and ultimately sentimental farce of early twentieth-century manners.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of The Jamesons

The Jamesons

Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman

A bustling village finds its quiet traditions upended when an assertive city family arrives, setting off a comedy of manners that tests the boundaries between neighborly grace and unwelcome interference.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The little immigrant

The little immigrant

Eva Stern

This is a quiet, earnest portrait of an immigrant woman’s life in the American South, tracing a journey from a childhood in Europe to the responsibilities of a widowed mother in post-Civil War Texas. It captures the resilience of a woman who finds purpose in public service and devotion to her family.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Tipster: 1901, From "Wall Street Stories"

The Tipster: 1901, From "Wall Street Stories"

Edwin Lefevre

The lure of the ticker is a siren song that promises wealth but delivers only ruin. This cautionary tale follows a man who abandons his steady life for the hollow thrill of speculation.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of X-mas sketches from the Dartmouth Literary Monthly

X-mas sketches from the Dartmouth Literary Monthly

Unknown

These varied tales capture the spirit of late nineteenth-century collegiate life, blending amateur literary ambition with the sentimental traditions of the American holiday season.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of A True Hero: A Story of the Days of William Penn

A True Hero: A Story of the Days of William Penn

William Henry Giles Kingston

The quest for religious freedom drives a young man across the Atlantic, where the courage of his convictions is tested against the harsh realities of a new world.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Back home

Back home

J. Frank (James Francis) Davis

A fugitive returns home after decades in exile, only to discover that the daughter he left behind is on the eve of her wedding.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of Bolanyo

Bolanyo

Opie Percival Read

Caught in the blast of a riverboat explosion, a traveling actor washes ashore in small-town Mississippi and finds himself drawn into a tangle of regional politics, local eccentrics, and an impossible love.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of Northern Lights, Volume 1

Northern Lights, Volume 1

Gilbert Parker

This collection of frontier tales captures the rugged, fading spirit of the Canadian West, where men and women live by brutal codes of vengeance, sacrifice, and the relentless pull of the wilderness.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of Old Jabe's Marital Experiments: 1908

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.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Rebel Raider

Rebel Raider

H. Beam Piper

This account of the American Civil War focuses on the rise of the legendary Confederate guerrilla leader John Singleton Mosby. It follows his transformation from an unappreciated scout into the commander of a formidable partisan battalion, illustrating how a small, disciplined force of irregulars could effectively…

American Literature5 min read
Cover of Richard Carvel

Richard Carvel

Winston Churchill

The scion of a proud Maryland dynasty navigates the treacherous loyalties of the American Revolution, caught between the traditions of his aristocratic grandfather and the call of a new, uncertain liberty.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of Sketches New and Old, Part 7

Sketches New and Old, Part 7

Mark Twain

A collection of sharp, imaginative pieces that masterfully blend absurdity with biting social critique, revealing the folly of human ambition. These sketches showcase an unmatched talent for turning the mundane into a riotous, unforgettable spectacle.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of The Complete Works of Artemus Ward

The Complete Works of Artemus Ward

Artemus Ward

A keen-eyed observer of the American frontier, this traveler captures the absurdity of mid-19th-century life with a dry, ironic wit that remains remarkably fresh and cutting.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Inside of the Cup

The Inside of the Cup

Winston Churchill

This is a story of a man who realizes he has been selling his congregation a comfortable, hollow illusion, and who decides that the only way forward is to burn that illusion to the ground. It is a rigorous, deeply introspective portrait of a crisis of faith that turns into a revolution of conscience.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Fanny, with Other Poems

Fanny, with Other Poems

Fitz-Greene Halleck

Ambitious New York merchant rises, flirts with political vanity, and watches a crystal chandelier crash into his ruined grand gala. Meanwhile, a steadfast young couple weather a gale to build a quiet life by the river.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of Some great American books

Some great American books

Dallas Lore Sharp

Discover a personal, highly engaging pathway through the milestones of American literature, designed to awaken a lifelong love for reading and national letters.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of Whittier at close range

Whittier at close range

Frances C. Sparhawk

Step into the sunlit garden room of a quiet New England home, where a beloved poet shares his quiet days, enduring memories, and deep spiritual faith.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Billy Baxter's Letters

Billy Baxter's Letters

William J. Kountz

Beneath a veneer of late-nineteenth-century slang and chaotic escapades, a sharp-eyed observer recounts the comic missteps and private sorrows of urban life.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Dough or Dynamite

Dough or Dynamite

W. C. (Wilbur C.) Tuttle

When a greenhorn filmmaker arrives in a Montana cow town looking for authentic local color, a string of mistaken identities, runaway stagecoaches, and boxes of misplaced dynamite spark utter chaos among punchers.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of Em's husband

Em's husband

Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth

When a city family relocates to a picturesque river island, their eldest daughter’s quiet charm captures the heart of a young naval officer, sparking a web of class friction, secret identities, and long-lost returns.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of Frank and Fanny

Frank and Fanny

Moore, Bloomfield H., Mrs.

Two orphan siblings discover the quiet magic of New England farm life and learn that true happiness comes from patience, small acts of kindness, and respecting the living world.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of Meeting at the Summit

Meeting at the Summit

Ivar Jorgensen

Confronted by an emissary from a galactic council, the President of the United States learns his world faces imminent annihilation unless humanity can rapidly elevate its spiritual maturity.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of The Courage of the Commonplace

The Courage of the Commonplace

Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews

A young man shaped by disappointment at Yale finds his true measure in the grueling labor of a western mining town, ultimately returning as a hero to the triumphs of his alma mater and the arms of the woman he loves.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of The Crisis

The Crisis

Winston Churchill

As the American Civil War looms, deep-seated loyalties fracture a proud St. Louis community, setting friends and families on a collision course of politics and passion.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Lever: A Novel

The Lever: A Novel

William Dana Orcutt

When corporate power collides with youthful ambition and a buried western past, a high-minded industrialist learns that human affection outweighs financial empire.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Mystery of Metropolisville

The Mystery of Metropolisville

Edward Eggleston

A young idealist battles land speculators and a false criminal charge in a booming frontier settlement, ultimately finding hard-won maturity and enduring love.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Where Stillwater Runs Deep

Where Stillwater Runs Deep

B. M. Bower

A newcomer to the rugged Absarokee Division of the Yellowstone National Forest, Patrick O’Neill steps into a hotbed of local hostility, cattle rustling, and government mistrust.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of A Modern Chronicle

A Modern Chronicle

Winston Churchill

A hurried marriage in New York leads a wealthy heir and a sensitive woman back to his ancestral estate, where society's rigid moral code threatens to crush their happiness.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of At Sundown, and other poems: Part 5 from Volume IV of The Works of John Greenleaf Whittier

At Sundown, and other poems: Part 5 from Volume IV of The Works of John Greenleaf Whittier

John Greenleaf Whittier

An aging New England voice contemplates the approach of dusk, weighing the fading fires of earthly memory against a serene, enduring faith in divine love.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Philistines

The Philistines

Arlo Bates

Beneath the polished surface of Boston high society, ambition, hypocrisy, and hidden compromises corrupt the lives of artists and socialites alike.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Plot That Failed

The Plot That Failed

Nicholas (House name) Carter

A master detective unravels a web of deceit, abduction, and murder, exposing a sinister plot that threatens a wealthy family.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Thin Santa Claus: The Chicken Yard That Was a Christmas Stocking

The Thin Santa Claus: The Chicken Yard That Was a Christmas Stocking

Ellis Parker Butler

A widow discovers a small fortune in her chicken coop on Christmas morning, only to be visited by a desperate, suspicious stranger claiming to be a health inspector.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of Elder Conklin

Elder Conklin

Frank Harris

The prairie frontier is a crucible where shifting loyalties and rigid moralities collide. A young schoolmaster, an inscrutable patriarch, and his restless daughter navigate a landscape defined by both vast, indifferent nature and the encroaching reach of federal law.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Over the Line

Over the Line

Harold M. (Harold Morrow) Sherman

A country boy overcomes his inner doubts on the gridiron, proving that personal courage matters more than where you start.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of Rosa's Quest

Rosa's Quest

Anna Potter Wright

A young girl's quest to find the way to a beautiful land where her mother resides, free from suffering, leads her on a journey of faith, compassion, and redemption.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of True To His Colors

True To His Colors

Harry Castlemon

As the Civil War tears apart a southern military academy and its surrounding town, young students and townspeople grapple with divided loyalties, local vigilante plots, and the shifting pull of opposing flags.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of How The Raven Died: 1902, From "Wolfville Nights"

How The Raven Died: 1902, From "Wolfville Nights"

Alfred Henry Lewis

A ruthless chief's fatal weakness for curiosity leads him into a trap constructed of deadly secrets and endless storytelling.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of Last Days in a Dutch Hotel (from Literature and Life)

Last Days in a Dutch Hotel (from Literature and Life)

William Dean Howells

A chilly September wind blows across the North Sea as an American traveler lingers through the dying days of the tourist season at a grand resort in Scheveningen.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Brown Study

The Brown Study

Grace S. (Grace Smith) Richmond

A man chooses to exchange the comforts of an elite urban parish for a life of modest service, only to find that his true challenge lies in remaining faithful to his own sense of purpose.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Choice: 1916

The Choice: 1916

Edith Wharton

A stifling summer night becomes a stage for hidden desperation, where the suffocating weight of a loveless marriage leads to a moment of irrevocable, dark decision.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The House Opposite: A Mystery

The House Opposite: A Mystery

Elizabeth Kent

When a young New York doctor peers out his window during a sweltering heatwave, he inadvertently becomes the sole eye-witness to a bizarre murder, entangling himself in a labyrinth of high-society secrets and false clues.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of With Edge Tools

With Edge Tools

H. C. (Hobart Chatfield) Chatfield-Taylor

A society man and a restless wife navigate the treacherous currents of love and reputation in a world where appearances are the only currency that truly matters.

American Literature6 min read