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British Literature — page 115

5,898 public-domain british literature books, summarised. Page 115 of 123.

A bankrupt heart, Vol. 1 (of 3)

Florence Marryat

A woman’s quiet life as a nobleman's housekeeper unravels when he abandons her for a high-born bride, forcing her into a desperate, tragic exile back to her rural home.

British Literature6 min read

Back to back [Night watches, Part 1.]

W. W. (William Wymark) Jacobs

A minor train accident turns into a farce of malingering, as a man feigns a broken back to secure a payout from a railway company.

British Literature6 min read

Dorset dear

M. E. Francis

Dorset, a quiet corner of England, is the stage for these human vignettes, where the simple rhythms of rural life are interrupted by the sudden, often sharp, intrusions of the heart.

British Literature6 min read

In the hollow of His hand

Hesba Stretton

A testament to the endurance of faith under state oppression, this narrative follows a family of Russian Stundists as they face the forced separation of their children and the grueling path of Siberian exile.

British Literature7 min read

Little maid Marigold

Eleanora H. Stooke

A young girl, sent away to live with estranged relatives, discovers that even the stiffest hearts can soften when faced with the genuine spirit of a child. Through faith and quiet resilience, she bridges a generational divide, bringing a fractured family back together in the peaceful cathedral city of Exeter.

British Literature6 min read

Marion Arleigh's Penance: Everyday Life Library No. 5

Charlotte M. Brame

A young woman’s romantic misjudgment leads her into a web of blackmail, forcing her to choose between the public ruin of her reputation and a desperate, lonely flight from her own life.

British Literature6 min read

Miss Cheyne of Essilmont, Volume 1 (of 3)

James Grant

A young woman’s romantic devotion to a penniless officer clashes with her bankrupt father’s desperate social ambitions, trapping her between true love and the crushing weight of duty.

British Literature5 min read

My Mother's Rival: Everyday Life Library No. 4

Charlotte M. Brame

HOOK A young girl watches her perfect home dissolve as a beautiful, calculated governess systematically replaces her beloved mother. This is a story of how a single intrusion can shatter an entire world.

British Literature6 min read

Punch, or the London Charivari, July 1, 1914

Various

An anxious world hums on the brink of change, but in this midsummer collection of Edwardian satire, the ordinary absurdities of life take center stage.

British Literature5 min read

Punch, or the London Charivari, May 13, 1914

Various

This issue captures the frantic, witty, and deeply anxious spirit of Edwardian London on the precipice of the Great War. It is a vibrant, kaleidoscopic record of a world struggling to maintain its poise.

British Literature6 min read

Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 98, April 5, 1890

Various

A satirical portrait of Victorian life, this collection exposes the absurdities of class, politics, and social posturing through sharp wit and relentless irony.

British Literature6 min read

Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 98, June 21 1890

Various

Victorian society turns its mirror upon itself through quick-witted verse, Parliamentary gossip, and sharp satire of daily urban life.

British Literature6 min read

Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 103, October 15, 1892

Various

A Victorian mirror held up to late-century British life, this collection captures the era’s preoccupations, from the earnest mourning of a Poet Laureate to the absurdities of social climbing and amateur sportsmanship.

British Literature6 min read

Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 107, September 29, 1894

Various

This compilation of Victorian satire, verse, and serialized fiction offers a sharp, witty glimpse into the social anxieties and daily absurdities of 1894 London.

British Literature6 min read

Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 99, August 23, 1890

Various

This collection of Victorian wit captures the pulse of a fading century through sharp satire, theatrical absurdity, and the restless, observational humor of a nation in transition.

British Literature5 min read

Striking Hard: Deep Waters, Part 10

W. W. (William Wymark) Jacobs

The domestic battlefield becomes a mirror of the industrial picket line in this dry, observant comedy of marital power dynamics. It offers a sharp look at how quickly the politics of the workplace can collide with the realities of the kitchen.

British Literature6 min read

The Changing Numbers: Odd Craft, Part 8

W. W. (William Wymark) Jacobs

A harmless, hungover sailor finds himself in a pickle with a local policeman, leading to a comedic sequence of mistaken identities, petty revenge, and questionable craftsmanship in a quiet English village.

British Literature6 min read

The Last of the Barons

Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron

The Wars of the Roses serve as a brutal backdrop for this historical drama, where the shifting loyalties of the nobility collide with the personal obsessions of a king. It is a story of shifting power, where the ambition of the few threatens to unravel the fabric of a nation.

British Literature6 min read

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 10, No. 271, September 1, 1827

Various

This periodical captures a singular snapshot of 1827, blending architectural blueprints for a city gaol with the meditative poetry of Quaker writers and the curious, eclectic observations of a rapidly expanding world.

British Literature6 min read

The Professional Aunt

Mary C. E. Wemyss

A spirited, observant woman navigates the demanding expectations of family life, discovering that being a devoted aunt is a vocation that requires as much humor as it does personal sacrifice.

British Literature6 min read

The Scottish Cavalier: An Historical Romance, Volume 3 (of 3)

James Grant

The final volume of this sprawling historical saga captures the twilight of the Jacobite cause, tracing the fortunes of displaced Scottish cavaliers as they trade their lost homeland for the bitter, fading glory of exile.

British Literature5 min read

The silver dial, volume 3 (of 3)

Mary C. (Mary Catherine) Rowsell

Amidst the political and religious tensions of 16th-century Strasbourg, a brilliant blind mathematician struggles to restore a legendary astronomical clock while navigating the wreckage of his own heart.

British Literature6 min read

The Weavers: a tale of England and Egypt of fifty years ago - Volume 4

Gilbert Parker

A man of integrity attempts to reform a decaying empire, finding that his most formidable enemies are not the corrupt officials he fights, but the hidden, personal costs of his own unyielding moral code.

British Literature6 min read

Wee Johnnie Paterson, & other humorous sketches

W. Grant (William Grant) Stevenson

A collection of humorous sketches that captures the everyday frictions and gentle absurdities of life in Scotland at the turn of the 20th century.

British Literature7 min read

What's Mine's Mine

George MacDonald

A Highland chieftain struggles to protect his impoverished clan from the encroaching greed of a wealthy industrialist, discovering that true dominion lies not in land, but in the integrity of one’s own soul.

British Literature6 min read

A Gloucestershire Lad at Home and Abroad

F. W. (Frederick William) Harvey

A soldier’s lyric heart beats against the brutality of war, finding a sanctuary of memory in the green hills of home.

British Literature6 min read

A Witch of the Hills, v. 1 [of 2]

Florence Warden

This narrative follows a disfigured recluse who finds companionship in a young girl, exploring the heavy toll of social rejection and the quiet, desperate hope of finding a home in the wilderness.

British Literature6 min read

Bay: A Book of Poems

D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence

These poems capture the heavy, luminous atmosphere of a world irrevocably altered by conflict, grounding personal grief in the landscape of a vanishing England. They map the internal geography of an observer caught between a fading past and a hollow, mechanical present.

British Literature6 min read

Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 431: Volume 17, New Series, April 3, 1852

Various

A single issue of a mid-nineteenth-century popular magazine offers a remarkably clear lens through which to view the Victorian appetite for moral improvement, practical science, and vivid human drama.

British Literature7 min read

Christmas Stories: Containing John Wildgoose the Poacher, the Smuggler, and Good-nature, or Parish Matters

Edward Berens

Young villagers learn bitter lessons about the slippery slope from small transgressions to capital crimes through three cautionary moral tales.

British Literature6 min read

Dagonet Ditties

George R. (George Robert) Sims

A collection of spirited, satirical verses that capture the peculiar anxieties, absurdities, and daily rhythms of late-Victorian London life.

British Literature6 min read

Diana Tempest, Volume I

Mary Cholmondeley

A legacy built on a lie haunts the lives of two cousins, setting in motion a dark cycle of inheritance, betrayal, and the crushing weight of a secret debt.

British Literature6 min read

Good Friday, and other poems

John Masefield

A stark, dramatic meditation on the final hours of the crucifixion, this work captures the intersection of historical burden and eternal, poetic truth.

British Literature6 min read

Hurlothrumbo

Samuel Johnson

HOOK A feverish, kaleidoscopic collision of high-flown philosophy and deliberate absurdity, this play serves as a defiant, meta-theatrical dismantling of the rigid theatrical conventions of its time.

British Literature6 min read

Left to Ourselves

Catharine Shaw

A Victorian household finds its strength tested when the parents depart for a long voyage, leaving their children to navigate the moral complexities of daily life and duty on their own.

British Literature6 min read

Milly Darrell

M. E. (Mary Elizabeth) Braddon

A young woman’s budding romance and her sudden inheritance become the targets of a cold, calculated plot within the walls of a grand northern estate. This Victorian mystery unravels the hidden malice lurking behind a stepmother’s graceful exterior.

British Literature6 min read

Outlook Odes

T. W. H. (Thomas William Hodgson) Crosland

A series of sharp, irreverent addresses to the public figures and institutions of Edwardian England, this collection captures the exasperation and wit of a man watching the world change through a fog of habit and irony.

British Literature5 min read

Punch or the London Charivari, Vol. 147, September 23, 1914

Various

A nation’s private habits, public anxieties, and absurdity under fire are recorded in quick strokes.

British Literature6 min read

Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 98, February 22nd, 1890

Various

A rowdy late-Victorian week comes to life in a flurry of parliamentary feuds, public sneers, dialect verse, and music-hall silliness.

British Literature6 min read

Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 98, June 14 1890

Various

This collection captures the frantic, witty, and deeply opinionated pulse of late-Victorian London. Through satire, verse, and parliamentary reporting, it offers a vivid look at a society caught between tradition and the relentless pace of change.

British Literature6 min read

Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 100, February 28, 1891

Various

A sharp look through the smoky, highly decorated glass of late-Victorian society reveals a world obsessed with status, nervous about its money, and fiercely protective of its facial hair.

British Literature6 min read

Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 101, October 24, 1891

Various

This collection of Victorian wit and satire captures the heartbeat of London at the close of the nineteenth century, blending sharp political commentary with the absurdities of daily life. Through a mosaic of poems, sketches, and dialogues, the work offers a panoramic view of an era defined by its anxieties over…

British Literature6 min read

Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 102, February 27, 1892

Various

A vintage issue of Punch captures late-Victorian England through satiric verse, parliamentary reporting, theatrical sketches, and sharp commentary on topical news.

British Literature6 min read

Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 152, January 24, 1917

Various

This collection of satirical sketches, verse, and whimsical commentary offers a vibrant, unfiltered snapshot of life in England during the third year of the Great War. It captures the absurdity of a society trying to maintain its traditional quirks amidst the encroaching pressures of total mobilization.

British Literature6 min read

Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 153, December 5, 1917

Various

The spirit of a nation under strain finds its outlet in these pages, where the absurdity of wartime bureaucracy meets the sharp, unsparing wit of a people learning to laugh at their own privations.

British Literature6 min read

Superseded

May Sinclair

The life of a woman is often measured by the utility she provides to others, but this story finds the quiet, devastating tragedy in the moment a soul realizes it is no longer needed. It is a sharp, unsentimental portrait of the invisible lives behind the scenes of a bustling world.

British Literature6 min read

The Bag of Diamonds

George Manville Fenn

The mist of a London winter night hides a frantic secret, and for one desperate physician and his family, the path to survival lies in the glimmer of a lost fortune.

British Literature6 min read

The belle of a season

Blessington, Marguerite, Countess of

A bright and satirical verse narrative of a young woman’s debut into London society, where the glittering pageantry of the season serves as the backdrop for a quiet, unfolding romance.

British Literature6 min read