Free summaries
British Literature — page 35
6,377 public-domain british literature books, summarised. Page 35 of 133.
Ward Hill, the Senior
Everett T. (Everett Titsworth) Tomlinson
At the Weston school, a young man’s character is forged in the crucible of academic pressure, athletic rivalry, and the shifting loyalties of adolescence. This is a story of how a boy learns to navigate the weight of his own reputation and the complex demands of friendship.
A Girl of To-day
Ellinor Davenport Adams
An earnest young woman discovers that her family’s comfortable life is a brittle illusion, leading her to reconcile with a long-lost brother who works as a blacksmith.
Damaged Goods: The great play "Les avariés" by Brieux, novelized with the approval of the author
Upton Sinclair
A young man’s secret past collides with his pursuit of a respectable marriage, triggering a devastating chain of events. This narrative exposes the lethal consequences of social silence surrounding venereal disease.
Miss Mackenzie
Anthony Trollope
When a middle-aged woman suddenly inherits a fortune, her quiet life is upended by a swarm of opportunistic suitors and meddling relatives. This is a story of resilience in the face of predatory social expectations.
Stephen Archer, and Other Tales
George MacDonald
A humble London bookseller’s internal transformation mirrors the quiet, profound shifts occurring in the lives of those he encounters. This collection of narratives explores the tension between duty, class, and the awakening of the human spirit.
The Works of the Right Honourable John, Earl of Rochester: Consisting of Satires, Songs, Translations, and other Occasional Poems
Rochester, John Wilmot, Earl of,
A brilliant, biting exploration of human folly, desire, and the fragility of reason, this collection captures the restless energy of a mind unwilling to be tamed by convention.
Hymns and Spiritual Songs
Isaac Watts
These hymns invite the reader into a devotional landscape of fervent theology, where the weight of human frailty meets the overwhelming promise of divine grace. They remain a foundational pillar of English hymnody, enduring through their blend of rigorous biblical scholarship and deeply personal, lyrical intensity.
The Middle English Poem, Erthe Upon Erthe
Unknown
The earth we walk upon is the same earth that will eventually cover us, a cycle of dust that renders human pride both fragile and fleeting.
The Riddle of the Spinning Wheel
Thomas W. Hanshew
A master of disguise and deduction unravels a complex Highland murder involving ancient family legends, a missing will, and a haunting, rhythmic warning that signals death.
The Valley of Fear
Arthur Conan Doyle
A brilliant investigator untangles a locked-room murder in England, only to find the crime’s roots buried deep in the violent, shadow-drenched history of an American industrial valley.
The White Prophet, Volume 1 (of 2)
Caine, Hall, Sir
A collision of colonial ambition and religious fervor ignites a powder keg in British-occupied Egypt, forcing a young soldier to choose between the authority of his father and the moral demands of his conscience.
Clara Vaughan, Volume 2 (of 3)
R. D. (Richard Doddridge) Blackmore
A young woman’s relentless quest for her father’s killer leads her into a web of dark intrigue, forcing her to confront both her own capacity for vengeance and the fragility of human connection.
Dreams, Waking Thoughts, and Incidents
William Beckford
The world is a tapestry of shifting light and shadow, best understood not through the rigid lens of the scholar, but through the wandering, receptive eye of the dreamer. This collection of letters captures the essence of a soul in search of beauty, transcendence, and the sublime.
Pauline's Passion and Punishment
Louisa May Alcott
The woman who breaks a man’s heart often finds that revenge is a mirror, reflecting her own ruin back at her. This tale of calculated retribution shows how a wounded spirit can turn a life into a weapon.
Reginald in Russia, and Other Sketches
Saki
A master of the stinging epigram and the unexpected twist, a singular wit observes the absurdities of Edwardian social life through a lens of impeccably polished malice.
Sir Brook Fossbrooke, Volume I
Charles Lever
A weary, noble veteran of a bygone age wanders into the lives of a disillusioned young man and his sister, determined to restore their family’s fractured honor and fortune.
The Strand Magazine, Vol. 05, Issue 30, June 1893: An Illustrated Monthly
Various
This collection captures the Victorian era’s restless curiosity, blending high-stakes detective fiction with quirky natural history, political sketches, and sobering tales of historical tragedy. It functions as a time capsule, preserving the literary and cultural pulse of June 1893.
Consequences
E. M. Delafield
The story of a young woman’s profound detachment from the social world she is born into, this novel traces the quiet, inevitable collapse of a life defined by missed connections and the weight of unfulfilled expectations.
Stories by English Authors: Germany (Selected by Scribners)
Unknown
These five distinct narratives offer windows into the German-speaking world, capturing intimate human experiences—from the redemptive power of music and art to the sharp ironies of romance and moral reckoning.
Stories by English Authors: London (Selected by Scribners)
Unknown
This collection of short fiction serves as a poignant, unvarnished window into the stark social stratifications of late 19th-century London, documenting both the trivial obsessions of the wealthy and the crushing struggles of the poor.
The Black Diamond
Francis Brett Young
A sprawling, visceral chronicle of a young miner’s flight from the stifling soot of the coal pits into the uncertain, rugged freedom of the English countryside.
The History of Margaret Catchpole, a Suffolk Girl
Richard Cobbold
A spirited Suffolk girl finds her life upended by a dangerous attachment to a smuggler, leading her from domestic service to the gallows and eventually to the distant shores of Australia. Her journey tests the limits of loyalty, redemption, and the social structures of the early nineteenth century.
The story of the Gadsbys
Rudyard Kipling
A young cavalry officer navigates the suffocating pressures of colonial service and the unexpected vulnerability of domestic life, eventually finding that the vows of marriage change the very nature of courage.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition, Vol. 19
Robert Louis Stevenson
A haunting collision between the lawless, sun-drenched desperation of the South Seas and the cold, unforgiving morality of the Scottish moors defines these final masterpieces.
To-morrow
Joseph Conrad
A retired sea captain waits for a son who is never coming, while his neighbor’s daughter pays the price for playing along with his delusion.
A Life for a Life, Volume 3 (of 3)
Dinah Maria Mulock Craik
HOOK A tale of long-buried sin and the redemption found in truth, this novel examines the heavy price of atonement and the enduring power of a love that survives total social disgrace.
Colonel Quaritch, V.C.: A Tale of Country Life
H. Rider (Henry Rider) Haggard
A veteran soldier and a proud, land-poor squire’s daughter find their lives intertwined with a ruthless financier in the fading landscape of rural England. Their struggle for home and heart culminates in a desperate search for a hidden family fortune.
Comic Tragedies: Written by 'Jo' and 'Meg' and Acted by The 'Little Women'
Louisa May Alcott
These exuberant, homemade melodramas reveal the secret creative life of a legendary childhood, capturing the earnest intensity of young writers who turned their attic into a stage for grand, sweeping passions.
Second Plays
A. A. (Alan Alexander) Milne
This collection presents five plays that explore the quiet intersection of domestic life and the unexpected intrusion of romance, mystery, or social friction. Through sharp dialogue and a penchant for gentle subversion, the writing highlights the absurdity hidden within the ordinary habits of the British…
The Little Minister
J. M. (James Matthew) Barrie
A young minister faces the clash between his strict, dogmatic congregation and the wild, unpredictable pull of his own heart. This tale of devotion, secrets, and forbidden love unfolds against the rugged backdrop of a nineteenth-century Scottish weaving village.
The Rivers and Streams of England
A. G. (Arthur Granville) Bradley
The rivers of England are not merely veins of water but the essential arteries of its history, landscape, and sporting soul. This travelogue captures the character of these streams, weaving together topography, architectural heritage, and the quiet intimacy of the angler’s life.
The Tatler, Volume 3
Steele, Richard, Sir
The observations of an imaginary censor offer a sharp, witty lens onto the manners, social hypocrisies, and quiet domestic struggles of early eighteenth-century London.
![Cover of Seven Men [Excerpts]](https://cdn.myebooksbuy.com/c/seven-men-excerpts-beerbohm-max-sir.webp)
Seven Men [Excerpts]
Beerbohm, Max, Sir
This collection of portraits explores the vanity and fragility of those who hover on the fringes of artistic greatness. With a sharp, quiet wit, the sketches examine the lives of men whose desperate hunger for significance ultimately reveals the emptiness of their ambitions.
The Heroine
Eaton Stannard Barrett
A young woman, intoxicated by the tropes of Gothic fiction, abandons her quiet life to inhabit a world of castles, abductions, and high-born drama.
The History of Emily Montague
Frances Brooke
This epistolary novel captures the shifting landscapes of 18th-century Canada and England through the intimate, observant correspondence of two spirited women and their suitors.
The History of Tom Thumb: To Which Are Added the Stories of the Cat and the Mouse and Fire! Fire! Burn Stick!
Unknown
Born from a magical wish and no larger than a thumb, a courageous boy navigates a world of giants, kings, and perilous kitchen accidents. This enduring English folktale traces the extraordinary life and final, tragic fate of a diminutive hero.
The Prophet of Berkeley Square
Robert Hichens
The celestial gaze of a Berkeley Square gentleman turns into a chaotic farce when he finds his quiet, aristocratic life invaded by a desperate, self-styled prophet and his eccentric family.
Bat Wing
Sax Rohmer
A man of singular intellect investigates the dark secrets of a remote estate, where a supposedly supernatural "death-token" masks a web of human obsession and long-simmering vengeance.
George Crabbe: Poems, Volume 2 (of 3)
George Crabbe
A meticulous chronicler of the human heart, this poet strips away the pastoral veneer of English life to reveal the grit, longing, and moral complexity hidden behind quiet village doors and country estates.
Legends of Charlemagne
Thomas Bulfinch
A collection of medieval romantic cycles, these tales follow the legendary Emperor and his paladins through a world of enchanted forests, magic weapons, and moral trials.
Phil Purcel, The Pig-Driver
William Carleton
A master of deception navigates the harsh realities of nineteenth-century Ireland, where survival depends as much on a well-timed lie as on hard work and cold-blooded cunning.
Sixpenny Pieces
A. Neil (Albert Neil) Lyons
This narrative offers a candid, unsentimental portrait of life among the London poor, centered on a weary but dedicated doctor navigating the messy realities of his patients’ daily struggles.
The Garden Without Walls
Coningsby Dawson
The struggle to reconcile desire with the suffocating expectations of Victorian morality haunts the life of a young man caught between his upbringing and his restless spirit. This narrative explores the tension between the safety of the garden and the unpredictable, dangerous world beyond its walls.
Birds of Prey
M. E. (Mary Elizabeth) Braddon
Ambition and avarice wear the mask of mid-Victorian propriety in this intricate drama of inheritance, hidden agendas, and the fragile nature of trust.
Cripps, the Carrier: A Woodland Tale
R. D. (Richard Doddridge) Blackmore
A simple man’s quiet life is upended when a mysterious disappearance forces him to navigate a web of local secrets, stubborn prejudices, and long-standing woodland rivalries.
Fragment of a novel written by Jane Austen, January-March 1817
Jane Austen
A spirited, observant young woman journeys to a rising seaside resort, only to find a community defined by its eccentricities, health-obsessed promoters, and the frantic, often absurd, pursuit of social and financial gain.
King Henry V
William Shakespeare
A young king stakes his nation’s future on a desperate gamble across the English Channel, trading the wildness of his youth for the heavy, blood-stained mantle of imperial command.
Philosophy 4: A Story of Harvard University
Owen Wister
Two affluent college students, facing an impending philosophy exam for which they are woefully unprepared, treat the challenge as a sporting event, relying on wit and intuition rather than rote memorization to survive.