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British Literature — page 54

6,377 public-domain british literature books, summarised. Page 54 of 133.

Cover of Bog-Myrtle and Peat: Tales Chiefly of Galloway Gathered from the Years 1889 to 1895

Bog-Myrtle and Peat: Tales Chiefly of Galloway Gathered from the Years 1889 to 1895

S. R. (Samuel Rutherford) Crockett

Beneath the wide Scottish skies, among heathered hills and shadowed moss-hags, lie secrets of old devotion, tragic young loves, and the quiet, stubborn lives of moorland folk.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Dumps - A Plain Girl

Dumps - A Plain Girl

L. T. Meade

Growing up in a chaotic household with her eccentric academic father and boisterous brothers, a plain-spoken young girl must navigate the quiet loneliness of feeling overlooked while learning to accept unexpected warmth and family transformation.

British Literature5 min read
Cover of Tales Of Hearsay

Tales Of Hearsay

Joseph Conrad

An old warrior rebukes the callow youth who judge the retreat from Moscow, while a lover's tragic sacrifice and a sailor's desperate secret unfold across the dark shadows of history and the open sea.

British Literature9 min read
Cover of Tarr

Tarr

Wyndham Lewis

A searing satire of pre-war bohemian Paris, this novel exposes the absurdities, egoism, and destructive impulses of the modern avant-garde artist.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of The Gods and Mr. Perrin: A Tragi-Comedy

The Gods and Mr. Perrin: A Tragi-Comedy

Hugh Walpole

At an isolated English boarding school, two masters drift into a petty, soul-crushing rivalry that slowly unhinges the older man's sanity.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Great Adventure: A Play of Fancy in Four Acts

The Great Adventure: A Play of Fancy in Four Acts

Arnold Bennett

A painfully shy master painter assumes his deceased valet's identity, only to find escape from his own overwhelming fame nearly impossible.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Mysterious Key and What It Opened

The Mysterious Key and What It Opened

Louisa May Alcott

Old Sir Ralph’s ancient curse promises no quiet for Trevlyn Hall until truth comes out of Trevlyn dust, and a dying lord’s long-hidden secret soon proves the prophecy true.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Third Class at Miss Kaye's: A School Story

The Third Class at Miss Kaye's: A School Story

Angela Brazil

An overly sheltered girl leaves her family's quiet routine for a lively coastal school, where shared scrapes, sharp rivalries, and unexpected secrets turn a spoiled recluse into a dependable companion.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Theo: A Sprightly Love Story

Theo: A Sprightly Love Story

Frances Hodgson Burnett

A plain girl from a dreary home steps into high society, only to find that winning her heart's desire means risking her own sense of honor.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Winefred: A Story of the Chalk Cliffs

Winefred: A Story of the Chalk Cliffs

S. (Sabine) Baring-Gould

A wild child of the Dorset coast must navigate illicit trade, stolen wealth, and her parents' deceptive social ambitions to claim her own path.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Years of Plenty

Years of Plenty

Ivor John Carnegie Brown

A youth spent in English boarding schools and Oxford quadrangles yields both the thrill of rebellion and the quiet, inevitable acceptance of adult duty.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of A Lover's Complaint

A Lover's Complaint

William Shakespeare

A grieving young woman sits by a river tearing up old love letters, weeping over the handsome, silver-tongued youth who persuaded her to surrender her virtue and ultimately left her broken.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Austin and His Friends

Austin and His Friends

Frederic Henry Balfour

A lame boy in late-Victorian England finds that physical limitation cannot confine a spirit attuned to invisible beauty. Through gentle hauntings, eccentric neighbors, and a deep devotion to gardens, his life becomes a quiet triumph of the soul over mortal frailties.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Hyacinth

Hyacinth

George A. Birmingham

A young Irish idealist wanders through Dublin national politics, industrial weaving, and the English clergy, searching for a place where his conscience and his country can finally meet.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of In Taunton town

In Taunton town

Evelyn Everett-Green

Caught between two allegiances in seventeenth-century Somerset, a deformed young clerk records the swift rise and disastrous collapse of a rebellion that fractures his town, his friendships, and his heart.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of King Henry IV, Part 1

King Henry IV, Part 1

William Shakespeare

High ambition clashes with pubhouse revelry as a fractured kingdom demands that a wayward prince choose between his lowborn companions and his royal birthright.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Master and Maid

Master and Maid

L. Allen (Lizzie Allen) Harker

A buoyant nineteenth-century bachelor finds his life upended when his old schoolmate's daughter arrives on his doorstep, bringing music, Irish charm, and chaos into his quiet, orderly housemaster’s quarters.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Mother-Meg

Mother-Meg

Catharine Shaw

In the squalid tenements of nineteenth-century London, a newly married couple opens their home and modest means to rescue two neglected, suffering orphans from the brink of total destruction.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Portraits of Children of the Mobility

Portraits of Children of the Mobility

Percival Leigh

Beneath its grand aristocratic title, this bitingly satirical work presents a parade of London’s poorest working-class children, using pseudoscientific commentary to expose the upper classes' icy indifference to urban poverty.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Somebody's Luggage

Somebody's Luggage

Charles Dickens

Left behind in a London hotel, a bundle of forgotten papers becomes an unlikely catalyst for human warmth and unexpected storytelling.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of The London Venture

The London Venture

Michael Arlen

An outsider wanders the refined drawing rooms and dreary side streets of late-Edwardian London, discovering that the pursuit of passion and art often ends in quiet disappointment.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Portland Peerage Romance

The Portland Peerage Romance

Charles J. (Charles John) Archard

A vast English estate hides a century of high-society drama, subterranean labyrinths, and a jaw-dropping claim of dual identity.

British Literature5 min read
Cover of The Puzzle of Dickens's Last Plot

The Puzzle of Dickens's Last Plot

Andrew Lang

A dark cathedral vault, a vanished heir, and a trail of clues left by a master novelist who died with his secret half-told.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition, Vol. 12

The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition, Vol. 12

Robert Louis Stevenson

A single coin toss divides two brothers between the Jacobite cause and the Hanoverian crown, kindling a lifelong feud that spans oceans, shipwrecks, and wildernesses to ruin their noble house.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Tom Pinder, Foundling: A Story of the Holmfirth Flood

Tom Pinder, Foundling: A Story of the Holmfirth Flood

D. F. E. Sykes

A foundling struggles to find his place in a harsh industrial valley, eventually proving his worth when a catastrophic flood forces him to choose between his humble origins and a future with the woman he loves.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume 10

Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume 10

Unknown

A icy gale across the Cheviots sweeps into a warm cottage, where local legends, historical heartbreaks, and border superstitions come alive beside a crackling hearth.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Wyndham Towers

Wyndham Towers

Thomas Bailey Aldrich

A jealous Elizabethan knight murders his courtly brother in a secret room, only to trap himself inside to perish alongside the corpse.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of A Houseful of Girls

A Houseful of Girls

Vaizey, George de Horne, Mrs.

Six sisters in an Edwardian suburban home navigate spring-cleaning, bazaar planning, and shifting romantic attachments in a story defined by gentle domestic comedy and emotional resilient grace.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of A Rent In A Cloud

A Rent In A Cloud

Charles Lever

Two young men, bound by the fleeting intimacy of travel, enter into a pact of mutual reliance that masks a profound and dangerous disparity of character. This story of ambition, manipulation, and the tragic consequences of a shared secret remains a sharp study of how easily the foundations of trust can be eroded by…

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Beyond These Voices

Beyond These Voices

M. E. (Mary Elizabeth) Braddon

The daughter of an impoverished widow marries a wealthy older man, only to find herself trapped in a gilded, loveless existence that unravels after his violent death. This is a story of haunting grief, the suffocating constraints of high society, and the desperate search for spiritual meaning in a hollow world.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of London's Heart: A Novel

London's Heart: A Novel

B. L. (Benjamin Leopold) Farjeon

In the sprawling, gaslit labyrinth of Victorian London, a young man’s descent into gambling fever threatens to destroy the innocence of those who love him. Beneath the city's veneer of respectability, predatory schemes and secret vices collide with the lives of the working poor.

British Literature8 min read
Cover of Man and Maid

Man and Maid

E. (Edith) Nesbit

A series of sharp, bittersweet encounters between men and women reveals how pride, secret motives, and sudden impulses shape human hearts.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of More Bab Ballads

More Bab Ballads

W. S. (William Schwenck) Gilbert

Victorian propriety collapses under the weight of its own absurd logic in these nimble narrative verses.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Mount Music

Mount Music

E. Oe. (Edith Oenone) Somerville

A young girl twists her arm out of her brother's grip to chase hounds across a Irish estate, unaware how completely her home, her heart, and her country's ancient hierarchy are about to unravel.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Mr. Punch at the Play: Humours of Music and the Drama

Mr. Punch at the Play: Humours of Music and the Drama

Unknown

A sharp, satirical look at the Victorian stage, capturing the vanity of actors, the absurdity of dramatic trends, and the relentless blunders of the theater-going public with timeless, biting wit.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Narcissus, a Twelfe Night Merriment

Narcissus, a Twelfe Night Merriment

Unknown

A troupe of Oxford undergraduates breathes new life into Ovid’s myth, blending classical tragedy with the rowdy, vernacular wit of a sixteenth-century campus. This rare window into Elizabethan student life captures the spirit of a Twelfth Night revel.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Stories By English Authors: Italy (Selected by Scribners)

Stories By English Authors: Italy (Selected by Scribners)

Unknown

A mid-Victorian anthology of British fiction set in Italy captures a landscape where foreign passion, criminal hazards, and social absurdities routinely derail the best-laid plans of English travellers.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of The Comedies of William Congreve: Volume 1 [of 2]

The Comedies of William Congreve: Volume 1 [of 2]

William Congreve

In the glittering, treacherous drawing rooms of Restoration London, every conversation is a duel, love is an enterprise of strategy, and the sharpest tongue wins the prize.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Soldier and Death: A Russian Folk Tale Told in English by Arthur Ransome

The Soldier and Death: A Russian Folk Tale Told in English by Arthur Ransome

Arthur Ransome

This folktale captures the quintessential Russian spirit—courage, stubbornness, and a wry sense of justice—as a humble soldier outsmarts the supernatural. It is an extraordinary, dark, and frequently funny journey through the afterlife that leaves the reader questioning the morality of its immortal protagonist.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Tom and Maggie Tulliver

Tom and Maggie Tulliver

George Eliot

A fierce, impulsive girl and her rigid, practical brother clash across a rural childhood, bound together by an intense family loyalty that neither can fully break.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of A House to Let

A House to Let

Charles Dickens

A lonely woman observes a mysterious, vacant residence across the street, leading her and her loyal servant on a journey to uncover the hidden tragedies buried within its walls.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of A Servant of the Public

A Servant of the Public

Anthony Hope

A famous actress’s life becomes a public stage where the boundaries between her genuine feelings and her performative charisma blur, leaving those around her to navigate the wreckage of her charm.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Angels and Ministers, and Other Victorian Plays

Angels and Ministers, and Other Victorian Plays

Laurence Housman

These intimate, imagined dialogues peel back the curtain on the private lives of world leaders, capturing the quiet, human vulnerability hidden behind the imposing masks of Victorian and post-war history.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Her Benny: A Story of Street Life

Her Benny: A Story of Street Life

Silas K. (Silas Kitto) Hocking

A resilient street urchin battles poverty and profound loss in a Victorian city, ultimately finding salvation through faith, industry, and the kindness of strangers.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Jack Sheppard: A Romance, Vol. 1 (of 3)

Jack Sheppard: A Romance, Vol. 1 (of 3)

William Harrison Ainsworth

This is a gritty, atmospheric exploration of the criminal underworld in eighteenth-century London, where the threads of high-born intrigue and common villainy entangle in the shadows of the Old Mint.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Love's Golden Thread

Love's Golden Thread

E. C. (Edith C.) Kenyon

The golden thread of love weaves through life’s darkest trials, proving that even when worldly success crumbles, personal integrity and kindness remain the true measures of a life.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Our Old Home, Vol. 2: Annotated with Passages from the Author's Notebook

Our Old Home, Vol. 2: Annotated with Passages from the Author's Notebook

Nathaniel Hawthorne

A thoughtful exploration of England through the eyes of an American observer, this collection records the nuanced friction between a traveler’s romantic expectations and the reality of a weathered, stratified nation.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Phoebe, Junior

Phoebe, Junior

Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant

A young woman of formidable intellect navigates the rigid social hierarchies of a provincial English town, discovering that her sharp mind is both a powerful instrument for survival and a barrier to the domestic life others expect of her.

British Literature7 min read