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British Literature — page 65

6,377 public-domain british literature books, summarised. Page 65 of 133.

Cover of Father Stafford

Father Stafford

Anthony Hope

The struggle between personal desire and rigid duty unfolds with quiet intensity in a country house, where the rigid vows of a clergyman collide with the vibrant, messy reality of romantic love.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of George Meredith: A Study

George Meredith: A Study

Hannah Lynch

This critical study examines the evolving reputation and complex artistry of George Meredith, an English novelist whose challenging, brilliant prose long defied popular classification but ultimately secured his place as a master of psychological fiction.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Jan of the Windmill: A Story of the Plains

Jan of the Windmill: A Story of the Plains

Juliana Horatia Ewing

A foundling raised in a country windmill rises above his humble beginnings through a natural, transcendent gift for art. This quiet tale explores the grace of memory and the enduring bonds of childhood affection.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Mr. Marx's Secret

Mr. Marx's Secret

E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim

** A young man discovers his life is a web of hidden parentage and dangerous associations. He must navigate a world of aristocratic secrets to claim his own identity.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Remarks on Clarissa (1749)

Remarks on Clarissa (1749)

Sarah Fielding

A spirited defense of a literary masterpiece, this work explores the moral complexities, character motivations, and tragic beauty of a foundational novel through a series of imagined critical conversations. It serves as both a contemporary reaction to a monumental text and a testament to the enduring power of deep,…

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Camera Fiend

The Camera Fiend

E. W. (Ernest William) Hornung

A vulnerable schoolboy, burdened by a deep-seated need for heroic validation, inadvertently becomes the pawn in a murderous photographer’s ghoulish pursuit of capturing the exact moment of death on film.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Delectable Duchy

The Delectable Duchy

Arthur Quiller-Couch

The Delectable Duchy captures the rugged, salt-sprayed essence of Cornwall through a collection of vignettes that blur the line between local folklore and the quiet dramas of everyday life. It offers an intimate, atmospheric window into a world where the sea, the soil, and the church define the boundaries of human…

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. XX, No. 983, October 29, 1898

The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. XX, No. 983, October 29, 1898

Various

A vibrant, multifaceted window into the Victorian era, this collection gathers fiction, travelogues, and practical advice meant to cultivate the minds and manners of young women at the turn of the century.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Relentless City

The Relentless City

E. F. (Edward Frederic) Benson

A clash of worlds unfolds as American industrial wealth collides with the fading, rigid grace of the British aristocracy in a narrative of social maneuvering, hidden pasts, and the struggle to find authentic connection.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Tysons (Mr. and Mrs. Nevill Tyson)

The Tysons (Mr. and Mrs. Nevill Tyson)

May Sinclair

A marriage built on fascination and folly struggles against the stifling judgment of a small English village. It is a portrait of a volatile man and the devoted woman who anchors his chaotic existence.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Thomas Stanley: His Original Lyrics, Complete, In Their Collated Readings of 1647, 1651, 1657.: With an Introduction, Textual Notes, a List of Editions, an Appendix of Translations, and a Portrait

Thomas Stanley: His Original Lyrics, Complete, In Their Collated Readings of 1647, 1651, 1657.: With an Introduction, Textual Notes, a List of Editions, an Appendix of Translations, and a Portrait

Thomas Stanley

The seventeenth-century lyric finds its most refined and serene expression in these pages, capturing the delicate interplay of love, wit, and classical grace. This collection offers a complete, authoritative window into the mind of a poet who remained remarkably untouched by the political turbulence of his era.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Wilhelmina in London

Wilhelmina in London

Barry Pain

Fresh from the provinces with empty pockets and a high spirit, a young woman steps off the train to conquer London on her own terms.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume 01

Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume 01

Unknown

These tales capture the rugged spirit of the Scottish Borders, where history, hardship, and human kindness collide in the lives of ordinary people. They transform local legend into a timeless record of endurance.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of A Girton Girl

A Girton Girl

Annie Edwards

A young woman’s intellectual ambitions collide with the stifling expectations of her social class, setting off a quiet, poignant struggle between traditional duty and the desire for a life of the mind.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of A Legend of Reading Abbey

A Legend of Reading Abbey

Charles MacFarlane

An abbey built on royal ambition becomes a sanctuary and a fortress when England fractures under a disputed crown.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Averil

Averil

Rosa Nouchette Carey

A delicate orphan girl leaves a cramped attic in France, stepping into a grand London household where Quiet kindness must navigate selfish family demands, hidden double lives, and sudden scandal.

British Literature5 min read
Cover of Boscobel

Boscobel

William Harrison Ainsworth

He spent forty days running for his life through a fallen kingdom, protected only by the reckless devotion of a few backwoods loyalists and a sequence of absurd disguises.

British Literature8 min read
Cover of Eustace Marchmont: A friend of the people

Eustace Marchmont: A friend of the people

Evelyn Everett-Green

A young idealist arrives in Cornwall determined to champion the working class, only to find that his political theories fracture against local traditions, violent industrial unrest, and the steady faith of a woman who sees human suffering through a deeply spiritual lens.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Heather and Snow

Heather and Snow

George MacDonald

A proud young Scotsman’s pursuit of earthly ambition gives way to spiritual awakening through the steady, unyielding love of a farmer’s daughter.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Hester: A Story of Contemporary Life, Volume 2 (of 3)

Hester: A Story of Contemporary Life, Volume 2 (of 3)

Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant

In the sleepy provincial town of Redborough, pride, hidden resentments, and reckless ambition silently pull a respectable banking family toward the brink of ruin.

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

King Henry IV, Part 1

William Shakespeare

A crown won by treason sits uneasily on the head, threatened by the very lords who helped seize it and compromised by an heir who prefers tavern brawls to royal court.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Modern Street Ballads

Modern Street Ballads

Unknown

Anonymous broadsides gave nineteenth-century Britain its daily news, low comedy, and public protests long before music halls took over the streets.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Secresy

Secresy

E. (Eliza) Fenwick

Isolation and forced compliance turn love into a weapon, destroying the very independence a headstrong young woman attempts to claim.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Six Plays

Six Plays

Darwin, Florence Henrietta Fisher, Lady

A quiet world of English village life comes to light through gentle domestic comedy, lingering romantic longings, and the stubborn realities of rural poverty.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Stand Fast, Craig-Royston! (Volume II)

Stand Fast, Craig-Royston! (Volume II)

William Black

A young man's desperate love for an enigmatic woman collides with social prejudice, hidden shame, and the dubious reputation of her grandfather.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of The Reflections of Ambrosine: A Novel

The Reflections of Ambrosine: A Novel

Elinor Glyn

A high-born young woman trades her freedom for her family’s survival, only to discover that the aristocratic world she sacrificed herself to enter is governed by its own ruthless code.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of A Nine Days' Wonder

A Nine Days' Wonder

B. M. (Bithia Mary) Croker

A hidden identity and a forgotten heritage reshape a young life when an Irish country girl is revealed to be the lost daughter of a British peer.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Castara: The Third Edition of 1640

Castara: The Third Edition of 1640

William Habington

A devotion to chaste, earthly affection transforms over time into a total surrender to divine transcendence.

British Literature5 min read
Cover of John Herring: A West of England Romance. Volume 3 (of 3)

John Herring: A West of England Romance. Volume 3 (of 3)

S. (Sabine) Baring-Gould

In a bleak coastal landscape defined by bone-chilling granite and relentless Atlantic gales, a young idealist discovers that doing the honorable thing offers no protection against heartbreak, deceit, or the devastating consequences of misplaced devotion.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Sunrise

Sunrise

William Black

Behind polished Venetian doors and quietly shuttered London drawing rooms, a vast subterranean engine of European revolution turns, threatening to swallow two lovers whole.

British Literature8 min read
Cover of Sweet Mace: A Sussex Legend of the Iron Times

Sweet Mace: A Sussex Legend of the Iron Times

George Manville Fenn

In the dense, damp valleys of seventeenth-century Sussex, an unyielding ironmaster, a ruthless courtier, and a local witch collide over a young woman’s fate.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of The complete works of John Gower, volume 4

The complete works of John Gower, volume 4

John Gower

A quiet, relentless examination of a society unraveling from within, this volume brings a medieval poet’s moral outrage into sharp focus.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of The Emancipated

The Emancipated

George Gissing

A rigid young widow with a fortress of religious pride clashes with a brilliant, volatile freethinker under the dazzling, permissive sun of Southern Italy.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of The great amulet

The great amulet

Maud Diver

Love can forge a sanctuary out of hardship, yet even the deepest devotion cannot undo choices made in haste or pride.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Hole in the Wall

The Hole in the Wall

Arthur Morrison

A young boy steps into the shadowed taverns of the London Docks, where his grandfather keeps a dark secret among thieves, murderers, and lost fortunes.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume 02

Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume 02

Unknown

A spirited tapestry of Scottish life, where desperate rievers, pious Covenanters, and star-crossed lovers navigate a world governed by moonlight raids, rough justice, and capricious fate.

British Literature8 min read
Cover of Winding Paths

Winding Paths

Gertrude Page

A soul in turmoil searches for a straight path through the world, only to learn that life moves forward across winding ways.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of "1914"

"1914"

John Oxenham

An comfortable English suburb watches its young men scatter into the storm of August 1914, discovering that the tidy, optimistic world they built cannot protect them from the tragedy unfolding across Europe.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 57, No. 354, April 1845

Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 57, No. 354, April 1845

Various

A deep dive into classical art, high-stakes fiction, natural science, and personal memory, offering a rich window into nineteenth-century literary thought.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Double Harness

Double Harness

Anthony Hope

Two people step into marriage expecting absolute romantic fulfillment, only to discover that shared life requires patience, sacrifice, and the quiet surrender of ideal illusions.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Dr. Wortle's School

Dr. Wortle's School

Anthony Trollope

A combative English headmaster risks his school, his standing, and his peace of mind to protect an American assistant whose secret marriage defies the strict conventions of Victorian society.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Legends and Lyrics. Part 1

Legends and Lyrics. Part 1

Adelaide Anne Procter

Unflinching duty and quiet grief shape the inner landscapes of these mid-Victorian verses. The collection charts how human devotion, refined through the furnace of sorrow, finds its final weight and permanence in heaven.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Love

Love

Elizabeth Von Arnim

Fiftyish widow Catherine Cumfrit falls madly in love with a man twenty years her junior, braving social outrage and her own mounting panic over aging to claim a startling late joy.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of The education of Uncle Paul

The education of Uncle Paul

Algernon Blackwood

A man finds his long-dormant inner life reawakened by his niece, a child whose ethereal connection to nature guides him toward a deeper, mystical reality. This gentle, poignant narrative explores the boundary between the adult world of rigid convention and the boundless, imaginative potential of childhood.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The False One: A Tragedy

The False One: A Tragedy

John Fletcher

In ancient Egypt, political maneuvering and raw desire collide as Roman conquerors and Alexandrian courtiers gamble empires for personal survival and absolute power.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Farringdons

The Farringdons

Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler

A vivid portrait of a woman navigating the tension between her own fierce independence and the quiet, enduring devotion of a man she has long taken for granted.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Last Abbot of Glastonbury: A Tale of the Dissolution of the Monasteries

The Last Abbot of Glastonbury: A Tale of the Dissolution of the Monasteries

A. D. (Augustine David) Crake

Sacrificed to the ruthless machinery of Henry VIII’s Reformation, an ancient Somerset abbey falls, leaving its loyal charges to guard a dangerous secret amid betrayal, torture, and the shadow of the gallows.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of The organisation of thought, educational and scientific

The organisation of thought, educational and scientific

Alfred North Whitehead

Knowledge is not a collection of isolated facts, but a single, living unity rooted in human experience.

British Literature6 min read