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British Literature — page 67

6,377 public-domain british literature books, summarised. Page 67 of 133.

Cover of Neighbourhood: A year's life in and about an English village

Neighbourhood: A year's life in and about an English village

Tickner Edwardes

This chronicle of a year in the English countryside captures the vanishing rhythms of a village, blending meticulous observations of nature with the quiet, persistent lives of those who inhabit the land.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Timon of Athens

Timon of Athens

William Shakespeare

A wealthy nobleman loses his fortune and his faith in humanity, spiriting himself away to the wilderness to live in bitter isolation. This stark tragedy explores the volatile border between boundless generosity and absolute hate.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 57, No. 355, May 1845

Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 57, No. 355, May 1845

Various

This vibrant collection of 1845 periodical writing offers a panoramic view of Victorian-era intellectual life, blending sharp political analysis with literary criticism and spirited storytelling.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Carette of Sark

Carette of Sark

John Oxenham

A story of forbidden love and smugglers’ feuds unfolds on the rugged, isolated cliffs of Sark, where a young man discovers his own identity is inextricably linked to the island’s most dangerous outlaw.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Krindlesyke

Krindlesyke

Wilfrid Wilson Gibson

Krindlesyke is a stark, relentless drama of Northumbrian life, tracing the erosion of a family through generations of pride, bitterness, and abandonment. Within the remote, unforgiving landscape of the fells, human lives burn out like fires in a draughty cottage, leaving only the cold stone walls to endure.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Red Rowans

Red Rowans

Flora Annie Webster Steel

The red berries of the rowan tree cast a long, scarlet shadow over the restless hearts of those gathered in a remote Highland glen, where the pursuit of love often finds itself at odds with the demands of society.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Broken Thread

The Broken Thread

William Le Queux

A young baronet’s life descends into a whirlwind of international crime and obsession after he falls under the sway of a mysterious, beautiful woman. This suspenseful mystery explores the fragility of status and the dangerous pull of the unknown.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Doom of the Griffiths

The Doom of the Griffiths

Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell

A generational curse, rooted in ancient betrayal and a chilling prophecy, inexorably draws a young man toward a dark and fated conclusion. Caught between his father’s erratic temperament and his own desperate search for love, he finds himself an unwilling instrument of his family's destruction.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The fifth of November

The fifth of November

Charles S. (Charles Sylvester) Bentley

A young woman’s desperate love and a father’s fanatical treason collide in this historical romance, where the shadows of the Gunpowder Plot threaten to consume both the English throne and a fragile, forbidden romance.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The New Warden

The New Warden

Ritchie, David G. (David George), Mrs.

A scholarly Warden finds his quiet, intellectual world upended by an ill-advised engagement, forcing a reckoning with his own principles and the true nature of love.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of The School Friends

The School Friends

William Henry Giles Kingston

Two young men diverge onto paths of virtue and vice, leading to starkly different fates in this collection of moralizing tales set across the globe.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Whatsoever a Man Soweth

Whatsoever a Man Soweth

William Le Queux

A woman in mortal fear of a mysterious blackmailer finds her only salvation in an old friend, leading them into a dangerous game of deception.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of A Dream of the North Sea

A Dream of the North Sea

James Runciman

A physician ventures into the brutal, storm-tossed realities of the North Sea fishing grounds to provide medical relief to men who have long been abandoned to the mercy of the elements.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Arthur

Arthur

Laurence Binyon

This play finds the legendary Round Table not in the flush of youth, but in the long, cooling shadows of its final, inevitable dissolution. It is a work of high, somber dignity, tracing the fracture of a kingdom through the impossible triangle of a King, his greatest knight, and his Queen.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Everybody's Business Is Nobody's Business

Everybody's Business Is Nobody's Business

Daniel Defoe

This is a biting social critique of early 18th-century London, written by a man who believes the city’s working class has become dangerously unruly. It is a sharp, polemical appeal for order, regulation, and the restoration of traditional hierarchy.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Facing Death

Facing Death

G. A. (George Alfred) Henty

A young miner rises from the suffocating darkness of a Staffordshire pit to become a leader of men, navigating industrial upheaval, personal sacrifice, and the hidden dangers of the earth.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Hushed Up! A Mystery of London

Hushed Up! A Mystery of London

William Le Queux

A mysterious death, a secret society of criminals, and a desperate search for the truth drive this Edwardian thriller. Behind the polished veneer of London’s elite, dark forces threaten those who dare to love.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of John Leech's Pictures of Life and Character, Vol. 1 (of 3): From the Collection of "Mr. Punch"

John Leech's Pictures of Life and Character, Vol. 1 (of 3): From the Collection of "Mr. Punch"

John Leech

A parade of Victorian life viewed through a satirical lens, where the trivial becomes monumental and the daily mishaps of the gentleman class provide an endless, sharp-eyed comedy of manners.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Merry-Garden and Other Stories

Merry-Garden and Other Stories

Arthur Quiller-Couch

This collection of short stories captures the elusive melancholy of the past, where human lives brush against folklore, maritime superstition, and the quiet decay of the English and French countryside. It is a work of atmosphere, tracing the thin lines between memory, dream, and reality.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Nests and Eggs of Familiar British Birds, Second Series: Described and Illustrated

Nests and Eggs of Familiar British Birds, Second Series: Described and Illustrated

H. G. (Henry Gardiner) Adams

This volume serves as a Victorian-era field guide, documenting the nesting habits, eggs, and seasonal behaviors of thirty-eight British bird species with a blend of scientific observation and moral instruction.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Renaissance literary theory and practice

Renaissance literary theory and practice

Charles Sears Baldwin

Renaissance literary theory and practice captures the intellectual fervor of the 15th and 16th centuries, tracing how European thinkers wrestled with the weight of classical antiquity while forging new, vibrant paths for their own languages. It examines the profound shift from medieval traditions to the humanistic…

British Literature7 min read
Cover of The Day of Temptation

The Day of Temptation

William Le Queux

The shadows of international espionage and the blinding light of a transformative love collide in this fast-paced tale of an innocent woman caught in a deadly political web.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Dead Man's Love

Dead Man's Love

Tom Gallon

HOOK An escaped convict finds a hanging body, adopts a new identity, and becomes entangled in a dangerous conspiracy to save a young woman from her predatory guardian.

British Literature5 min read
Cover of Eighteen Hundred and Eleven

Eighteen Hundred and Eleven

Mrs. (Anna Letitia) Barbauld

A prophetic vision of a nation’s decline, this poem serves as both a somber warning to an imperial power and a hopeful meditation on the inevitable migration of human culture across the globe.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Four Short Plays

Four Short Plays

John Galsworthy

This collection of four short dramas offers a sharp, unsentimental look at the hidden anxieties, moral contradictions, and fragile romanticism of early twentieth-century life.

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

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

Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant

A woman of immense capability faces the sudden ruin of her family bank and the devastating betrayal of the man she considers her son, ultimately confronting the limits of her own formidable will.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Honeycomb

Honeycomb

Dorothy M. (Dorothy Miller) Richardson

A young woman navigates the stifling expectations of early 20th-century life, seeking to preserve her inner autonomy against the encroaching demands of family, social class, and gendered roles.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Madame Claire

Madame Claire

Susan Ertz

The wisdom of an elderly woman transforms the lives of her family, proving that age is no barrier to shaping the future. This elegant novel explores the intricate, often hidden, connections between generations.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of My Lords of Strogue, Vol. 3 (of 3): A Chronicle of Ireland, from the Convention to the Union

My Lords of Strogue, Vol. 3 (of 3): A Chronicle of Ireland, from the Convention to the Union

Lewis Wingfield

In the shadow of the Act of Union, a nation’s crumbling sovereignty mirrors the fractured lives of those bound by blood, betrayal, and the desperate search for liberty.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Portia

Portia

Duchess

A high-society household is fractured by a shameful accusation, leaving a young woman to navigate the tension between her own cold judgment and the magnetic, misunderstood man she is expected to despise.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Female Wits

The Female Wits

Anonymous

This biting theatrical satire exposes the chaotic vanity of the late seventeenth-century London stage, mocking the over-wrought ambitions of three prominent women playwrights who dared to challenge the masculine monopoly of the theater.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Hill: A Romance of Friendship

The Hill: A Romance of Friendship

Horace Annesley Vachell

This story follows a young boy’s formative years at the prestigious Harrow School, exploring the profound, often painful complexities of adolescent loyalty, social ambition, and moral growth. It captures the distinct "strenuousness and sentiment" of English public school life, tracking a friendship that is tested…

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Indian Bangle

The Indian Bangle

Fergus Hume

This Victorian mystery follows a tangled conspiracy of imposture, murder, and political radicalism. When a young woman is coerced into a loveless marriage by a man claiming to be a colonial heir, her friends must unravel a web of deceit to save her inheritance and expose the truth behind a series of violent crimes.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Spinners

The Spinners

Eden Phillpotts

In a small Dorset mill town, the rigid hierarchies of the early twentieth-century textile industry collide with the messy, unyielding realities of human desire and the struggle for personal dignity.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of A Day Well Spent: A Farce, in One Act

A Day Well Spent: A Farce, in One Act

John Oxenford

A runaway apprentice and his fast-talking foreman attempt to abandon their shop for a day of mischief, only to find themselves entangled in a series of increasingly absurd cases of mistaken identity.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of A Question of Marriage

A Question of Marriage

Vaizey, George de Horne, Mrs.

When a medical diagnosis threatens to define a woman's future, she must navigate the boundary between duty and personal happiness. This story follows two friends—Vanna and Jean—as they encounter love, loss, and the quiet, often overlooked, trials of domestic life.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Better Dead

Better Dead

J. M. (James Matthew) Barrie

A young Scottish intellectual travels to London, determined to "improve" the world by assassinating its most superfluous citizens, only to find his own violent logic eventually unraveling.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Daisy Thornton

Daisy Thornton

Mary Jane Holmes

A young woman’s impulsive decision to annul her marriage triggers a cascade of regret, testing the resilience of love and the limits of forgiveness.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Dodo Wonders--

Dodo Wonders--

E. F. (Edward Frederic) Benson

A restless, indomitable socialite navigates the fading glamour of the British aristocracy as the First World War dismantles her world, forcing her to confront the absurdity of her own privilege.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Eli's Children: The Chronicles of an Unhappy Family

Eli's Children: The Chronicles of an Unhappy Family

George Manville Fenn

This is a story of how rigid, judgmental moralizing can dismantle a family from within, leaving its members to navigate the ruin of their own making.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of In Kedar's Tents

In Kedar's Tents

Henry Seton Merriman

In the shadow of a volatile Spanish civil war, a quick-witted Englishman becomes entangled in a dangerous web of political conspiracy, secret letters, and a love that tests the limits of loyalty.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Isabel Clarendon, Vol. 1 (of 2)

Isabel Clarendon, Vol. 1 (of 2)

George Gissing

HOOK A refined widow of the English upper class finds her carefully ordered life disrupted by an intense, melancholic stranger who has retreated into the countryside.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of John Bull, Junior

John Bull, Junior

Max O'Rell

An immigrant teacher navigates the peculiar landscape of the English classroom, offering a witty, observant guide to the misadventures of learning a language and the irrepressible spirit of the British schoolboy.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Peter Plymley's Letters, and Selected Essays

Peter Plymley's Letters, and Selected Essays

Sydney Smith

These letters and essays offer a masterclass in the power of wit as a weapon against institutional injustice, proving that a sharp mind can dismantle political bigotry more effectively than a formal decree.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Philippa

Philippa

Mrs. Molesworth

Philippa Raynsworth, a spirited young woman, orchestrates an elaborate, secret deception to assist her sister’s social ambitions, only to discover that the most important truths are those she must eventually confront within herself.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Poetry for children

Poetry for children

Charles Lamb

Everyday domestic scenes, sibling squabbles, and childhood moral dilemmas are rendered through structured, instructional verse designed to shape the character of young readers.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Corner of Harley Street: Being Some Familiar Correspondence of Peter Harding, M.D

The Corner of Harley Street: Being Some Familiar Correspondence of Peter Harding, M.D

Bashford, H. H. (Henry Howarth), Sir

The physician’s life in pre-war London is a study of quiet wisdom, shifting social tides, and the profound, unsung responsibility of tending to the human condition. Through a series of reflective letters, a seasoned doctor weighs the march of scientific progress against the enduring simplicity of the heart.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Cornhill Magazine (Vol. I, No. 4, April 1860)

The Cornhill Magazine (Vol. I, No. 4, April 1860)

Various

A single volume of a Victorian periodical gathers the entire arc of human interest into one place, moving without a stumble from domestic betrayals to the cutting edge of science.

British Literature6 min read