Tag: classics
-
Brideshead Revisited
by Evelyn Waugh Evelyn Waugh’s beloved masterpiece, with an introduction by Paula Byrne The most nostalgic and reflective of Evelyn Waugh’s novels, Brideshead Revisited looks back to the golden age before the Second World War. It tells the story of Charles Ryder’s infatuation with the Marchmains and the rapidly disappearing world of privilege they inhabit. Enchanted first…
-
Middlemarch
by George Elliot Middlemarch is a complex tale of idealism, disillusion, profligacy, loyalty and frustrated love. This penetrating analysis of the life of an English provincial town during the time of social unrest prior to the Reform Bill of 1832 is told through the lives of Dorothea Brooke and Dr Tertius Lydgate and includes a host…
-
Howards End
by E.M.Forster ‘The poor cannot always reach those whom they want to love, and they can hardly ever escape from those whom they love no longer. We rich can’ ‘Only connect.’ is the idea at the heart of this book, a heartbreaking and provocative tale of three families at the beginning of the twentieth century:…
-
Rebecca
by Daphne Du Maurier Everyone knows that Maxim de Winter was obsessed with his glamorous wife – and devastated by her tragic death. So when he proposes to a shy, anxious young woman after a whirlwind meeting in the South of France, no one is more surprised than the new bride herself. But when they…
-
Tess Of The D’Urbevilles
by Thomas Hardy Introduction and Notes by Michael Irwin, Professor of English Literature, University of Kent at Canterbury. Set in Hardy’s Wessex, Tess is a moving novel of hypocrisy and double standards. Its challenging sub-title, A Pure Woman, infuriated critics when the book was first published in 1891, and it was condemned as immoral and pessimistic. It…
-
Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Bronte Orphaned Jane Eyre grows up in the home of her heartless aunt and later attends a charity school with a harsh regime, enduring loneliness and cruelty. This troubled childhood strengthens Jane’s natural independence and spirit – which prove necessary when she finds a position as governess at Thornfield Hall. However, when she…
-
The Count Of Monte Christo
by Alexandre Dumas The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas is a timeless tale of betrayal, revenge, and redemption that has captivated readers for generations. Set in the early 19th century, this epic adventure follows Edmond Dantès, a young and wrongfully imprisoned man who embarks on an extraordinary journey to seek vengeance on those who…
-
1984
by George Orwell The Thought Police, Doublethink, Newspeak, Big Brother – 1984 itself: these terms and concepts have moved from the world of fiction into our everyday lives. They are central to our thinking about freedom and its suppression; yet they were newly created by George Orwell in 1949 as he conjured his dystopian vision…
-
The Jane Austen Collection – Emma, Pride & Prejudice, Persuasion, Mansfield Park, Sense & Sensibility
Any book in the set can be taken out individually “Emma” by Jane Austen Jane Austen teased readers with the idea of a ‘heroine whom no one but myself will much like’, but Emma is irresistible. ‘Handsome, clever, and rich’, Emma is also an ‘imaginist’, ‘on fire with speculation and foresight’. She sees the signs…