The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky's crowning achievement, is a tale of patricide & family rivalry that embodies the moral & spiritual dissolution of an entire society (Russia in the 1870s). It created a national furor comparable only to the excitement stirred by the publication, in 1866, of Crime & Punishment. To Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov captured the quintessence of Russian character in all its exaltation, compassion, & profligacy. Significantly,...

Little Nell Trent lives in the quiet gloom of the old curiosity shop with her ailing grandfather, for whom she cares with selfless devotion. But when they are unable to pay their debts to the stunted, lecherous and demonic money-lender Daniel Quilp, the shop is seized and they are forced to flee, thrown into a shadowy world in which there seems to be no safe haven. Dickens's portrayal of the innocent, tragic Nell made The Old Curiosity Shop an instant...

On July 4, the town of Hopwell in Illinois, is invaded by demons intent on destruction. Opposing them is Nest Freemark, a girl who has magical powers. The drama comes when a demon announces he is her father.

One of the finest American authors of the 20th century, Wallace Stegner compiled an impressive collection of accolades during his lifetime, including a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, a National Book Award, and three O. Henry Awards. His final novel, Crossing to Safety is the quiet yet stirring tale of two couples that meet during the Great Depression and form a lifelong bond. "This is a wonderfully rich, warm, and affecting book."-Library Journal

A wounded veteran discovers the healing power of nature in this classic American novel by the author of A Girl of the Limberlost. Wounded in World War I, Jamie McFarlane is looking for a peaceful place to spend his final days. After escaping the grim confines of a California military hospital, he finds himself at the seaside home of the Bee Master. There, with the help of an impish eleven-year-old called Little Scout, Jamie tends to the hives and...

In his Introduction to Italian class, Aidan Dunne's predictable life changes, and the evening class "becomes a place of intrigue and revelation."--Jacket.

In a malarial outpost in the South American rain forest, two misplaced gringos converge and clash in this novel from the National Book Award-winning author. Martin Quarrier has come to convert the elusive Niaruna Indians to his brand of Christianity. Lewis Moon, a stateless mercenary who is himself part Indian, has come to kill them on the behalf of the local comandante. Out of this struggle Peter Matthiessen creates an electrifying moral...

The internationally acclaimed sensation that started a movement of giving. When his teacher sets a challenge to his class to come up with a plan to change the world for the better, twelve-year-old Trevor McKinney's idea is simple, do a good deed for three people and ask each of them to pay it forward to three others who need help. At first, the plan goes awry, and Trevor's project seems valuable only as a lesson on the dark side of human nature. But...

Originally published in 1859, "Adam Bede" is the first novel by George Eliot, which was the pen name of Mary Ann Evans. Eliot was one of the leading British writers of the Victorian era, as well as a noted journalist, poet, and translator. "Adam Bede" concerns a small, tight-knit, and fictional rural community called Hayslope and the romantic drama that develops between four of its young residents: the title character Adam, a young carpenter, the...

This early 20th-century classic chronicles the adventures of an orphaned newspaper boy in his 'hand-to-hand scuffle' with life in a midwestern metropolis. Gene Stratton-Porter's faith in the healing power of nature is also apparent, in a lovingly depicted tamarack swamp set near the city.