Family Life Classics

Everybody's met a Judy. Somehow, as crass and rusty on the outside as they always are, you always like them. Deep down inside they have a soft heart, which you can see in their eyes if you look long enough. Why? Because often they have a story - of pain, and they just like to hide it under the gruff face. Meet Judy, raised by her grandparents because of her dysfunctional home; has a baby out of wedlock in her teens and is dying of cancer.

If you're a fan of mid-19th Century melodramas with many twists and turns you will love this book. Acclaimed as Holmes greatest commercial success the charming heroine of this tale is Lena Rivers whose mother died when she was a baby. The father is unknown, and she is brought up by her grandparents in the New England mountains. When the grandfather dies, she and her grandmother are uprooted to live with her uncle in Kentucky. His wealthy wife and 3 spoiled children are not at all happy about taking in these poor relations and do all they can to make them feel unwelcome.

Howard's End is about three families in England at the beginning of the twentieth century. The three families represent different gradations of the Edwardian middle class: the Wilcoxes, who are rich capitalists with a fortune made in the Colonies; the half-German Schlegel siblings (Margaret, Tibby, and Helen), who represent the intellectual bourgeoisie and have a lot in common with the real-life Bloomsbury Group; and the Basts, a couple who are struggling members of the lower-middle class. The Schlegel sisters try to help the poor Basts and try to make the Wilcoxes less prejudiced.

Um die Gerüchte zu verdrängen, dass seine geliebte Tochter Klara in der fernen Stadt auf die schiefe Bahn geraten sei, erfindet Jan Andersson eine wahnhafte Scheinwelt: Dort ist die Tochter eine Kaiserin, er selbst der "Kaiser von Portugallien". Als Klara nach fünfzehn Jahren in die Heimat zurückkehrt, erträgt sie ihren geisteskranken Vater nicht – ein Familiendrama beginnt. Es sind Romane wie dieser, mit denen Selma Lagerlöf berühmt wurde. 1909 erhielt sie als erste Frau den Literaturnobelpreis.

Jane, ich begehre von Ihnen, daß Sie mein Weib werden; nur Sie beabsichtige ich zu heiraten...

Uno dei grandi romanzi di Dickens, scritto tra il 1855 e il 1857, pubblicato in fascicoli mensili Esso è diviso in due libri: Povertà, in cui si parla delle misere condizioni della famiglia Dorrit, la cui madre è morta e il padre è in carcere per debiti, e della bontà della piccola Amy; compare inoltre tutta una folla di piccoli personaggi, seconda la tradizione di Dickens, che si ritroveranno poi nel corso di tutto il libro.

Ta niewielkich rozmiarów powieść Dostojewskiego, przenosi nas do fikcyjnego Ruletenberga, w którym ważą się losy arystokratycznej rodziny i osób z nią związanych. Wszyscy grają: sami ze sobą, z najbliższymi, z losem; grają pasjami, zatracając się całkowicie. Nawet stareńka "la baboulinka", 75-letnia Antonida Wasiliewna, która – mogłoby się wydawać – bezbłędnie demaskuje zakłamanie bliskich i ukazuje ich prawdziwe motywy, sama daje się porwać emocjom gry w kasynie przegrywając pieniądze przeznaczone na remont cerkwi. Autor z niezwykłą precyzją opisuje wir uczuć, w jaki wpadają hazardziści.

За миниатюру Гольбейна, известную как Дама с букетом гвоздик, разворачивается настоящее сражение на лондонском аукционе. Кэтрин Лоример удается обойти соперников, однако вместо триумфа она чувствует тревогу и опустошенность. Затея с миниатюрой — это огромная авантюра, и если она не удастся, Кэтрин окажется на грани разорения. К тому же Кэтрин одинока: самый дорогой ей человек, племянница, вскоре выйдет замуж и покинет ее. Портрет красивой, но несчастной женщины завораживает новую владелицу… Но не случится ли так, что она сама повторит судьбу гольбейновской модели?

Ethan Frome (1911), relata la vida de un hombre rodeado de condiciones adversas que demuestran su amargo destino. Él se convierte en un fantasma viviente que deambula su pena por el pueblo de Starkfield. Ethan se encuentra atrapado en un matrimonio sin amor y resignado a su aciaga existencia, hasta la llegada de la prima de su esposa, Mattie Silver, a quien comienza a amar en silencio. En 1993 se realizó una adaptación cinematográfica con el mismo título, protagonizada por el actor Liam Neeson.

The Secret Garden is a children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett first published as a book in 1911, after a version was published as an American magazine serial beginning in 1910. Set in England, it is one of Burnett's most popular novels and is considered a classic of English children's literature. Several stage and film adaptations have been made. The American edition was published by Stokes with illustrations by Maria Louise Kirk (signed as M. L. Kirk) and the British edition by Heinemann with illustrations by Charles Heath Robinson.

Когда на линейке объявляют конкурс новогодних постановок, Бажена понимает – это её шанс. Она всю жизнь мечтала стать театральным режиссёром, и никто не заслуживает этого больше. Но свою кандидатуру на участие также выдвигает холодный и нелюдимый Феликс. На кону стоит рекомендательное письмо, с которым будет в разы проще поступить в вуз. Она – самоуверенная выскочка, одержимая мечтой. Он – отпрыск влиятельной театральной династии. Оба жаждут победы, и оба... "не соответствуют формату". Именно так звучит ответ организаторов конкурса, когда герои отправляют им свои сценарии.

En la cautivadora Ana de las Tejas Verdes, nos sumergimos en un mundo atemporal lleno de encanto, imaginación y lecciones universales. La historia sigue a Anne Shirley, una niña huérfana con una imaginación desbordante y un espíritu inquebrantable, mientras llega por error a la idílica granja Green Gables. Ambientada en la pintoresca Isla del Príncipe Eduardo a fines del siglo XIX, Ana, con su cabello pelirrojo y su corazón vibrante, conquista no solo el corazón de Marilla y Matthew Cuthbert, sino también el de todos en la comunidad.

"Casa Howard" è ormai considerato il capolavoro di Edward M. Forster, ed è certamente uno dei "classici" della letteratura del ventesimo secolo. La ricchezza del romanzo sta nella pregnanza di una narrazione piena di tensioni, in parte irrisolte perché lo stesso Forster è partecipe di esse e il "solo connettere" del sottotitolo del romanzo gli è impossibile solo in parte, come egli ben sa. Ma forse il fascino di "Casa Howard" sta proprio in questa difficoltà a risolvere contraddizioni ancora irrisolvibili.

Pubblicato a Zurigo nel 1880, Heidi è un tipico romanzo di formazione la cui protagonista, rimasta orfana in tenera età, viene affidata da una zia alle cure del nonno paterno, il burbero e misantropo Zio dell'Alpe che si è ritirato a vivere in una baita alpina. Tra le alpi svizzere la bambina cresce libera e spensierata fino al giorno in cui la zia viene a riprenderla per affidarla ad una ricca famiglia di Francoforte la cui figlia, Clara, è immobilizzata su di una sedia a rotelle. Le bambine diventano subito molto amiche.

A novel based on the emotional conflict centered around a son’s urge to sever the psychological umbilical cord which ties him to a selfish and possessive mother. Completely unsympathetic to his young experiences and inclinations, forever critical of his interests and reactions, she nevertheless appeals to his sympathies and attempts to hold him emotionally.

Isabel Archer is a young American orphan who receives an inheritance from an uncle. Taken under her aunt's wings, she meets Madame Merle, her aunt's worldly friend, who instills in Isabel a sense of European sophistication, a trait that comes to overpower her own common sense. Isabel marries widower Gilbert Osmond, who projects refined tastes and intellectual detachment. Isabel is utterly captivated by Osmond's languid charm, and he is thrilled to have his superior prize.

A collection of 18 pieces of writing, "Shoes and Stockings" by Louisa May Alcott comes with stories about war, love and other important topics, making readers laugh at times, bringing them to tears at other times, and always getting them to contemplate. Louisa May Alcott was one of the most prolific American writers of the 19th century. She wrote novels and poems, and she published her letters written to her family while she was recovering from typhoid after she had started work as a nurse during the Civil War.

Blanche, lady Chester, una joven bella, recién casada y embarazada, y también un poco engreída, se traslada a regañadientes junto con su hermana Aileen a una casa adosada de las afueras mientras su marido, Charles, se encuentra de misión diplomática en Berlín. Al llegar, descubre horrorizada que sus vecinos, los que ocupan la casa adosada a la suya, son de una clase social inferior a la suya.

In this charming classic story, Harry, the little white dog with black spots, runs away before bath time and plays outside until he changes into a black dog with white spots.

H.G. Wells is best known for his science fiction, but some of his greatest works were in other genres. "The Passionate Friends" is a love story. It also is a story about dreams, despair, jealousy, sex, the struggle against social convention, the future of civilization, and much much more. It is written by a father to his son, "not indeed to the child you are now, but to the man you are going to be." He writes it so that one day, perhaps when he is dead, his grown son can read it and rediscover him as a friend and equal.