Literary Society

In a late 19th century London studio, aspiring artist Basil Hallward puts the finishing touches on a portrait of his handsome young friend Dorian Gray. Dorian looks at the painting and wishes that the portrait might grow old while he remains forever young.

Estella Diamond is the youngest child and only daughter of a successful brick-factory owner, a self-described family man who is not averse to being called a kingpin. Estella’s precocious nature leads her to discover something none of her brothers know: that their father was once married to an aspiring ceramics artist named Salina, who dreamed big and turned her back on society’s conventions. Estella grows up planning her future in the image of her father’s daring first wife, rather than that of her traditional mother.

Hester Prynne commits adultery in a Puritan settlement and, as a result, is "branded" for the rest of her life by having to wear a scarlet letter "A" on her breast. Throughout the story, a complex relationship develops between Hester, her lover, her husband, and her daughter.

Claire Boltwood and her father drive their Gomez-Dep roadster from Minnesota to Seattle, exposing themselves to all the perils of early motoring. They encounter the upper-crust Boltwoods who are at once more noble and more insignificant. Other class barriers exist between Claire and a mechanic named Milt, who, along with his cat, follows close behind.

Set in English society before the 1832 Reform Bill, Wives and Daughters centers on the story of youthful Molly Gibson, brought up from childhood by her father. When he remarries, a new stepsister enters Molly's quiet life, the loveable, but worldly and troubling, Cynthia. The narrative traces the development of the two girls into womanhood within the gossiping and watchful society of Hollingford.

Sarah Walters is a less-than-perfect debutante. She tries hard to follow the time-honored customs of the Charleston Camellia Society, as her mother and grandmother did, standing up straight in cotillion class and attending lectures about all the things that Camellias don't do. (Like ride with boys in pickup trucks).But Sarah can't quite ignore the barbarism just beneath all that propriety, and as soon as she can she decamps South Carolina for a life in New York City.

In this carefully crafted novel, Dickens reveals the complexity of London society in the enterprising 1840s as he takes the listener into the business firm and home of one of its most representative patriarchs, Paul Dombey.

One of Jane Austen's most complex and mature works, Mansfield Park shows the writer at the top of her form, tackling the manners and customs of early 19th-century society with wit and irony that still resonate with readers two centuries after the book's initial publication. Flo Gibson's compelling narration gives perfect voice to the trials and tribulations of Fanny Price, sent at a young age to live with her rich relations.

This brilliant satirical novel, tracing the life and loves of Ernest Pontifex, has continued in popularity since its original publication in 1903. Every generation finds in The Way of All Flesh a reaffirmation of youth's rightful struggle against the tyranny of harsh parents and its admirable will for freedom of personal expression.

Nigerian hall parties. Black girl gangs. Being at one with nature. Creating a home. Finding love. Belonging to a fandom. Joy can be found in many places. Bringing together the most exciting Black British voices today, Black Joy is an extraordinary anthology that celebrates everything that is brilliant and beautiful about being Black British.

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and author of the essay collection Shiksa Goddess, comes a dazzling debut novel, a comedy about New York's urban gentry living in a post-9/11 world, the arbiters of fashion and the doyennes of charity balls; about the rich and the nouveau rich(er), the glamorous and the desperate-to-be.

Despite the title, Dickens's portrayal of early industrial society is less relentlessly grim than that in novels by contemporaries such as Elizabeth Gaskell or Charles Kingsley. Hard Times weaves the tale of Thomas Gradgrind, a hard-headed politician who raises his children Louisa and Tom without love and to have no empathy, their lives completely devoid of beauty, culture, or imagination. Only after a series of crises does their father realise that the manner in which he raised his children has ruined their lives.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the comic masterpiece of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, who trained as a river-boat pilot (from which experience he took his pen-name, Mark Twain). His most famous book describes a boy's journey down the Mississippi aboard a raft with the runaway black slave Jim.

Wendelin Van Draanen didn't grow up wanting to be a writer, but 30 books later, she's convinced that writing saved her life. Or, at least, saved her from a life of bitterness and despair. Writing helped her sort out what she thought and felt and wanted. And digging deep into fictional characters helped her understand the real people in her life better as well. Wendelin shares what she's learned - about writing, life, and what it takes to live the writing life. This audiobook is packed with practical advice on the craft.

Probably the most famous of Edith Wharton's novels, Ethan Frome contrasts sharply with her usual ironic contemplation of the fashionable New York society to which she herself belonged and whose strengths and weaknesses she understood so well. Ethan Frome is a keenly-etched portrait of the simple inhabitants of a 19th-century New England village.

Una novela sobre la lucha de generaciones. Ivan Turgenev (1818-1883) fue uno de los grandes novelistas rusos, pero en su obra se adelanto tanto a su tiempo, por exponer problemas sociales mas que psicologicos, que a pesar de sus grandes meritos nunca fue considerado dentro del puesto que merece su brillante produccion.

Nana una cortesana que domina a todos, ella en realidad es la victima de una sociedad corrompida. Nana es de todos, pero no pertenece a ninguno y su desnudez que exhibe sin inhibiciones en el teatro de variedades, hace que se disimule su voz ronca y desagradable y sus ningunas cualidades artisticas.

Born into the household of a wealthy slave owner in Cuba in 1797, Juan Francisco Manzano spent his early years by the side of a woman who made him call her Mama, even though he had a mama of his own. Denied an education, young Juan still showed an exceptional talent for poetry. His verses reflect the beauty of his world, but they also expose its hideous cruelty.

Danny's World is the story of Danny, an amazing handicapped boy who won the fight to overcome the stigma of being a disabled or handicapped child following the Great Depression. The power of superstition and fear held sway over the lives of families with special children until they met Danny.