Showing results by publisher "RNIB" in All Categories

Published in 1854, the story describes class conflict in Victorian England and serves as a powerful critique of the social injustices that plagued the Industrial Revolution. Charles Dickens (1812 - 9 June 1870) is arguably the greatest novelist England ever produced. His innate comic genius and shrewd depictions of Victorian life - along with his memorable characters - have made him beloved by readers the world over.

Published between 1840 and 1841, it is Dickens' first attempt at an historical novel, his only other being A Tale of Two Cities. Full of classic Dickensian characters, the plot is based on the "no-popery" or Gordon riots of 1780 seen through the eyes of the good-hearted idiot Barnaby Rudge.

First published in 1861 it tells the tale of the lonely weaver Silas Marner who, after suffering betrayal and rejection, leaves his community to become a recluse obsessed only with accumulating money. One day Silas's money is stolen by Dunstan Cass, a dissolute son of Squire Cass, the town's leading landowner. The loss of his gold drives Silas into a deep gloom, until one day a little golden-haired orphan girl wanders into his home to change his life forever.

One of the great literary classics of Western literature. Set in 1547, this is the tale of a London beggar boy and the English prince who exchange identities.

Mark Twain, real name Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910), is one of the Great American Novelists. Friend to presidents, artists, indutrialists and European royalty, Twain is universally renowned for his wit and astute satire.

First published in 1897, this murder mystery relates the story of a young Frenchman, Louis, who, having grown up in England, returns to France at the false invitation of his Uncle Bernac. Louis quickly finds himself in personal danger as well as involved in a conspiracy against Napoleon.

First published in 1883, Treasure Island remains one of Robert Louis Stevenson's best-known and best-loved works.

A classic coming of age adventure, featuring buried treasure, treacherous pirates, and the eponymous Long John Silver, Treasure Island tells the enthralling story of Jim Hawkins, a young cabin boy, who sets sail on an 18th century voyage in search of a pirate's buried gold.

Published in 1878, portrays the courtship of the beautiful American girl Daisy Miller by Frederick Winterbourne. Winterbourne's pursuit of her is hampered by her own flirtatiousness, which is frowned upon by the other expatriates they meet in Switzerland and Italy. The the novel coments on the contrast between American and European society that is common to James's work.

Ebenezer Scrooge is a heartless old miser who doesn't enjoy Christmas and doesn't think anyone else should, either. But, one Christmas Eve, some ghostly visitors take Scrooge on a journey that changes his mind for ever.

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of Sherlock Holmes stories, originally published in 1894, by Arthur Conan Doyle. The 11 stories of the Memoirs are: Silver Blaze, The Adventure of the Yellow Face, The Stockbroker's Clerk, The Gloria Scott, The Musgrave Ritual, The Adventure of the Reigate Squire, The Adventure of the Crooked Man, The Resident Patient, The Greek Interpreter, The Naval Treaty, The Final Problem.

A Group of Noble Dames is an 1891 collection of short stories by great English novelist Thomas Hardy. The ten stories focus on "store of ladies, whose bright eyes rain influence". Hardy delves into the hidden depths of country families to reveal what went on behind the scenes.

The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard is a series of comic short sorties by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle telling of the exploits of an uncomprehending French soldier during the Napoleonic Wars. Originally published in The Strand magazine between December 1894 and September 1903 the stories satirise both the stereotypical English view of the French, and - by presenting them from Gerard's baffled point of view - English manners and attitudes.

Madame Bovary is the first novel by French novelist Gustave Flaubert. The story focuses on a doctor's wife, Emma Bovary, a bored provincial housewife, who abandons her husband to pursue the libertine Rodolphe in a desperate love affair.

Romola is the fourth novel from the great Victorian novelist George Eliot and her first historical novel. Published in 1862 - 63, it is set in Florence at the end of the fifteenth century and events during the Italian Renaissance, and includes in its plot several notable figures from Florentine history. The story is of a girl's devotion to her blind father, her marriage to and betrayal by a young Greek and ultimate life of self-sacrifice.

Released in 1896, the story centers around young Cytherea Graye, who becomes a servant to Miss Auclyffe, a woman with a troubled past. There, she encounters Aeneas Manston, the incredibly handsome and charming steward of Miss Auclyffe. The anti-hero, Aeneas Manston, as physically alluring as he is evil, fascinates the innocent Cytherea though she is in love with another man.

Little Women or, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott. Written and published in two parts in 1868 and 1869, the novel tells the story of a year in the life of the March family. We hear of their troubles and joys and come to sympathise with each character: maturing Meg, gifted Jo, gentle Beth and lively Amy, as they extend their kindness to all around them. Louisa May Alcott (1832 - 1888) was an American novelist.

The story tells of Jim, a young, good-looking, genial, and naive water-clerk on the Patna, a cargo ship plying Asian waters. One night, when the ship collides with an obstacle and begins to sink, acting on impulse, Jim jumps overboard and lands in a lifeboat, which happens to be bearing the unscrupulous captain and his cohorts away from the disaster.

Written in 1890, the story is a murder mystery in which Edwin Drood is supposedly murdered. The novel investigated the characters in a distinctly Dickensian manner from the suspicious and tormented Jasper to the Reverend Crisparkle to Princess Puffer, the enigmatic Datchery and finally the gravedigger and his obnoxious but perceptive boy assistant. But who is the murderer? We will never know.

Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented was Thomas Hardy's penultimate novel.

First published in 1891 and now considered a great classic of English literature, the book received mixed reviews when it first appeared, in part because it challenged the sexual mores of Hardy's day.

Roderick Hudson is one of Henry James's first novels.

Originally published in 1875 as a serial in The Atlantic Monthly, it traces the development of the title character, a sculptor. Funded by the wealthy Rowland Mallet, Roderick Hudson travels from America to Rome, where he becomes the talk of the city. He soon finds that Europe tests him in ways he had not anticipated, both as an artist and as a man.

The novel tells the story of beautiful, intelligent, and headstrong Isabel Archer, as she leaves her native America and embarks on a journey of self discovery in Europe. Published as a book in 1881, it explores his familiar themes including the conflict between American individualism and European social custom and the situation of Americans in Europe. It also treats in a profound way the themes of personal freedom, responsibility, betrayal, and sexuality.