Charles Dickens is one of the most appreciated Victorian writers, his novels gaining worldwide recognition by both critics and readers. First published in 1850, David Copperfield begins with avid the tragedy of David's brother dying when David is just a boy. After this episode he is sent by his step...

Dombey and Son is a novel by the Victorian author Charles Dickens. The story concerns Paul Dombey, the wealthy owner of the shipping company of the book’s title, whose dream is to have a son to continue his business. The book begins when his son is born, and Dombey’s wife dies shortly after giving b...

“George Silverman's Explanation”, published in instalments from January to March 1868, was one of the last pieces of fiction written by Charles Dickens, two years before his death. Silverman is born in a Preston cellar, and spends his early years locked in there, often left alone while his parents ...

His Grace of Osmonde, being the portions of that nobleman's life omitted in the relation of his Lady's story presented to the world of fashion under the title of 'A Lady of Quality' Set in late 1600's England, the story follows the life of a woman living an unconventional life. The loves of her lif...

In autumn 1857, Charles Dickens embarked on a sightseeing trip to Cumberland with his friend, the rising star of literature Wilkie Collins. Writing together, they reported their adventures for Dickens' periodical Household Words, producing a showcase of both long-cherished and entirely novel sides o...

They were rather an incongruous element amid the festivities, but they bore themselves very well, notwithstanding, and seemed to be sufficiently interested. The elder of the two--a tall, slender, middle-aged woman, with a somewhat severe, though delicate face--sat quietly apart, looking on at the ro...

"Edith Van Dyne” is a pseudonym for L. Frank Baum, of Oz fame, and this book was part of a series that was in turn part of a craze in the 1910’s for girl detective stories. Mary Louise is a young girl, very honest and wise beyond her years. This at times put her at odds with her classmates at scho...

The Bluebird Books is a series of novels popular with teenage girls in the 1910s and 1920s. The series was begun by L. Frank Baum using his Edith Van Dyne pseudonym, then continued by at least three others, all using the same pseudonym. Baum wrote the first four books in the series, possibly with he...

Mary Louise in the Country is the second in the series of girl detective novels featuring Mary Louise Burrows and her friend Josie O'Gorman. Mary Louise and her Grandpa Jim, Colonel Hathaway, decide to spend their summer in the country in a summer house they've bought near a little town called Cragg...

I shall never regret doing as I have—never, if I starve or beg in consequence' When Nicholas Nickleby is left penniless after his father's death, he appeals to his wealthy uncle to help him find work and to protect his mother and sister. But Ralph Nickleby proves both hard-hearted and unscrupulous...