A Christmas Sermon by Robert Louis Stevenson written while he convalesced from a lung ailment at Lake Sarnac in the winter of 1887. In the short text he meditates on the questions of death, morality and man’s main task in life which he concludes is “To be honest, to be kind — to earn a little and to...

A Footnote to History: Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa is an 1892 historical non-fiction work by Robert Louis Stevenson describing the contemporary Samoan Civil War. Robert Louis Stevenson arrived in Samoa in 1889 and built a house at Vailima. He quickly became passionately interested, and involved...

Have you ever wondered what happened to Cinderella after she married the prince? Have you ever asked yourself if it was really "happy ever after?" Actually, in this Victorian melodrama, it's not. 35-years-old Emily Fox-Seton, quite penniless and a little lonely, saves herself from becoming an old ma...

This book contains eighteen beautiful children's short stories by Frances Hodgson Burnett including M re Giraud's Little Daughter, Esmeralda and Little Saint Elizabeth In M re Giraud's Little Daughter, Laure is the favoured child, young and stunningly beautiful she is the pride and joy of her mother...

A collection of essays about writing: "On some technical elements of style in literature", "The morality of the profession of letters", "Books which have influenced me", "A note on realism", "My first book: ‘Treasure Island’", "The genesis of ‘the master of Ballantrae’" & "Preface to ‘the master of ...

Familiar Studies of Men and Books, by Robert Louis Stevenson (1882), is a collection of essays, remarkable for a certain youthful originality and daring in the expression of opinion. “In truth,” the author writes, “these are but the readings of a literary vagrant. One book led to another, one study ...

"It is typically an American novel, which, in its subtle, tragic performance, lays a tremendous hold upon the reader's sympathies.... The striking originality of the plot, the intensely dramatic climaxes, and the low, sweet thrills of happiness which are in such direct contrast, give the book a weir...

The literary world was shocked when in 1890, at the height of his career, Robert Louis Stevenson announced his intention to settle permanently in Samoa. His readers were equally shocked when he began to use the subject material offered by his new environment, not to promote a romance of empire, but ...

Fans of Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel The Secret Garden will relish this charming anecdote that further expands upon the robin that features in that book. In response to a reader's letter, Burnett reminisces about her love of English robins -- and one in particular that changed her life forever.

Charles Dickens is considered one of the greatest English authors of all time. Dickens often used the pen name Boz. Much of his work first appeared in periodicals and magazines in serialized form. Unlike many writers of his time Dickens wrote the entire novel before serializing it. He made frequent ...