The Ark

Emma Woodhouse imagines that she dominates those around her in the small town of Highbury, but her inept matchmaking creates problems for herself and others.

A profile of the Lost Generation captures life among the expatriates on Paris' Left Bank during the 1920s, the brutality of bullfighting in Spain, and the moral and spiritual dissolution of a generation.

When lawyer Gabriel John Utterson witnesses the odd behavior of a man named Edward Hyde, who uses cheques signed by Utterson's friend Dr. Henry Jekyll, he decides to investigate the strange and violent man. Utterson soon discovers the horrible and incredible truth in the form of a letter written by Dr. Jekyll and left near the body of the late Mr. Hyde. Author Robert Louis Stevenson is believed to have had a somewhat volatile relationship with...

"Before Ibsen, tragedies examined the lives of the aristocracy and upper classes, but A Doll's House was the first serious play to be written in prose about ordinary people in everyday situations. The plot revolves around Nora Helmer who is married to Torvald, an ambitious banker. Initially, the couple seem ideally matched, but as a consequence of blackmail Nora is forced to re-examine her life along with her role as a frivolous, scatter-brained wife."--p....

A masterpiece of stories by H. G. Wells, masterfully tied together by time and place. First, a shop owner named Mr. Cave, enraptured by a crystal egg, struggles to find a way to keep his magical possession... Then we are, taken to a time when cave people struggled to find their place on the planet and keep their lives. The forward to the far future where, in the place the cave people once camped, a young couple's back are, bowed beneath the tyranny...

An angel comes to Earth in this fantastical tale by H. G. Wells When a fallen angel appears in the skies of southern England, the vicar of a small town mistakes the winged being's dazzling plumage for that of a bird and shoots him down. This is only the first misfortune to befall "Mr. Angel," as he comes to be known. "Neither the Angel of religious feeling nor the Angel of popular belief," this celestial visitor quickly draws the ire of the village...

Born a slave in Virginia in 1856, Booker T. Washington rose in prominence to become black America's foremost spokesman. This is the dramatic autobiographical account of Washington's struggle to succeed and prosper in a country that refused to acknowledge his existence. From his fight for an education to his founding of the world-renowned Tuskegee Institute, Up From Slavery is one of the most significant and defining works in American literature.

Written in 1884 and first performed in 1885, "The Wild Duck", by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, is the first modern tragicomedy to be embraced by critics and audiences alike. The play, titled "Vilanden" in its original Norwegian, is widely considered one of Ibsen's most well-written plays. The story centers around the secrets and dramas of the Ekdal family, who live a dysfunctional life in purposeful denial of the many skeletons that lurk in their...

Young Flora de Barral, is the daughter of a man whose sudden bankruptcy and conviction, have forced her to face a harsh and uncertain reality. Chance is a clever examination of risk and the impact of unforeseen circumstance. Chance features Conrad's signature narration as it describes the experiences of major and minor characters, including Flora de Barral. She is a young woman who has suffered the consequences of her father's many misdeeds. This...