An immensely popular bestseller upon its publication in 1905, The House of Mirth was Edith Wharton's first great novel. Set among the elegant brownstones of New York City and opulent country houses like gracious Bellomont on the Hudson, the novel creates a satiric portrayal of what Wharton herself called "a society of irresponsib- le pleasure-seekers" with a precision comparable to that of Proust. And her brilliant and complex characterization of...

In 1899 Manhattan, the drowning of beautiful Elizabeth Holland, daughter of New York society's ruling family, brings to the surface the scandalous behavior of several teenagers of varying social class.

After a knee injury destroys sixteen-year-old Cody's college hopes, he drops out of high school and gets a job in his small Montana town; but when his ex-girlfriend disappears from her Vermont boarding school, Cody travels cross-country to join the search.

The changing social climate in England, spurred by the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, is reflected in the lives of Maude Coleman and Lavinia Waterhouse, two young girls of different classes who meet and become fast friends while their families are visiting adjoining funeral plots.

'I think I could be a good woman if I had five thousand a year.' Becky Sharp is sharp, calculating, and determined to succeed. Craving wealth and a position in society, she charms, hoodwinks, manipulates everyone she meets, rising in the world as she attaches herself to a succession of rich men. Becky's fortunes are contrasted with those of her best friend Amelia, who has none of Becky's wit and vitality but whose gentle-heartedness attracts the devotion...

Sense and Sensibility is one of the best loved of Jane Austen's novels, populated by great comic creations like Mrs. Jennings, the unscrupulous cad Willoughby, and guileless and artful women. As ever, Austen suffuses her work with great ironic observation and tremendous wit, producing a masterpiece of romantic entanglement that time and a very different set of mores cannot diminish. Sense and Sensibility was the first of Jane Austen's novels to be...

Amid preparations for their preppy Southern town's Founders Day celebration and their own shared sweet sixteen, sisters Isabelle Scott and Mirabelle Monroe long to break free from the tight constraints that come with being the daughters of a prominent public figure.

After the death of his ex-girlfriend Carly, northern California high school student Neily joins forces with Carly's cousin Audrey to try to solve her murder.

Sparks fly when Lucy Patterson and Owen Buckley meet on an elevator rendered useless by a New York City blackout. After they're rescued, they spend the night wandering the darkened streets and marveling at the rare appearance of stars above Manhattan. But once the power is back, so is reality. Over the next year, as the two teenagers leave the city and they travel farther away from each other geographically, they stay connected emotionally.

The daughters of a North Carolina senator, Isabelle and Mirabelle, who are still reeling from the knowledge that they are not cousins, but actually sisters, barely have time to process the news with cotillion season right around the corner.