Working-class Jude Fawley longs to be a scholar. But after scheming local girl Arabella Donn traps him in marriage, Jude finds his university dreams drifting away. When his wife abandons him, a window of opportunity opens, and Jude moves to Christminster to work as a stonemason-his eye still on his studies. Then he falls in love with the modern-minded Sue Bridehead, and his descent into scandal, tragedy, and ruin truly begins. Shunned by society and...

A new edition of this classic from one of the greatest writers of the nineteenth century. Features the definitive Clarendon edition of Villette which is sourced from the earliest printings of Brontes great work. The text is supplemented with a newly commissioned introduction, which gives a thorough and in depth analysis of the context of this fine example of the nineteenth century novel.

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...

"Barchester Towers concerns the leading clergy of the cathedral city of Barchester. The much loved bishop having died, all expectations are that his son, Archdeacon Grantly, will succeed him. Instead, owing to the passage of the power of patronage to a new Prime Minister, a newcomer, the far more Evangelical Bishop Proudie, gains the see. His wife, Mrs Proudie, exercises an undue influence over the new bishop, making herself as well as the bishop...

For an ambitious, keenly intelligent woman, lying proves to be the easiest way to get through life, in this Victorian-era classic. Lizzie Greystock is a woman of rare cunning and determination-both of which she uses to better her lot in life. This is especially true when she manages to convince the ailing Sir Florian Eustace to marry her shortly before his demise, leaving Lizzie both a wealthy widow and the mother to Florian's young son. A born...

"Love and the erratic heart are at the center of Hardy's "woodland story." Set in the beautiful Blackmoor Vale, The Woodlanders concerns the fortunes of Giles Winterborne, whose love for the well-to-do Grace Melbury is challenged by the arrival of the dashing and dissolute doctor, Edred Fitzpiers. When the mysterious Felice Charmond further complicates the romantic entanglements, marital choice and class mobility become inextricably linked. Hardy's...

"When her family becomes impoverished after a disastrous financial speculation, Agnes Grey determines to find work as a governess. This is a personal perspective on the desperate position of unmarried, educated women in Victorian society. "Agnes Grey" is undoubtedly a deeply personal novel, in which Anne Bronte views on the 'contemporary' issue of the treatment of governesses, as well as her passionate religious sympathies, find very deliberate expression;...

Written in 1869 with a clear awareness of the time's tension over women's rights, "He Knew He Was Right" is primarily a story about Louis Trevelyan, a young, wealthy, educated Victorian man and his marriage to the beautiful Emily Rowley. They meet in the Mandarin Islands, where Emily's father is governor, but their happiness in wedlock is short-lived. They soon have a son and Louis begins to have strong feelings of jealousy towards Emily. Emily accepts...

Man and Wife combines the fast pace and sensational plot structure of Collins's most famous novels with a biting attack on the inequitable marriage laws in Victorian Britain. At its center is the plight of a woman who fears that the archaic marriage laws of Scotland and Ireland may have forced her into committing unintentional bigamy. As the novel progresses, the atmosphere grows increasingly sinister when the setting moves from a country house to...