Romans i literatura obyczajowa
Hugh Walpole
Judith Paris, now middle-aged, is returning to the Lakes to deal with the fierce feud between the two branches of the family. The feud ended with the construction of one branch of a huge house, known as the Fortress, which will dominate the land of others. But in this conflict, the children of two families play an important role.
O. Henry
This anthology contains 25 tales of old New York city at the dawn of the 20th century. A collection of O. Henrys short stories bearing his trademark irony, comic misunderstandings, and surprise endings. They also capture his use of coincidence or chance to create humor in the story. O. Henry wrote about ordinary people in everyday circumstances. The true hero of The Four Million is the city of New York, with its energy, compassion and kaleidoscope of human emotions. O. Henry focuses his curious microscope on the diverse lives of various residents of this metropolis. A few protagonists claim idle-rich status, but most represent the middle class or poverty-stricken milieus. He is quoted as once saying, There are stories in everything. Ive got some of my best yarns from park benches, lampposts and newspaper stands.
E.F. Benson
From the Mayfair society, everyone is a prominent representative of high society. Sir Louis and Lady Mary the Tagetes transform snobbery into an art form. Mr. Sandow, the secular vicar, who seems to be interested in everything but real spirituality. Everyone eagerly fights for social status in high society, unnoticing many dangerous details.
Edith Wharton
Published in 1907, this little novel by the author of The Age of Innocence was considered controversial for its frank treatment of labor and industrial conditions, drug addiction, mercy killing, divorce, and second marriages. Clever, idealistic and poor John Amherst, the assistant manager of the cotton mill, is fed up with the deplorable working and living conditions of the workers in his charge. While visiting a worker in hospital he encounters a young nurse, Justine, compassionate and principled, a woman who shares his dreams and aims. But Amherst is fatally distracted when he meets a wealthy and charming widow Bessy who is a new owner of the mill. The lives of all three become strangely interwoven as Amherst is forced to choose between sense and sentiment, between his care for the working classes and his infatuation with Bessy a woman made for passion, but not for its aftermath.
O. Henry
O. Henry (whose real name is William Sydney Porter) is famous for his many short stories of everyday-life America, full of wit, charm, and inventiveness. This collection of classic tales set on the wrong side of the law showcases a master craftsman at the top of his form. The Gentle Grafter is a collection of 14 short stories about grafters who travel, peddle and swindle in the South. Those grafters have different business ethics and moral senses, and their artistic plots lead them to an unsuspected but comic ending. Each chapter is either told by an anonymous narrator or by Jeff Peters and Andy Tucker, two other con men. All of the con work was done somewhere within the United States. With the surprising twists and turns, not to mention the wit and humor throughout the book, The Gentle Grafter will leave the reader smiling and asking for more.
The Girl of O.K. Valley. A Romance of the Okanagan
Robert Watson
Great story with an intriguing ending. Raising furry eyebrows and putting his hands on his back, rancher Jackson walked across the floor of his large, spacious kitchen. He was in one of his frequently recurring tantrums of anger-madness on petty matters.
Edith Wharton
Set in the 1920s, Glimpses of the Moon details the romantic misadventures of Nick Lansing and Susy Branch, a couple with the right connections but not much in the way of funds. They are in love and decide to marry, but realize their chances of happiness are slim without the wealth and society that their more privileged friends take for granted. Nick and Susy agree to separate when either encounters a more eligible proposition. Their conditional marriage begins to falter as Susy grows jealous of her husbands attentions to a wealthy young woman and Nick becomes increasingly disgruntled by the moral compromises arising from his wifes social negotiations. An expertly drawn portrait of two young lovers, caught between bright-eyed passion and the bitter allure of wealth.
William J. Locke
The best novel that Mr. Lock has written since he created his masterpiece. He put all his strength into it... history is a real story with a real plot, real people, real human emotions and real character development. History keeps you from beginning to end. You cannot lay it down. And over this story there is a constant play of that light humor and fantastic fun, which Mr. Locke alone among the living novelists knows how to charm his readers.