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Cranford by ELIZABETH GASKELL
Life in the small English town of Cranford seems very quiet and peaceful . The ladies of Cranford lead tidy , regular lives. They make their visits between the hours of twelve and three ,give little evening parties , and worry about their maid-servants. But life is not always smooth-there are little arguements and jealousies,sudden deaths and unexpected marriages . Mrs.Gaskell's timeless picture of small-town life in the first half of the nineteenth century has delighted readers for nearly 150 years .
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Black Beauty by ANNA SWELL
When Black Beauty is trained to carry a rider on his back , or to pull a carriage behind him ,he finds it hard at first . But he is lucky-his first home is a good one , where his owners are kind people , who would never be cruel to a horse . But in the nineteenth century many people were cruel to their horses , whipping them and beating them, and using them like machines until they dropped dead.Black beauty soon finds this out , and as he describes his life , he has many terrible stories to tell . |
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A Tale of Two Cities by CHARLES DICKENS
'The Marquis lay there ,like stone with a knife pushed into his heart.On his chest lay a piece of paper ,with the words ;Drive him fast to his grave . This is from JACQUES .' The French Revolution brings terror and death to many people . But even in these troubled times people can still love and be kind . They can be generous and true-hearted ... and brave. |
Gulliver's Travels by JONATHAN SWIFT
'Soon I felt something alive moving along my leg and up my body to my face , and when I looked down ,I saw a very small human being, only fifteen centimetres tall ... I was so surprised that I gave a great shout.' But that is only the first of many surprises which Gulliver has on his travels. He visits a land of giants and a flying island ,meets ghosts from the past and horses which talk... |
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Little Women by LOUISA MAY ALCOTT
When Christmas comes for the four March girls , there is no money for expensive presents and they give away their Christmas breakfast to a poor family.But there are no happier girls in America than Meg,Jo,Beth,and Amy.They miss their father ,of course , who is away at the Civil War, but they try hard to be good so that he will be proud of his 'little women' when he comes home. This heart-warming story of family life has been popular for more than a hundred years . |
Lord Jim by JOSEPH CONRAD
A hundred years ago a seaman's life was full of danger , but Jim,the first mate on board the Patna, is not afraid of danger . He is young ,strong, confident of his bravery.He dreams of great adventures-and the chance to show the world what a hero he is. But the sea is no place for dreamers. When the chance comes , on a calm moonlit night in the Indian Ocean, Jim fails the test, and his world falls to pieces around him. He d,sappears into the jungles of south-east Asia,searching for a way toprove himself,once and for all ... |
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Lorna Doone by R. D. BLACKMORE
One winter's day in 1673 young John Ridd is riding home from school, across the wild lonely hills of Exmoor.He has to pass Doone valley-a dangerous place, as the Doones are famous robbers and murderers.All Exmoor lives in fear of the Doones . At home there is sad news waiting for young John, and he learns that he has good reason to hate the Doones. But in the years to come he meets Lorna Doone, with her lovely smile and big dark eyes.And soon he is deeply ,hopelessly, in love ... |
Silas Marner by GEORGE ELIOT
In a hole under the floorboards Silas Marner the linen-weaver keeps his gold.Every day he works hard at his weaving , and every night he takes the gold out and holds the bright coins lovingly, feeling them and counting them again and again . The villagers are afraid of him and he has no family,no friends . Only the gold is his friend,his delight, his reason for living . But what if a thief should come in the night and take his gold away ? Whatwill Silas do then ? What could possibly comfort him for the loss of his only frend ? |
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The Hound of Baskervilles by SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
Dartmoor.A wild ,wet place in the south-west of England. Aplace where it is easy to get lost , and to fall into the soft green earth which can pull the strongest man down to his death. A man is running for his life . Behind him comes an enormous dog-a dog from his worst dreams,a dog from hell. Between him and a terrible death stands only one person-the greatest detective of all time , Sherlock Holmes. |
The Thirty-Nine Steps by JOHN BUCHAN
'I turned on the light , but there was nobody there. Then I saw something in the corner that made my blood turn cold.Scudder was lying on his back. There was a long knife through his heart, pinning him to the floor.' Soon Richard Hannay is running for his life across the hills of Scotland.The police are chasing him for a murder he did not do and another,more dangerous enemy is chasing him as well-the mysterious 'Black Stone'. Who are these people ? And why do they want Hannay dead ? |
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Treasure Island by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
'Suddenly, there was a high voice screaming in the darkness:"Pieces of eight!Pieces of eight!Pieces of eight!" It was Long John Silver's parrot Captain Flint! I turned to run ... ' But young Jim Hawkins does not escape from pirates this time . Will he and his friends find the treasure before the pirates do ? Will they escape from the island ,and sail back to England with a ship full of gold? |
Washington Square by HENRY JAMES
When a handsome young man begins to court Cathrine Sloper, she feels she is very lucky.She is a quiet, gentle girl , but neither beautiful nor clever; no one had ever admired her before , or come to the front palour of her home in Washington Square to whisper soft words of love to her. But in New York in the 1840s young ladies are not free to marry where they please. Cathrine must have her father's permission,and Dr.Sloper is a rich man . One day Cathrine will have a fortune of 30000 dollars a year ... |
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Dr.Jeykle And Mr.Hyde by R. L. STEVENSON
You are walking through the streets of London. It is getting dark and you want to get home quickly. You enter a narrow side-street.Everything is quiet, but as you pass the door of a large , windowless building , you hear a key turning in the lock. A man comes out and looks at you. You have never seen him before , but you realize immediately that he hates you. You are shocked to discover, also, that you hate him. Who is this man that everybody hates ? And why is he coming out of the laboratory of the very respectable Dr. Jeykll ? |
The Eagle of the Ninth by ROSEMARY SUTCLIFF
In the second century AD , when the Ninth Roman Legion marched into the mist of northern Britain , not one man came back.Four thousand men disappeared , and the Eagle, the symbol of the Legion's honour, was lost. Years later there is a story that the Eagle has been seen again. So Marcus Aquila , whose father disappeared with the Ninth, travels north to find the Eagle and bring it back, and to learn how his father died. But the tribes of the north are wild and dangerous , and they hate the Romans ... |
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