In the picaresque series of sketches in Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens wrote one of the masterpieces of comic fiction, and presented readers with some of the most colorful and beloved characters of all time. In Dickens' first novel, initially based on a series of illustrations, members of the eponymous club recount their various experiences and encounters as they travel around England. Without the dark themes that dominated so many of his novels,...

Ceddie is a regular little boy living in New York with his mother. That is until the day a tall, old gentleman arrives to inform him of some startling news. Ceddie, it turns out, is the child of a great, old English family. He must go to England to live with the Earl his grandfather and become a person he never knew he was: Little Lord Fauntleroy. What the old gentleman neglects to mention is that Ceddie's grandfather is one of the most grumpy, grouchy,...

A ne'er-do-well exploits his gentle daughter's beauty for social advancement in this masterpiece of tragic fiction. Hardy's 1891 novel defied convention to focus on the rural lower class for a frank treatment of sexuality and religion. Then and now, his sympathetic portrait of a victim of Victorian hypocrisy offers compelling reading.

In a quest to discover his inner self, celebrated physician Dr Henry Jekyll, uncovers a monster. At first he attempts to conceal this but gradually Hyde becomes stronger and stronger, dominating Jekyll and ultimately destroying them both.

Follows the lives of six North Koreans over fifteen years, a chaotic period that saw the rise to power of Kim Jong Il and the devastation of a famine that killed one-fifth of the population, illustrating what it means to live under the most repressive totalitarian regime today.

A number one bestseller in the UK, this captivating and epic tale of family ties, romance, war, disease, and history is set on the beautiful Greek Island of Crete. On the brink of a life-changing decision, Alexis Fielding plans a trip to her mother's childhood home in Plaka, Greece hoping to unravel Sofia's hidden past. Given a letter to take to Sofia's old friend, Fotini, Alexis is promised that through Fotini, she will learn more. Arriving in...

Shares the story of the author's family and upbringing, describing how they moved from poverty to an upwardly mobile clan that included the author, a Yale Law School graduate, while navigating the demands of middle class life and the collective demons of the past. Vance, a former marine and Yale Law School graduate, provides an account of growing up in a poor Rust Belt town that offers a broader, probing look at the struggles of America's white working...

The Spinning Jenny was invented in 1770, and with that, a new era of manufacturing and industry changed lives everywhere within a generation. A world filled with unrest wrestles for control over this new world order: A mother's husband is killed in a work accident due to negligence; a young woman fights to fund her school for impoverished children; a well-intentioned young man unexpectedly inherits a failing business; one man ruthlessly protects his...

You may be familiar with some of the historical sources and websites that Barbara refers to, while others might be new to you. In either case though, I'm sure you will find it very inspiring, the way she shows how these records can be viewed in a different light to learn about the wider community, the demography, the ethnicity, and more, to get a much clearer idea of what it was like to live your ancestors' lives. Genealogist Barbara's book is all...