The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft (1903) is a semi-autobiographical work by George Gissing. Published in the last year of his life, The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft is presented as a diary of a friend discovered after the man's premature death. Divided into four seasons, the diary details the life of a man overwhelmed with depression and regretful of a past mired in unsuccessful work. With a mournful, meditative preface, George Gissing introduces...

Originally published in 1871, Ralph the Heir revolves around two men named Ralph. One is the nephew and legal heir of Squire Gregory Newton. The other is the squire's beloved illegitimate son and preferred heir. The fortunes and misfortunes of the actual heir, as he desperately seeks to pay off his debts and marry a woman of good social standing, form the core of the novel. Particularly noteworthy is the book's description of a corrupt Parliamentary...

Set in the Isle of Slingers modelled on the Isle of Portland the novel continues to explore Hardy's favourite themes of relationships, exploration of human nature and human nature. The story follows Jocelyn Pierston, a celebrated sculptor who tries to create an image of his ideal woman in stone and attempting to find her in the flesh.

Leonardo filled his notebooks with sketches of inventions; he did not intend any of his notes to be published during his lifetime. By reading his notes, we gain insights into his passions and preoccupations.

Anthony Trollope's 1875 novel, "The Way We Live Now", is a biting satire of the wealthy and powerful in Victorian England. Augustus Melmotte, a wealthy financier moves to London and begins to gather investors for an American railway venture. When his daughter Marie takes up with the dissolute gold-digging aristocrat Felix Carbury, Melmotte steps in to block the union. Multiple subplots involving schemes to move up in society and thwart others from...

Richard Blackmore (1825-1900) was a minor historical novelist whose works have been somewhat overlooked by the reading masses, but whose talent for characterization and setting rank his words among the finest of nineteenth-century English literature. "Lorna Doone," Blackmore's acknowledged masterpiece, attained belated popularity a little more than a year after its publication. Rumors began that the novel was about the recent marriage of the marquis...

Ayala's Angel is a novel written by English author Anthony Trollope between 25 April and 24 September 1878, although it was not published for two years. It was written as a stand-alone novel rather than as part of a series, though several of the minor characters appear in other novels by Trollope. The plot focuses on two orphaned sisters, Lucy and Ayala Dormer, Ayala especially, and their trials, with first their relatives, and then of the heart,...

Charley Tudor may have passed the civil-service exam for the Internal Navigation Office, but he is no gentleman, mixed up as he is with moneylenders and barmaids. His friend Alaric is not doing much better, as he is caught embezzling money from a trust fund. Henry, Charley's brother, is now responsible for clearing Alaric's name and saving the three men from further trouble.