Nami-ko

Nami-ko, a young woman of a noble Japanese family, has recently married the naval officer Takeo, the only heir of a friend of her father's. The couple is very happy together and Takeo is doing everything to create the perfect life for his wife, even more so when she contracts tuberculosis. Takeo's mother, however, sees Nami's illness as a threat to the survival of the family line. Egged on by Chijiwa, a spurned lover of Nami's and Takeo's cousin, she uses her son's absence to send Nami back to her family, thus effecting a divorce. Upon his return, Takeo is furious, but, unable to undo the divorce, he goes off to the front line in the war with China. Meanwhile, Nami is getting worse, and her only wish is to be able to see Takeo one more time... This is the best known novel by Kenjiro (pen-name: Roka) Tokutomi. Written in 1899 as Hototogisu (The Cuckoo), it deals with the life of the upper classes in the early years after the Meiji Restoration, when Japan was torn between ancient traditions and modern Western influences. The novel was translated several times soon after its publication. This translation is by Sakae Shioya and E. F. Edgett from 1904. (Summary by Availle)

28 episodes

Cane

Reading this book, I had a vision of a land, heretofore sunk in the mists of muteness, suddenly rising up into the eminence of song. Innumerable books have been written about the South; some good books have been written in the South. This book is the South. . . . . Part One is the primitive and evanescent world of Georgia. Part Two is the threshing and suffering brown world of Washington. . . . Part Three is Georgia again . . . this black womb of the ferment seed: the neurotic, educated, spiritually stirring Negro. From the Forward by Waldo Frank

31 episodes

Molly Brown's Senior Days

This novel is the fourth in a series of eight books written about Miss Molly Brown of Kentucky during her education at Wellington College in the early years of the 1900's. - Summary by Lynda Marie Neilson

22 episodes

The Ship of Stars

What is childhood? For Taffy, the only son of a vicar, it includes prayers, games, and a lot of quality time with his loving family. When Taffy's father receives a post in the north of England and the family has to move, everybody has to make the best of the situation. For the first time, Taffy has friends. He is even taken to a vacation. But things are darker than they seem. There are things that Taffy, as a child, does not comprehend. This book is about the gap between adults and children, about a perfectly imperfect childhood, and, most importantly, about unconditional love and optimism. - Summary by Stav Nisser.

29 episodes

La Barraca

La barraca nos cuenta la historia de Batiste y su familia que llegan a la huerta valenciana a trabajar cultivando unas tierras abandonadas. Eran las tierras del tío Barret, caído en desgracia al no poder pagar el arrendamiento a Don Salvador, dueño de ellas. Toda la huerta se une para que nadie vuelva a ocupar esa parcela.Batiste será odiado por todos sus vecinos. Le harán de tal modo la vida imposible que tendrá que abandonar lo que era su esperanza y el sustento de su mujer e hijos.“ Y todos, con resignación oriental, sentáronse en el ribazo y allí aguardaron el día con la espalda transida de frío, tostados de frente por el brasero que teñía sus rostros con reflejos de sangre……..”(Summary by Montse González )

10 episodes

Mildred and Elsie

Mildred returns home from visiting her mother's relatives. She continues to grow in wisdom and beauty and receives many proposals of marriage. She is an ever-increasing blessing to her family and community. In-laws are added to the family, and they enjoy a visit from Horace Dinsmore and his daughter Elsie. - Summary by Amy

23 episodes

Virginia

Virginia does everything right: she attends a finishing school, marries the first man who proposes, and devotes her life to her husband and children. But what happens when each one of them has a life outside the home in which she has no room? - Summary by Stav Nisser.

25 episodes

Sowing and Reaping

This novel is subtitled A Temperance Story, which identifies explicitly the focus of the work. Frances Harper is a Christian moralist and uses her writings for didactic purposes. Here she contrast two couples, one, Belle and Paul, who do not drink and whose lives are happier and more productive, and the other, Jeanette and Charles, who lives are destroyed by the demon rum. (N.B. There are some missing portions of the text)

16 episodes

Teddy's Button (Version 3)

Teddy is a little boy who cares about his father's button more than anything in the world. He wants to be in the Queen's army when he grows up, but his pastor tells him how he can be a soldier in God's army while he is still young. Teddy has many ups and downs as he tries to be a good soldier for his Captain, Jesus Christ. (Summary by Kylie)

10 episodes

Alice Dugdale

An ordinary village girl's plans for the future with her long-standing beau are threatened when he is seen to be an attractive prospect by a local noble family Trollope's novella works through the consequences with typical affection and sensitivity. - Summary by Anthony Ogus

10 episodes

Correio da Roça

Maria ficou viúva e os credores levaram a vida de luxo e abastança em que viviam no Rio de Janeiro. E ela e as 4 filhas, educadas para viver na cidade, têm que se mudar para a fazenda que restou para a família, lá na serra, no interior bravo. Passam então a viver em um velho casarão com ares de convento, onde a música que se escuta à noite é a da orquestra do coaxar dos sapos. As horas são de lenta monotonia e tédio, nesse exílio longe dos amigos e das festas. O único alento vem das cartas de uma amiga, recém voltada da Europa, encantada com o Brasil. Uma amiga que as faz ver que onde vivem não é o fim do mundo, mas um lugar onde as águas cantam, as revoadas e cantos de aves enchem os ares e a terra, uma vez trabalhada, é fértil e generosa. E estas cartas, verdadeiras aulas de bem viver, produzem um resultado surpreendente sobre o espírito indomável das cinco mulheres. Ali está o segredo de como transformar grotões incultos em lugares aprazíveis. Leitura deliciosa para quem quer cultivar rosas, violetas ou batatas; ou ainda criar galinhas, fazer estradas ou abrir caminhos para encontrar objetivo na vida. - Resumo por Rachel Moraes

33 episodes