Part romance, part mystery, part courtroom and quasi-courtroom drama. Young love reignites itself after a hiatus of some years. Or does it? Much can change in that time -- both to the people themselves, and to the events that shape their lives. The action moves from England to India, and back again, confronting the protagonists with problems they never dreamed they’d have to face. ( Nicholas Clifford)
14 episodes
Fifty-year-old John Gadsby is alarmed by the decline of his hometown, Branton Hills, and rallies the city's young people to form an "Organization of Youth" to build civic spirit and improve living standards. Gadsby and his youthful army, despite some opposition, transform Branton Hills from a stagnant municipality into a bustling, thriving city. The story begins around 1906 and continues through World War I, Prohibition, and President Warren G. Harding's administration.
"Gadsby" is a lipogram - a whole novel of some 50.000 words without a single instance of the letter E. When it first appeared in 1939 it was hardly noticed by the general public, but a modern reviewer called it "probably the most ambitious work ever attempted in this genre". Hardcopies of the book are extremely rare and sell for thousands of dollars. (Summary by Availle and Wikipedia)
44 episodes
Jack Bristol shot the sheriff and stole his horse. He rode off, not into the sunset, but into the mountains. The mountain man held him captive for months and then released him. Why? And why did the girl scream with terror when she saw his face? Read this 1922 pulp Western to find the answers. Max Brand was one of many pseudonyms used by Frederick Schiller Faust (1892 – 1944), an American author known primarily for his thoughtful and literary Westerns. - Summary by david wales
10 episodes
Set in the Limberlost swamp of Indiana, A Girl of the Limberlost follows Elnora Comstock through struggles and triumphs as she seeks education and the mother love she has always been denied. - Summary by Patience Charles
25 episodes
A naive young girl strikes out on her own and ends up leading a double life in this engaging tale of love lost and found. Summary by Judi Mason
26 episodes
This is the first book in the Betty Baird Series of boarding school books, a genre which was popular among young girls in the early 1900s. Our heroine, Betty Baird, who is herself obsessed with reading boarding school books, is sent away to The Pines, a boarding school where at first she is ridiculed by some of the wealthier and more popular students. As time goes on, Betty silences her foes with her unique and captivating personality, and she and her new friends have many lighthearted adventures during their days at The Pines. Anna Hamlin Wikel (pen name Weikel) was herself raised by a learned clergyman, Benjamin Baird Hamlin, upon whom the character of Betty Baird's father is based. The reader is the great grand niece of the author. (Holly Jenson)
20 episodes
Novel set in the shabby world of British (third-rate) theaters circa 1900. Christopher Tatham tries to survive by going from bit part to bit part, and by his uncle's charity, while hoping for a leading-man role. He meets Peggy Harper, who is in a similar situation. We follow them in their attempts to carve out a life for themselves and to attain fame and success. Leonard Merrick had worked as actor and actor-manager in the theater himself, and used his experiences in this novel (Summary by Anna Simon).
25 episodes
New York City in the early 20th century, a boy with an angelic voice, his devoted mother, the great Episcopal Cathedral of Saint John The Divine. - Summary by david wales
6 episodes
Betty has graduated from the Pines and is now with her parents at their new home on Long Island. When Betty finds out that her father is having trouble paying the mortgage, she decides to spread her entrepreneurial wings and help with the family finances. But can a young girl in 1907 earn enough money to make a difference? Does Betty have the spirit and determination to stick with her plans, even when others try to discourage her? ( Holly Jenson)
27 episodes
The novel Maria Chapdelaine portrays life in rural Quebec at the beginning of the 20th century. Published first in French in 1913, it is a famous example of the genre known as "novels of the land" ("romans du terroir"). These stories sought to reinforce and preserve the cultural, linguistic, and religious heritage of French Canada — a heritage at risk because of French Canada's historical situation as a conquered enclave inside English North America.
Maria is a young woman whose family works the farm they have cleared from the harsh Quebec forest — "a land that has no pity." As young men seek her hand in marriage, she must clarify her own identity, struggling not only with the problem of selecting from among her suitors, but also with her relationship to the land and to her heritage.
The author Louis Hémon had immigrated from France just two years before writing this novel, and worked on a farm in the Lac Saint-Jean region where the story is set. Hémon died accidentally before seeing his novel in print. (Summary by Bruce Pirie)
16 episodes
In rural England during the time of war, a rash of unsolved murders spawns conspiracy theories, paranoia, and fear as they search for a culprit, an explanation, and an end to the terror. - Summary by A. Gramour
14 episodes
This 1905 tongue-in-cheek book is ostensibly the letters of a dutiful son to his Chinese father describing his encounter with and experience of Western civilization in late nineteenth century London. The author is delightfully humorous. - Summary by david wales
15 episodes
The Ravenspurs have for generations resided quietly in prosperity and comfort at their seaside castle. But the clan is suddenly besieged with strange happenings which are dwindling the population of the family to only a few which remain, and those few find themselves in fear of becoming the very last of the powerful family if the cause of their untimely deaths and disappearances is not uncovered soon. It will take a great deal of detective work and a touch of travel to help unravel the mystery of the Ravenspurs. (Roger Melin)
58 episodes
At two years old, Timmy was an imbecile, incapable of talking or controlling his own body. At four years old, he abruptly stood up and began speaking in full sentences. Within a few years, he was a genius. But it was all a terrible mistake, one that might put the whole universe at risk. - Summary by Peter Eastman
4 episodes
George Gissing was a prolific English writer of novels and short stories. Among his best known novels is The Odd Women, which was influenced by George Eliot, whose work he greatly admired. Another of his famous works, New Grub Street, entails a blunt critique of the working class life he knew by experience, especially during a number of the years he spent in the United States.This collection of stories ranges from the humorous to the tragic. Throughout, Gissing pokes mild fun at his characters' human frailties: egotism, self-satisfaction, and pomposity, among others. - Summary by Kirsten Wever
15 episodes
Marie Corelli's book The Life Everlasting examines the world of past lives, mysticism, secret societies and twin souls against a backdrop of a true love based on the highest ideals. The plot follows our heroine from a yachting trip around Scotland with eccentric characters such as an atheist millionaire and his hypochondriac daughter, to the entering of a secret society of ancient mystics where she is determined to achieve initiation. Ms. Corelli's beautiful, flowing, and descriptive writing style make this novel a joy of upliftment and inspiration. - Summary by Lisa Statler
21 episodes
Small town middle America in early 1900's---Ne'er-do-well Joe Louden loves daughter of wealthy judge, from afar---leaves town, goes to law school--returns to scandalize all by defending impossible cases---wins over town. Story of small town mores, social inequity, changing times, honor and greed. Summary by Bob Rollins.
26 episodes
The fictional small English country town of Roxton boasts two doctors. This tale focuses on the struggles of their wives: Katherine and the "good" Dr. James Murchison and Betty and the "bad" Dr. Parker Steele. But, of course, no one is all good or all bad and there are hurdles to overcome, in this case in the form of alcoholism. The cost of the war between the two women is greater than either woman imagined. Deeping draws on his experiences as the son of a doctor in portraying some of the less pleasant facts of physiological reality, maybe more than in many other fictional works in this engrossing and heart-wrenching tale. - Summary by Lynne Thompson
41 episodes
What would happen if someone really believed that "Ask and you shall receive"? Amusing observations on the impact on the life of mild-mannered spinster Miss Philura and her acquaintances in their small American township after she attends a rousing lecture. -- anneflebari
Books in the series:
1 - The Transfiguration of Miss Philura
2 - Miss Philura's Wedding Gown
3 - The Heart of Philura
4 - Neighbors
2 episodes
Follow-up to "The Transfiguration of Miss Philura"....will the conviction of mild-mannered Miss Philura that "Ask and you have already received" be proved right or will her hopes be dashed, and the disapproving judgement of her fellow parishioners and neighbours be vindicated instead? Witty and gently critical observations on life in a small American township, particulary its female population, and the stirrings of change at the turn of the century. Summary by Anne F.
Books in the series:
1 - The Transfiguration of Miss Philura
2 - Miss Philura's Wedding Gown
3 - The Heart of Philura
4 - Neighbors
14 episodes
The Treasure is a story about the Salisbury Family and the trivialities of employing help for the household. Mrs. and Mr. Salisbury see the work of a maid rather differently, especially depending on the level of education. Justine, the latest hired help, is a graduate of the American School of Domestic Science. She has Mrs. Salisbury questioning her ideas of what a maid should be, and considering the more modern approaches that her husband and daughter, Alexandra, seem to embrace. (summary by Kristen Trotter)
5 episodes
Love blooms amid the gorgeous scenery of an island off the coast of Maine as a group of vacationers discover an abused boy and set out to rescue him. This 1921 novel is another lovely creation by author Clara Louise Burnham. - Summary by Christi Lupher
23 episodes
(Once again Mrs Kingsley does not shy away from the highs and lows of life in the quickly changing world of the 1900s…the ageing women working to support themselves or their families, in jobs that will soon disappear...the washerwoman, butter-woman and the little dressmaker….the contrast between the socialite of Boston and the drudge in the kitchen….the old farmers and the independent, college-educated young people…and, with an acceptance of the realities of life we might think of as “modern”, the impact of an illegitimate child on the lives of its mother and her whole family.
In her new role as the ministers wife, Miss Philura’s independent (dare one say rebellious?) spirit continues to blossom, while deep in her heart there is a secret longing waiting to be realised….The arrival of a mysterious new family in the village will have unexpected consequences for the lives of several people in Innesfield; fortunately the heart of Philura is big enough and brave enough to embrace it all.
(Anne F )
Books in the series:
1 - The Transfiguration of Miss Philura
2 - Miss Philura's Wedding Gown
3 - The Heart of Philura
4 - Neighbors
30 episodes
Nine twisty-turny tales of tragic human drama, played out in Victorian parlors, death beds and lonely country roads. This collection of Violet Hunt writings has all the requirements for short story entertainment: flirtatious beauties, mismatched love, ''lung symptoms'', and cruel, cruel fate. Sometimes the horror has a ghostly source, but often the horror is rooted in our very human pathology. - Lisa Reichert
16 episodes
Arnold Bennett escribió Enterrado en vida después de su obra más conocida y seria, Cuento de viejas, y siempre la consideró como su novela más delirantemente divertida. Defensor del realismo ("En primer término, una novela debería parecer verdad. Y no puede parecer verdad si los personajes no parecen reales") y crítico con las novelas sensacionalistas decimonónicas, Enterrado en vida no deja de tener ciertas características de estas últimas (confusión de identidades, esposas secretas, románticas heroicidades) como un travieso y satírico guiño al lector avisado. Sin embargo, es la extraordinaria prosa de Bennett la que consigue que cualquier lector olvide el mundo que le rodea y, sin ningún esfuerzo, se encuentre paseando por el Londres de 1908 con el singular señor Priam Farll. Bennett convierte un simple paseo por High Street, una conversación con el estanquero, o una merienda en un salón de té, en escenas tan nítidas y reales, tan coloristas, que lo cotidiano se vuelve extraordinario. Summary by Phileas Fogg
48 episodes
The final story featuring the inhabitants of the growing township of Innisfield: Mrs Philura Pettibone’s story reaches its long-awaited conclusion and Miss Malvina’s life is changed forever by the arrival of various ”fur’ners”. Published in 1917, with America’s entry into the war in Europe imminent, the story dwells on friendships, the melting- pot of nationalities that make up the USA, and the personal struggle between pacifism and patriotism in wartime. While the writing keeps its gently ironic style for most of the time, it also features more serious and sometimes rather melodramatic themes. - Summary by Anne Fletcher
Books in the series:
1 - The Transfiguration of Miss Philura
2 - Miss Philura's Wedding Gown
3 - The Heart of Philura
4 - Neighbors
31 episodes
Der Auf- und Untergang eines Sterns am Züricher Varieté-Himmel, nämlich der von Max Flametti, wird hier beschrieben. Charmant-unverblümt widerspiegelt der Roman das Kolorit dieser Szene samt Artisten, "illustren" Publikums, Freudenmädchen und Polizei. Frisch, gewitzt und überaus sprachgewandt umreißt Hugo Ball eine riesige Fülle von Äußerlichkeiten seiner Charaktere und lässt damit den Leser tief blicken. Er verarbeitet hier auch eigene Züricher Varieté-Erfahrungen. - Summary by Eva K.
17 episodes
Laura and Cora Madison and their younger brother Hedrick live with their parents in a Midwestern American town that is fairly bursting with Cora’s discarded and would-be beaus. Her flirtatiousness annoys the tempestuous Hedrick but not the reserved Laura. The return to town of a handsome, charming former resident and an encounter with a deranged young person set in motion a roller-coaster of events that interweave and play out to an exciting, emotional climax.
Booth Tarkington's writing is exceptionally sensitive and perceptive. A popular American novelist and dramatist, he is best remembered for his Pulitzer Prize-winning novels "The Magnificent Ambersons" and "Alice Adams". – Lee Smalley
25 episodes
Arthur Vernon, member of the Athenian club and member of “society,” has a secret. His father has died and left him destitute, so he has begun a private investigation agency under the name “Nemo.” It would be disastrous if this were known among his associates at the club, and especially if his intended in-laws found out. But he is quite sure no one else knows, that is until his old college classmate, Constantine Maunders, visits him with a proposition he can’t refuse. Maunders knows all, and he wants to be made a partner in the agency, providing “Nemo” with black-mail worthy information on other people in society in return for a share of the financial rewards for their silence. Vernon is appalled, particularly as “Nemo” is engaged in solving a high profile blackmail case. These are the beginning of Vernons conundrums as the clues unfold. - Summary by Don W. Jenkins
22 episodes
A lighthearted tale which revolves around old Peter Lane, who lives in a houseboat on the Mississippi River and mostly whiles away his time whittling with his jack-knife and not really doing much else. That is, until one night, a sickly woman knocks at his boat door holding her son in her arms. This encounter would change Peter's life, as the old man befriends little Buddy and is determined to keep him and raise him as his own, provided he is able to keep a host of others from laying claim to the orphan.
(Note - While the online text for this book appears that there is no chapter 7, no chapters have been omitted from this recording.) - Summary by Roger Melin
19 episodes
The Strange Visitation is a Christmas ghost story in the spirit of Dickens' A Christmas Carol. It was commissioned by the Strand as a supplement to its December volume of that year. - Summary by A. Gramour
12 episodes
Seymour Merriman stops at the side of the road 26 miles outside Bordeaux, an action that will change his life forever. The events that follow lead him into mystery, smuggling, murder and love. Two amateur detectives try to unravel the mystery of changing number plates, and everything else that surrounds the pit prop syndicate, before the case is handed over to Inspector Willis of Scotland Yard. (KHand)
20 episodes
Val had come to Montana to marry a cowboy named Manley, envisioning a life of wedded bliss, freedom, and was anticipating happiness in her adopted part of the country. She would soon learn that the winters could be cruel and lonesome for a woman living on a ranch which was situated miles from the nearest neighbor. She would learn that her husband spent most of his time drinking. And she would learn that everybody has their own methods of dealing with the harshness and loneliness of the land she has come to call home. Val is determined to re-invent her notions about men and women, her new duties in life, and life as it existed in the relatively new West. At every turn, her will and her strength are tested. Would she find the strength within herself to overcome the hardships, or would she succumb to the reality of her surroundings? - Summary by Roger Melin
24 episodes
Published in 1916, this book collects eleven stories originally published in several different magazines. Beach’s adventure stories were immensely popular throughout the early 1900s. - Summary by David Wales
17 episodes
This 1905 collection is of the author’s short animal stories, some previously published in magazines. - Summary by David Wales
7 episodes
The book follows the career of Hugh Paret from youth to manhood, and how his profession as a corporation lawyer gradually changes his values. The book received positive reviews, and was the second best-selling novel in the United States in 1915. - Summary by Wikipedia
31 episodes
Cinematic in style and rich in characterization, this novel is set in early 20th century Chicago – in a barroom, at home, and in the workplace. An alcoholic convinces himself of the reasonableness of “just one drink”. A priest defends the Church’s position on the indissolubility of marriage. It is a story of relationships impacted by human frailties, unusual generosity, and religion.
“It is almost photographic in its accuracy of detail.” – The New York Herald
“Every person in it is someone you know.” – The Call
“The author permits the representatives of the old order to present their arguments. For the new order he presents simply the facts of such a case as Georgia’s. It is for this reason that the book is strong.” –The New York Times
The author’s personal history, including his founding of the NY Daily News, is covered at wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Medill_Patterson.
(Lee Smalley)
34 episodes
"The Regeneration of Lord Ernie is a story about a young man with no passion for life, he was very capable and the heir to a large family fortune but just not interested in life. His father employs a teacher, John Hendricks, to take him on a world tour and try to inspire him. In the final stage of the tour in desperation he takes him to the Jura mountains, where he went as a young man, to visit a pastor he stayed with. During the stay they get involved with pagan worship that involves the transforming power of wind and fire, up in the mountains.
Algernon Blackwood manages to evoke the atmosphere and tensions that carry Lord Ernie through transformation to lead a new life. But like a shooting stars he burns bright but ...... "( Patrick79)
11 episodes
Henry Kitchell Webster is an American author best know for his detective novels. The Ghost Girl opens with a murder mystery. A young woman's frozen, yet perfectly preserved, body is found in the river. As the family discusses this news of the day, good friend Jeffrey returns from a sabbatical, suddenly undertaken after finishing a commission to paint the portrait of a dead girl. The mystery deepens as the chapters progress and Jeffrey and Drew investigate as the haunting coincidences begin to pile up. ( Kate Follis)
21 episodes
Een romantische ingenieur raakt betoverd door het spel van een Indische fluitspeler, zoals het zakelijke Nederland door het geheimzinnige Indië. ( Marcel Coenders)
7 episodes
Minor potboiler is a change of pace from the author of the Lone Wolf detective series. Tenement beauty (and wannabe stage-star) Joan Thursby seeks to raise herself up out of the gutter in 1900's New York City, in a precursor to superior soaps like Stella Dallas a decade later. Full of the kind of purple prose common to writers prone to overuse of the thesaurus, and leavened with a bit of humor, the basic story is still entertaining for fans of low-brow lit.
- Summary by Matt Pierard
39 episodes
This 1916 book is a collection of sixteen of the author's dog stories previously published in magazines. ( David Wales)
16 episodes
Lilian works in a typewriting office owned by Felix Grig, a middle-aged man of means. The office is run by his spinster sister, Miss Grig, who suspects that Felix is more interested in Lilian than perhaps he should be and gives Lilian the sack.
Her plan fails as Felix invites Lilian to dinner – and the book follows the course of their evolving relationship.
29 episodes
This collection of eleven short stories, both humorous and touching, about English school boys was published in 1900. The book was quite popular in its time. The author wrote two follow-up books: The Human Boy Again (1908) and The Human Boy And The War (1916). Eden Phillpotts was popular with the reading public and wrote prolifically novels, short stories, poetry, plays, and nonfiction. Clarification of the term fag: In an English public school a junior boy who performs menial tasks for a senior. - Summary by David Wales
11 episodes
This is the third book of the Pixie O’Shaughnessy trilogy. In a story of love lost and found, Pixie matures from an inexperienced young lass into a wise woman. - Summary by Judith Mason
28 episodes
The adventures of two young men, which may or may not have to do with the supernatural. - Summary by Nicholas Clifford
8 episodes
Marjorie Fielding is born premature and spends her first months of life in an incubator. Her mother is a modern, broad-minded woman eschewing old fashioned views of childrearing to embrace a scientific method. Science has its place but can it be taken too far? Little Marjorie gives us her perspective. - Summary by Scotty
3 episodes
Yes, it's been a couple of years since I quit the ring. . . . I slid into a quiet corner for a month or so, and then I dropped into the only thing I knew how to do, trainin' comers to go against the champs. It ain't like pullin' down your sixty per cent of the gate receipts, but there's worse payin' jobs.Course, there's times when I finds myself up against it. It was durin' one of them squeezes, not so long ago, that I gets mixed up with Leonidas Dodge, and all that foolishness. Ah, it wa'n't anything worth wastin' breath over. You would? Honest? Well, it won't take long, I guess. - Summary by Sewell Ford
15 episodes
Fresh from school, mistreated and neglected by her father and stepmother, sixteen-year-old Dawn consents to marry a friend of her father's whom she has only met, but the wedding does not go as planned. Scared and confused, she runs away after the ceremony. Many adventures follow lovely and resourceful Dawn on her journey to becoming an independent woman. - Summary by karlkzumich
28 episodes
Denne romanen forteller historien om ei gruppe fattige fiskere på begynnelsen av 1900-tallet og et års Lofotfiske. Vi følger far og sønn, Kristaver og Lars, gjennom slitsomme og spennende måneder på fiske. Kristaver, som er høvedsmann på egen båt for aller første gang, er som en "gud på havet" i øynene til sønnen. Mor går hjemme med de yngste barna, tar hånd om dyra og den lille gården og engster seg nesten syk gjennom den lange vinteren mens mannfolkene er på havet. Romanen utspiller seg i spenningen mellom rik og fattig, by og bygd, kyst og innland, tradisjon og framskritt samtidig som den er spennende, trist og medrivende. - Summary by kathrinee.
14 episodes
