Cricket House Books

Dubliners is a collection of fifteen short stories by James Joyce, first published in 1914. The stories were meant to be a naturalistic depiction of the Irish middle class life in and around Dublin in the early years of the 20th century.The stories center on Joyce's idea of an epiphany: a moment where a character has a special moment of self-understanding or illumination. The initial stories in the collection are narrated by children as protagonists, and as the stories continue, they deal with the lives and concerns of progressively older people. This is in line with Joyce's division of the collection into childhood, adolescence, and maturity.Source: http: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubliner

Pollyanna is a best-selling 1913 novel that is now considered a classic of children's literature. The title character is Pollyanna Whittier, a young orphan who goes to live with her wealthy but stern Aunt Polly. Pollyanna's philosophy of life centers on what she calls "The Glad Game," which consists of finding something to be glad about in every situation. With this philosophy and her own sunny personality, Pollyanna brings so much gladness to her aunt's dispirited New England town that she transforms it into a pleasant place to live. Eventually, however, even Pollyanna's robust optimism is put to the test when she is struck down by a motorcar while crossing a street.One of the best-known film adaptations is Disney's 1960 version, starring Hayley Mills, who won a special Oscar for the role.Source: http: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollyann

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is a popular 1876 novel about a young boy growing up in the antebellum South. The story is set in the town of "St Petersburg," inspired by Hannibal, Missouri, where Mark Twain grew up. In the story's introduction, Twain notes: Most of the adventures recorded in this book really occurred; one or two were experiences of my own, the rest those of boys who were schoolmates of mine. Huck Finn is drawn from life; Tom Sawyer also, but not from an individual-he is a combination of the characteristics of three boys whom I knew, and therefore belongs to the composite order of architecture.Source: http: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Tom_Sawyer

Cranford is the best-known novel of the 19th century English writer Elizabeth Gaskell. The book is a series of episodes in the lives of Mary Smith and her friends, Miss Matty and Miss Deborah, two spinster sisters.Source: http: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cranford_(novel

Frankenstein, is a novel written by Mary Shelley. Shelley started writing the story when she was 18 and the novel was published when she was 20. The first edition was published anonymously in London in 1818. Shelley's name appears on the second edition, published in France. The title of the novel refers to a scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who learns how to create life and creates a being in the likeness of man, but larger than average and more powerful. In popular culture, people have tended incorrectly to refer to the monster as "Frankenstein". Frankenstein is infused with some elements of the Gothic novel and the Romantic movement. It was also a warning against the expansion of modern man in the Industrial Revolution, alluded to in the novel's subtitle, The Modern Prometheus. The story has had an influence across literature and popular culture and spawned a complete genre of horror stories and films.Source: http: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstein

Th r se Raquin was originally published in France in 1867. It tells the story of a young woman who is unhappily married to her first cousin by an overbearing aunt. Th r se's husband, Camille, is sickly and selfish, and when the opportunity arises, Th r se enters into a turbulent and sordidly passionate affair with one of Camille's friends, Laurent.In response to his critics, Zola explained that he sought to make an analytic study of temperament and not of character. "Th r se and Laurent are human brutes," he wrote, "nothing more. I have sought to follow these brutes, step by step, in the secret labour of their passions, in the impulsion of their instincts, in the cerebral disorder resulting from the excessive strain on their nerves."Source: http: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therese_Raquin