Publication year 2018
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Gender Identity, Race, Family, Social Class, Colonialism, Justice
Tags US History, Southern Literature, World History, Historical Fiction, Romance
Class
The titles in the Social Class Collection explore the historical and contemporary implications of social class and class division in cultures around the world. Representing a diverse range of perspectives, cultures, and societies, the selections in this Collection span a broad range of genres and forms, including essays, biographies, and fiction.
The Indigo Girl
The Inheritance Games
The Innocence of Father Brown
The Invisible Man
The Irish Goodbye
The Iron Heel
The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy
The Island
The Japanese Lover
The Johnstown Flood
The Jungle
The Keeper of Stars
The Kill Order
The King of Mulberry Street
The Kite Runner
The Ladies' Paradise
The Lady in the Lake
The Last Carolina Girl
The Last Graduate
The Last Mapmaker
Publication year 2018
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Gender Identity, Race, Family, Social Class, Colonialism, Justice
Tags US History, Southern Literature, World History, Historical Fiction, Romance
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Death, Social Class, Wins & Losses, Grief, Siblings, Guilt, Family
Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Romance, Poverty, Grief & Death, Finance, Information Age, Social Class, Modern Classic Fiction, Fantasy
Publication year 1911
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Good & Evil, Guilt, Revenge, Mental Health, Race, Appearance & Reality, Social Class, Colonialism, Justice, Truth & Lies
Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense, British Literature, Religion & Spirituality
Publication year 1897
Genre Novella, Fiction
Themes Power & Greed, Social Class, Good & Evil
Tags Science Fiction, British Literature, Religion & Spirituality, Science & Nature, Victorian Period, Horror & Suspense, World History, Fantasy, Classic Fiction
H. G. Wells is one of the earliest science fiction authors, sometimes referred to as the father of the genre. His 1897 novel, The Invisible Man, follows an albino scientist who discovers the secret to turning himself invisible. The novel’s blend of fantastical science and realistic, mundane detail is a signature of Wells. This novel has influenced generations of writers and artists, both through its powerful prose and fascinating plot, as well as for its... Read The Invisible Man Summary
Publication year 2025
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Truth & Lies, Social Class, Grief, Guilt, Memory, Sexual Identity, Family, Animals
Tags Literary Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, LGBTQ+
Publication year 1908
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Politics & Government, Gender Identity, Social Class, Justice, Power & Greed, Equality, Community
Tags Science Fiction
The Iron Heel is a dystopian novel by American writer Jack London and was first published in 1908. London was a prominent writer and activist of socialist causes and is best known for his adventure novels The Call of the Wild (1903) and White Fang (1906). The Iron Heel is considered an early example of modern dystopian fiction and was cited by George Orwell as a portentous work on fascism. Framed as a found text... Read The Iron Heel Summary
Publication year 2025
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Politics & Government, War, Good & Evil, Trust & Doubt, Love, Social Class
Tags Romance, Fantasy, Science Fiction
Publication year 2023
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Appearance & Reality, Social Class, Trust & Doubt, Fame
Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Internet & Social Media
Publication year 2015
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Love, Memory, Race, Sexual Identity, Aging, Death, Social Class, Immigration, Art
Tags Romance, Historical Fiction, World War II, Modern Classic Fiction, World History
The Japanese Lover is Isabel Allende’s 18th novel. Like most of Allende’s work, it falls under the genres of magical realism and historical fiction. The novel was originally published in 2015, the year after Allende was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In addition to the overarching focus on romance and love, the novel addresses issues relating to World War II (WWII), Japanese American incarceration during the 1940s, racism, homophobia, and the struggles of aging... Read The Japanese Lover Summary
Publication year 1968
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Power & Greed, Social Class, Grief
Tags US History, Natural Disaster, Industrial Revolution, American Literature, World History
American author and historian David McCullough’s debut book, The Johnstown Flood (1968), is a work of social history that chronicles the Johnstown Flood of 1889, a deluge of water and debris that tore through a steel community in Central Pennsylvania, killing more than 2,000 people and causing millions of dollars in damage. The flood resulted from a dam bursting in the mountains above Johnstown. The dam had been somewhat hurriedly built to create a lake... Read The Johnstown Flood Summary
Publication year 1905
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Family, Immigration, Economics, Social Class
Tags American Literature, Industrial Revolution, Naturalism, Education, Education, World History, Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction, Politics & Government
The Jungle, first published in serial form in 1905, is a realist novel by American writer Upton Sinclair. Although fictional, the work is often considered an example of “muckraking” journalism—turn-of-the-century investigative reporting that took aim at political corruption while advocating for progressive reform. As an exposé of this kind, The Jungle both exceeded and fell short of its author’s intentions. Sinclair’s graphic account of the unsanitary and corrupt practices of America’s big meatpacking companies horrified... Read The Jungle Summary
Publication year 2024
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Love, Nostalgia, Space, Marriage, Mothers, Social Class, Fate, Religion & Spirituality
Publication year 2012
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Love, Social Class, Science & Technology
Tags Action & Adventure, Science Fiction, Fantasy
The Kill Order (2012) by American author James Dashner is the fourth novel in the Maze Runner series and a prequel to the first three books. Like the other Maze Runner books, The Kill Order is a work of young adult (YA) dystopian science-fiction. The novel reveals that a virus (the “Flare”) caused by solar flares incited civilization’s destruction and led to the development of the Glade project. The Maze Runner protagonists, Thomas and Teresa... Read The Kill Order Summary
Publication year 2005
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Perseverance, Social Class, Community, Religion & Spirituality, Immigration
Tags Historical Fiction, Poverty, Immigration & Refugeeism
The King of Mulberry Street (2005) is a middle grade historical novel by Donna Jo Napoli. The story follows a young Jewish boy from his home in Napoli to the streets of New York City after his mother secures him passage to America alone. As Beniamino, renamed Dom, navigates his new environment, he confronts Survival and Resilience in an Unfamiliar Place, The Impact of Immigration on Identity, and Community Rooted in Shared Hardship. The King... Read The King of Mulberry Street Summary
Publication year 2003
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Guilt, Social Class, Religion & Spirituality, Loyalty & Betrayal
Tags Historical Fiction, 9/11, Middle Eastern Literature, Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction, World History
Khaled Hosseini’s debut novel, The Kite Runner, was published in 2003, two years after the events of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the US invasion of Afghanistan. Hosseini, the son of a diplomat for the Afghan Foreign Ministry, was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and relocated to France as a child. When Afghanistan was thrown into turmoil by the Soviet occupation at the height of the Cold... Read The Kite Runner Summary
Publication year 1883
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Economics, Social Class, Gender Identity
Tags Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance, French Literature, World History, Classical Period
Publication year 1943
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Femininity, Gender Identity, Masculinity, Place, Marriage, Social Class, Justice, Power & Greed, Truth & Lies
Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense
The Lady in the Lake, by Raymond Chandler, is a detective novel originally published in 1943. Chandler was born in Chicago but later moved to California, and he drew on his experiences living there when writing his Philip Marlowe novels. Marlowe, a down-on-his-luck Los Angeles detective, first appears in Chandler’s novel The Big Sleep, which was adapted into a film noir in 1946 with Marlowe played by Humphrey Bogart. In the 1946 adaptation of The... Read The Lady in the Lake Summary
Publication year 2023
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Family, Perseverance, Femininity, Social Class, Justice, Science & Technology, Truth & Lies
Tags Historical Fiction, Coming of Age, Southern Literature, World History
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Conflict, Coming of Age, Death, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Social Class, Politics & Government, Good & Evil, Safety & Danger
Tags Fantasy, Romance, Science Fiction, Horror & Suspense
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Coming of Age, Fathers, Social Class, Colonialism, Nation, Truth & Lies
Tags Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Asian Literature, Children`s Literature, Asian Literature