British Literature

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman is a nine-volume novel published between 1759 and 1767 by English novelist Laurence Sterne. The novel is considered by many scholars as an early forerunner of postmodern literature due to its metafictional commentary on its own narrative. Contemporary critics did not view the novel favorably, though its humor and sentimentalism helped it find an audience. The novel has been adapted for radio and opera and as a... Read The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman Summary

James Boswell’s The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791) is often considered to be one of the finest pieces of biographical writing in the English language. Samuel Johnson was an English poet, essayist, and lexicographer who produced a pioneering and influential Dictionary of the English Language. However, he is less well-known today for his writings than as the biographical subject for Boswell, a lawyer from Scotland who first met Johnson in 1763. During their 21-year friendship... Read The Life of Samuel Johnson Summary

The Lifted Veil by George Eliot is a novella that explores themes of clairvoyance, the limits of consciousness, sympathy, and Victorian-era scientific interests. George Eliot, the pen name of Mary Ann Evans, published The Lifted Veil in the English literary magazine Maga in July 1859 after the success of her first novel, Adam Bede. In The Lifted Veil, Eliot writes of the idealistic and egocentric Latimer, who is in love with his brother’s fiancée and... Read The Lifted Veil Summary

The London Eye Mystery (2007), by Siobhan Dowd, is a novel for young readers about a boy named Ted who teams up with his sister to figure out how their cousin disappeared while riding a giant Ferris wheel.The novel was nominated for a Carnegie Medal, was listed as a 2008 Booklist Children’s Editors’ Choice title, and a School Library Journal Best Book of 2008. It was also shortlisted for many English awards, including the Red... Read The London Eye Mystery Summary

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Published in 1948, The Loved One: An Anglo-American Tragedy by English writer Evelyn Waugh is a short satirical novel that lampoons both the Los Angeles funeral industry and the Hollywood film business. British expatriates and Americans clash in this morbid but merry tale of smiling corpses and lavish pet funerals. Waugh wrote it after a trip to Hollywood during which he visited the Forest Lawn Cemetery. The book inspired the 1965 film The Loved One... Read The Loved One Summary

Considered one of the best early examples of science fiction, E. M. Forster’s short story, “The Machine Stops,” first published in 1909, is notable for predicting several modern technologies decades before they became practical, including the Internet and instant messaging. Forster's other important works include A Passage to India (1924), A Room with a View (1908), and his seminal work of literary criticism, Aspects of the Novel (1927). “Part One: The Airship” begins in “a... Read The Machine Stops Summary

The Magus (1965) by John Fowles is a metafictional psychological thriller that blends a twisty, mysterious plot with existentialist philosophy and Postmodernist narrative play. Set on a beautiful, remote Greek island, the novel follows Nicholas Urfe, a disaffected British schoolteacher who becomes entangled in a surreal psychosexual game orchestrated by the enigmatic Conchis. Nick’s descent into Conchis’s world leaves him grappling with The Quest for an Authentic Self Amid Illusions, Narrative Instability as Metaphor for... Read The Magus Summary

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The Man Who Was Thursday is a thriller novel published in 1908 by the English author G.K. Chesterton. Subtitled A Nightmare, the book weaves together elements of mystery, comedic farce, and allegory around the threat of anarchy in turn-of-the-century London. For over a century after its publication, The Man Who Was Thursday inspired numerous adaptations, including a 1938 Mercury Theatre radio-play written by Orson Welles. Other works by Chesterton include Orthodoxy, The Ball and the... Read The Man Who Was Thursday Summary

The narrator muses that it must have been January of the present year when she first detected a small, round, dark mark on the wall. This mark will serve as the impetus for the entire story. She then states that “in order to fix a date”, it “is necessary to remember what one saw” (1). Next, she recalls the fire, a ray of light on her book, and three chrysanthemums in a vase, in order... Read The Mark on the Wall Summary

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The Mayor of Casterbridge: The Life and Death of a Man of Character (1886) is a novel by Thomas Hardy. Taking place in a fictional town in rural England sometime in the 1840s, the story follows young hay trusser Michael Henchard as he traverses English social life and struggles to improve his standing. One of the foremost authors of the Victorian period, Hardy is known for his psychologically and morally complex portrayals of rural English... Read The Mayor of Casterbridge Summary

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Written when he was just 19 (and, the author claimed, in only 10 weeks), Matthew Lewis’s The Monk: A Romance proved spectacularly popular with readers upon its first publication in 1796. At the same time, this Gothic tale of religious hypocrisy, sexual depravity, and supernatural visitations was roundly condemned as immoral; critics and readers alike were shocked by the novel’s explicit depictions of violence and sexuality. Lewis published four further editions of the novel in... Read The Monk Summary

The Moonstone is a Victorian mystery novel by the English writer Wilkie Collins. It was originally published in serial installments between January and August 1868. The Moonstone is sometimes considered one of the first detective novels in English, with its suspenseful and dramatic plot building on the success Collins had achieved with an earlier mystery novel, The Woman in White (1860). Throughout The Moonstone, Collins explores the themes of Public Reputation Versus Inner Nature, The... Read The Moonstone Summary

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