Класична зарубіжна проза

Orlando is a poet and English nobleman during the reign of Elizabeth I. He undergoes a mysterious sex change at the age of 30, and continues to live for over 300 years without aging.
Throughout his/her life, Orlando meets famous figures in English literary history.

The first volume of Scotland Yard Book by the English writer Edgar Wallace (1875-1932) included the thriller novel The Clue of the Silver Key.  In the story, Surefoot Smith of Scotland Yard is called in to investigate when petty thief Tom Tickler is murdered and left in a cab with £100 in his pocket. His discovery eventually leads to the mysterious businessman Washington Wirth.

The heroine of Sanditon, Charlotte Heywood, the eldest daughter in a large family of a country gentleman from Willingden in Sussex, accidentally meets the Parker family from the town of Sanditon. The new friends invite the girlto stay with them for the summer and share ambitious plans to turn Sanditon into a fashionable seaside resort.

The Forsyte Saga brought the English writer John Galsworthy (1867–1933) world fame and the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Mr. Watson is a widowed clergyman with two sons and four daughters. The youngest daughter, Emma, the heroine of the story, has been brought up by a wealthy aunt and is consequently better educated than her sisters. However, after her aunt contracted a marriage, Emma has been obliged to return to her father’s house. She is chagrined by the reckless husband-hunting of her older sisters, Penelope and Margaret. Emma meets the Watsons’ neighbors, Lord Osborne and Mr. Howard.

The daughters of the Marquis Mazzini, Emilia and Julia, are beautiful and educated maidens. Julia falls in love with the young and handsome Italian Count de Verez, but her father wants to marry her to the Duke de Luovo. Julia tries to escape with her lover on the night before the wedding. By chance, she learns the terrible secrets of the Mazzini family..

Mrs. Dalloway is the novel by Virginia Woolf (1882–1941). It is a masterpiece of the “golden age” of English modernism.

In his thriller stories Poe tries to show psychic side of the crime from the inside. He is not interested in social roots of the crime, but in unmotivated actions that go beyond normal behavior of a person in the society.

The third volume of Scotland Yard Book by the English writer Edgar Wallace (1875-1932) presents the collection of short stories The Mind of Mr. J. G. Reader, published in 1925. The collection includes the works The Poetical Policeman, The Green Mamba, The Stealer of Marble, The Troupe, Sheer Melodrama, The Investors, The Strange Case, and The Treasure Hunt.

«Tales of the Fish Patrol» is a collection of short stories by the American classic writer Jack London (1876–1916).

Pickman’s Model is a collection of horror stories by American writer Howard Lovecraft (1890–1937). In the story Pickman’s Model, the artist paints pictures of horrific images that are considered the fruit of his sick imagination. A friend of the artist comes to Pickman’s private secret gallery. The artist shows new painting, a huge image of a red-eyed creature that devours human victims. The friend finds a photograph that proves that Pickman painted the horrible monsters not from imagination, but he used real-life models.

Charming Lady Susan Vernon is a widow, who seduces both single and married men alike. As she has been left in a financially precarious state due to the death of her first husband, she uses flirting to gain her objectives and maintain a semblance of her former opulent lifestyle. As a widow and a mother, her main goals are to quickly marry off her daughter Frederica to a wealthy man, and to marry someone even richer.

South Sea Tales is a collection of short stories by the American classic writer Jack London (1876–1916).

Tess of the d’Urbervilles — a novel by the English writer Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), first published in 1891. One day, the head of the Darbeyfield family learns that their family comes from the ancient knightly family d’Urberville. He quits his job and spends most of his time in local pubs. Tess, the eldest daughter, becomes the support of the family.

Dreams in the Witch House is a collection of six horror stories by the American writer H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937). In the story of the same name, Walter Gilman, a student, rents a loft in the Witch House. Gilman learns that over the course of two centuries, many of the house’s residents have died prematurely. Gilman begins to have strange dreams related to black magic…

«Persuasion» is the last novel completed by the esteemed English writer Jane Austen (1775–1817). It was published at the end of 1817, six months after her death.

Tender Is the Night (1934) is the last novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald.

The action of the novel takes place on the French Riviera, where a glamorous couple, Dick and Nicole Diver, rent a villa and invite friends. Dick is a promising young psychiatrist, and Nicole was his patient. One of the guests, Rosemary, is delighted with the Divers, but senses that something is wrong with the couple. The other guests witness Nicole’s nervous breakdown....

The War of the Worlds is a science fiction novel by the English writer H. G. Wells (1866-1946). This is one of the earliest novels detailing the conflict between humanity and an alien race. Aliens from Mars plan to invade Earth as their planet's resources are dwindling.

The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath is a story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. In his dreams, Randolph Carter sees a majestic city, but he is unable to approach it. After the city appears in his dreams, he prays to the gods of dream to reveal the city’s whereabouts. But then the city vanishes from his dreams altogether. Carter resolves to beseech the gods in person at Kadath—on the mountain above which the gods of dream live. The priests in a temple that borders the Dreamlands tell Carter that nobody knows the location of Kadath, and warn him of great danger should he continue with his quest.

The Last Tycoon is an unfinished novel by the American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940).
Cecilia Brady, daughter of influential Hollywood producer Pat Brady, is in love with her father’s business partner, Monroe Stahr. But Cecilia’s father is increasingly dissatisfied with Stahr as a business partner and wants to get rid of him. Since he is unable to achieve his goal through blackmail, he does not hesitate to hire a professional killer. Stahr survives and also hires a killer to kill Brady...