Класична зарубіжна проза

«Остання красуня Півдня» — це новела, в якій автор написав про себе й про трагічну любов. У творі «Буремний рейс» розповідається про те, що довіра може зникнути через дрібниці. А величезна кришталева чаша стає символом невезіння в новелі «Кришталева чаша».

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) was a British writer, who created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. This novel, as well as The Sign of the Four and 12short stories about the adventures of the world’s most famous detective, were included in the first volume of the illustrated four-volume set.

The Franchise Affair is a mystery novel by British writer Josephine Tey (1896–1952). The novel is based on the investigation of the crime of the Sharpe mother and daughter, accused of kidnapping a young girl. Their defense is led by local lawyer Robert Blair. The mystery of the Sharpe family’s guilt or innocence remains until the very end.

Jerome K. Jerome, an English writer and humourist, in the semi-autobiographical novel Paul Kelver (1902) details the protagonist’s rocky road through life. Paul tried to make an acting career and had several disastrous love adventures. However, meeting by chance with an influential stranger made him eventually come to a decision of becoming a writer.

Gone with the Wind is a novel by the American writer Margaret Mitchell (1900–1949).

Енн одружена з Гілбертом Блайтом 15 років, у них шестеро дітей: Джем, Уолтер, Нан, Ді, Ширлі та Рілла. В Глен Сент-Мері, де вони тепер живуть, прибув новий священник, Джон Мередіт, удівець із чотирма дітьми. Мередіти і Блайти часто граються в улоговині під назвою Веселкова долина.

Molly Gibson, a young and naive girl, the only daughter of a widowed doctor living in a provincial English town in the 1830s. Mr. Gibson decides to remarry. For the sake of her father, Molly does everything to get along with her stepmother. Molly finds an ally in her stepsister Cynthia. The two girls are complete opposites. But Cynthia and her mother conceal a secret from their past.

It is the story of the sailor Ishmael about the obsessive pursuit of Ahab, the captain of the whaling ship Pequod, after a white sperm whale. The dramatic conflict between man and nature has captivated readers of this epic saga for the second century in a row.

David Herbert Lawrence (1885–1930) in the semi-auto-biographical novel Sons and Lovers (1913) touched on the topic of ambiguous relationships with parents.

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.

The novel Glimpses of the Moon (1922) by American author Edith Wharton tells the romantic adventures of Nick Lansing and Susy Branch. They have agreed to get married and spend a year at the expense of their wealthy friends, spending their honeymoon in their mansions and villas. But if one of them meets a suitable match, they may end their marriage. This is a comedy of errors that will charm all fans of Wharton’s work.

The Buccaneers (1937), Edith Wharton’s last novel, was left unfinished.
The novel is set in the 1870s. Several wealthy American families have ambitions to gain even higher social status by marrying off their daughters to aristocrats. The money of the young women’s parents is very attractive to impoverished but titled Englishmen to maintain their version of wealth.

Nineteen-year-old Margaret Hale lives in London. Her life is turned upside down when her family moves to Milton Northern. It is a cotton-manufacturing town, which is at the centre of a workers’ revolution. At first, Margaret is hostile to John Thornton, a wealthy manufacturer; but over time, she begins to admire the way he rose from poverty. After a series of dramatic events, Thornton unexpectedly makes his declaration of love to her, but Margaret does not accept it, although she begins to realize the depth of Thornton’s personality.

«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 Brangwen sisters, Ursula and Gudrun, are the main characters of D.H. Lawrence’s novel Women in Love (1920). Ursula is a schoolteacher, and Gudrun is an artist.

The second volume of the four-volume illustrated books by Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) includes the novel The Hound of the Baskervilles and 12 short stories. The legend of the fearsome, diabolical hound that haunts the Baskervilles has turned into a terrifying reality. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson try to save the last descendant of this family—Sir Henry.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a short story about a man who is aging in reverse, from old age to childhood. Benjamin Button was born with the appearance of a 70-year-old man and is already able to speak. When Benjamin turns 20, the Button family realizes that he is getting younger...

Anne of Ingleside is a novel by the Canadian writer Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874–1942), which is a continuation of the novel Anne’s House of Dreams. The children of the happy couple of Anne and Gilbert grow up, study, and find friends—and, they can always be comforted and encouraged by their parents. And, at the end of the novel, the couple is going to celebrate their fifteenth wedding anniversary, which is a nice occasion that calls for a “second honeymoon.”

English writer David Herbert Lawrence (1885—1930) in the novel The Rainbow, tells the story of three generations of the Brangwen family. Tom Brangwen is the personification of the rural English farmer of the 19th century, who leads an oldfashioned way of life. His granddaughter Ursula is a university student and lives in the urban, industrial world of the early 20th century. The novel is based on the description of both rural and urban lifestiles, and the changes that occur over generations.

Nineteen Eighty-Four is a dystopia by George Orwell, written in 1948, published in 1949, and is relevant as never before. Today, in the era of the Internet, the social media are monitoring our every gesture, purchase, action, and comment online. They are constantly present in our lives and predict our every desire, our choices being carefully followed. Political organizations also play upon the feelings of network users. Big Brother is no longer a writer’s fiction, but the framework of the modern world.

The Gothic novel The Mysteries of Udolpho by the English writer Anne Radcliffe (1764–1823) is set in the 16th century in Southern France and Northern Italy.
In the second part of the novel, Emily, now an orphan, is forced to live with her aunt, Madame Cheron. The aunt marries Montoni, a nobleman from Italy. He wants his friend Count Morano to become Emily’s husband. Finding Morano almost broke, Montoni takes Emily and her aunt to his castle, Udolfo. Montoni is trying to force his wife to transfer the property to him. Madame Cheron dies. Emily manages to escape...

The White Company is a historical novel by the Scottish writer Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930), which tells about the adventures of the main character, a young squire, as well as English archers.

The Professor is the first novel by English writer Charlotte Brontë’s (1816–1855). Young William Crimsworth is forced to look for work. After an unsuccessful experience as a clerk, and following a friend’s advice, William takes up teaching English. He unexpectedly falls in love with one of his students.

The novel The Law and the Lady by the English writer William Wilkie Collins (1824–1889) has a detective plot. Valeria Brinton marries Eustace Woodville, but a few days after the wedding, she begins to suspect her husband of hiding a dark secret in his past. She discovers that he was on trial for his first wife’s murder. Valeria sets out to save their happiness by proving her husband innocent of the crime.

Ambrose Bierce (1842—1914) was an American writer, journalist, poet, satirist, American Civil War veteran. The short story master, the author of stories on the themes of death and horror. In this genre, his name is placed next to those of Edgar Allan Poe and H. P. Lovecraft. Can Such Things Be? is a collection of scary stories, including The Death Of Halpin Frayser, A Psychological Shipwreck, A Diagnosis of Death, among others.

Nineteen Eighty-Four is a dystopia by George Orwell. The main character of the novel, Winston Smith, is a censor at the Ministry of Truth. All its employees and he are watched by Big Brother; everyone is spying upon everyone else; even at home, citizens are followed through special screens. Today, in the age of the Internet, the social media are monitoring our every gesture, purchase, action, and online comment. They are constantly present in our lives and anticipate our every desire, our choices being carefully monitored.

The Strange High House in the Mist is a collection of several mystical stories by the American writer H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937). In the story of the same name, Thomas Olney is intrigued by a strange house on a cliff overlooking the ocean. Local residents are afraid of this place, which no one visits. With great difficulty, Olney climbs the rock, approaches the house and meets the mysterious man who lives there.

The mysterious murder that Sherlock Holmes investigates in the novel The Valley of Fear is connected with ancient events in a distant land. The victim of the persecution manages to happily avoid death, but on his way there is a genius of the criminal world Professor Moriarty.

In the novel The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), the dramatic story of Michael Henchard is described. The life path of Henchard—The Man of Character—was determined by fate at the moment of anger and a cruel joke in his youth. Despite the achievements of all subsequent years of life, a shameful act weighs on him and leads to an inevitable collapse.

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.

Agnes Grey (1847) by English writer Anne Brontë is the story of a governess. The novel is based on the author’s own five-year experience. Like Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, the work describes the difficult lives of poor girls who are forced to work for other families.