Wuthering Heights is now a classic of English literature, but back in the Victorian era it was controversial because of its unusually stark depiction of mental and physical cruelty, and it challenged strict Victorian ideals regarding religious hypocrisy, morality, social classes and gender inequality. Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights was first published in London in 1847 by Thomas Cautley Newby... Read More
Charles John Huffam Dickens, an English writer and social critic, edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed readings extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms. A Christmas Carol, probably the most popul... Read More
Charles Dickens enjoyed popularity during his lifetime than had any previous author. Much in his work could appeal to the simple and the sophisticated, to the poor and to the queen. He edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed readings extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campa... Read More
Sir Walter Scott was born on 15 August 1771. He was the ninth child of Walter Scott, a Writer to the Signet, and Anne Rutherford. His father was a member of a cadet branch of the Scotts Clan, and his mother descended from the Haliburton family, the descent from whom granted Walter's family the hereditary right of burial in Dryburgh Abbey. As a boy, youth, and young man, Scott was fascinated by... Read More
H.G. Wells was a famous science fiction writer. The science fiction historian John Clute describes Wells as "the most important writer the genre has yet seen", and notes his work has been central to both British and American science fiction. Science fiction author and critic Algis Budrys said Wells "remains the outstanding expositor of both the hope, and the despair, which are embodied in the t... Read More
A young woman marries an older man and arrives at his house, only to find that his dead wife is still there… A picture in a tower depicts a dangerous woman… A dead man walks through a house every night because sometimes the dead do come back… Stories about ghosts and suspense. What can be better? Especially when these stories come from Victorian writers and Rudyard Kipling himself. Kipling's bi... Read More
Diane Setterfield is a British author. Before writing, Setterfield studied French Literature at The University of Bristol, earning a bachelor of arts in 1986 and a PhD in 1993. Setterfield taught at numerous schools as well as privately before leaving academia in the late 1990s. First published in 2006, The Thirteenth Tale was the author's first published book and became a New York Times No.1 b... Read More
Sophie Kinsella is a writer and former financial journalist. She is the worldwide bestselling author of the Shopaholic series, Surprise Me, My Not So Perfect Life, Can You Keep a Secret?,The Undomestic Goddess, Remember Me?, Twenties Girl, I've Got Your Number and Wedding Night. Her novels have been translated into over forty languages, and Confessions of a Shopaholic, the first novel in the... Read More
The Shining is a horror novel by American author Stephen King that was first published in 1977. It is King's third published novel and first hardback bestseller: the success of the book firmly established King as a preeminent author in the horror genre. The setting and characters are influenced by King's personal experiences, including both his visit to The Townplace Suites in Williamsport in 1... Read More
Stephen King is a bestselling novelist who made his name in the horror and fantasy genres with books like Carrie and The Shining. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, King published a handful of short novels under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. The idea behind this was to test whether he could replicate his success again and to allay his fears that his popularity was an accident. After a lamentab... Read More