The first novel by Fanny Fern, otherwise known as Sara Payson Willis, is a semi-autobiographical tale of a talented writer who loses her husband and is forced to support herself and two young children in the mid-1800s. Fern writes with biting social commentary on the subject of traditional assumptions of a woman’s place in society.

Those of us who have faithfully read the entire “Cat Who…” series have seen Jim Qwilleran put his life back together after hitting rock bottom, as a result of his alcoholism, divorce and the inability to hold onto a job. We have seen him pull himself up by his bootstraps to become the man in control–the one others come to for comfort and advice, and filthy rich to boot. Now we see his idyllic universe begin to unravel. He and the reader realize that his universe may have been getting a little stagnant. Is Jim paying for his failure to make personal commitments? Will another woman take up where Polly left off? Will she be reserved and erudite like Polly, or outgoing and outrageous like Hixie Rice?

Much shorter than Middlemarch, Silas Marner ironically takes a bit longer for the reader to become involved with the story. It starts almost too simply: Silas Marner, a weaver living in a religious community, is unjustly accused of theft, expelled, and becomes a recluse in another small village called Raveloe.

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The title of this book is evidently a double entendre–a guess, since pearls are never mentioned in the narrative. However, a string of pearls was and still is a wardrobe staple for the professional woman. A “string of pearls” must also refer to the format of the narrative. It is a collection of vignettes presented in a logical if not always chronological order. As the reader progresses through the stories, he or she realizes that these stories are indeed gems.

Legends of Vancouver was originally published around 1910 as a series of newspaper articles based on stories related by Pauline Johnson’s friend, Chief Joe Capilano of the Squamish people. It is the first collection of native legends retold by a native artist and has become a classic of Canadian literature.

My Ántonia is a story of many people over a long period of time. Many come and go, some stay throughout the narrative, many softly pass into the background and are not spoken of again. While not the tightly structured narrative that was O Pioneers!, My Ántonia is a quiet story that finds its power through simplicity.

With Emma, Girlebooks now has all of Jane Austen’s novels available for free download in our ebook catalog. First published in 1816, Emma is a comic novel about the “handsome, clever, and rich” title character and the follies surrounding her attempts at matchmaking. In her misguided schemes involving almost everyone’s romantic interests but her own, [...]