Orphaned early in life, Jane Eyre endures life with a cruel aunt, harsh boarding school and generous lashings of cruelty. From this grew Jane's strength of character and quest for freedom and equality. Jane eventually secures a job as a governess and falls in love with the owner of the manor, Edward Rochester. Despite her plainness, she captures his heart. But can they overcome differences in social status, age and experience? Will a secret he has come between them? Will she follow her convictions even if it meant losing her true love? Will love conquer all? Jane Eyre is a sensational love story Bronte style with truckloads of gutsy character building material to boot.

The opera, Tales of Hoffman tells of the three great loves of Hoffman - an automaton, a love forbidden, and a courtesan.

The first Fiction Liberation Front Creative Commons licensed novel.

"Lewis Shiner's latest, Black & White, is killer. Strong characters, suspenseful situations, and tremendous insight. A novel that doesn't flinch from social issues, and is so gracefully written it makes you want to weep. Should not be missed. Lewis Shiner is the real deal, and this is his finest work."

--Joe R. Lansdale

Sienkiewicz received the 1905 Nobel Price in Literature for his "outstanding merits as an epic writer".

The novel follows the developing love between a Christian woman and a Roman Patrician in the time of Nero. The romantic story arc is set against the conflict of the moral systems of the long established Roman Empire and the developing Christianity. Sienkiewicz uses this setting to explore morality and power, and his observations remain relevant today.

The novel is based on extensive historical research and gives a good view of life in those times.

The first major writing to gain recognition for Ivan Turgenev these short stories reflect his own observations of the abuse of the peasants and the injustice of the Russian system. The publication of the stories led to his house arrest, and contributed to the abolishment of serfdom.

Picks up where the film Troy (loosely based on Homer's Iliad) leaves off and follows Aeneis a fleeing Trojan as he travels to Italy, makes war on the Latins, and becomes an ancestor of the Romans. Virgil was the "Latin world's Shakespeare".

By the time Dickens set out for America in 1842, he was already a well known author and celebrity. His illuminating book American Notes is his depiction of the New World, a place with both admirable (well run hospitals, prisons, law courts) and despicable (slavery, unsavoury manners) qualities. When first published, his accounts and opinions incited hostile reactions on both sides of the Atlantic.