Widely considered one of the greatest manuals of devotion in Christianity it has inspired conversion and stimulated religious devotion for over five hundred years. It is praised by both Protestants and Roman Catholics, and counted among the Jesuit "exercises".

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.

Lady Audley has a secret - necessity turns Robert Audley, her aristocrat step-nephew, into a detective bent on uncovering it. Lady Audley's Secret is a compelling example of the Victorian sensation novel, the genre that focused on shocking subject matter jarringly presented in familiar or domestic settings. Originally published in 1862 it has remained in print ever since and retains its power to challenge and entertain.

The story opens with Valeria Brinton marrying Eustace Woodville over the objections of Woodville's family. Soon after the wedding Valeria becomes uneasy and starts to suspect her husband is hiding something from his past. Her suspicions are confirmed when she finds he has been using a false name. Collins used his experience studying law to help create one of the earliest female sleuths.

Widely seen as Eliot's greatest work, it is almost unanimously acclaimed as one of the great Victorian era novels. George Eliot (aka Mary Anne Evans) interweaves the diverse lives and changing fortunes in a provincial community to create a richly nuanced and moving drama. Hailed by Virginia Woolf in The Times Literary Supplement, 1919 as 'one of the few English novels written for grown-up people'.

An idealistic young man, the title character of Nicholas Nickleby is left to find work and to support and protect his mother and sister after his father's death leaves them penniless. After his cold-hearted Uncle Ralph turns down his pleas for help, Nicholas Nickleby is left to find his own way, opening him up to all manner of queer folk, rogues and scoundrels. Dickens shows himself not only to be a literary genius but a comic one as well.