1859 Best Seller.

The novel follows the orphaned Beulah from childhood in the Antebellum South through a troubled and stormy struggle for independence.

1899 Best Seller.

A novel full of wonderful character sketches. David Harum, a dry and somewhat excentric country banker, tells of a young man from a well to do family who finds himself in the small town of Homeville and begins a romance with a young lady.

1867 Best Seller.

The novel tells the story of a young boy 'Dick' and his climb to success. Dick has a low start in life growing up on the streets of post civil war New York City but he is honest and hardworking and his loyalty and persistence pay off.

1867 Best Seller.

A young girl wins the heart of a dissipated man.

Thirty years later reviewers looked back on the book as though it was from an earlier culture altogether.

Emma is the comic novel by Jane Austen that centres around the "handsome, clever and rich", if somewhat spoilt, Emma Woodhouse who fancies herself as a match-maker to her friends. Set in Regency England, comedy ensues as Emma throws herself into the pursuits of love and marriage for others whilst herself remaining apparently immune to the charms of the opposite sex. Witty and charming - quintessential Jane Austen.

At the age of ten, Fanny Price is sent by her poor family to live with her rich uncle and aunt, Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram and their four children at Mansfield Park. Living in a world where wealth and status matter, Fanny is often left to feel inferior but in turn develops into a virtuous young woman of high character. When the dazzling Mary Crawford and her brother Henry arrive in the area, drama and disruption soon follow. All at Mansfield Park succumb to their charms and ways, all except for Fanny Price. Mansfield Park showcases once again, Jane Austen's brilliance.

Set in 17th century Boston, a puritan community, Hester Prynne gives birth to a daughter, Pearl, after committing adultery. Refusing to name her lover, she is forced to wear the scarlet letter "A" as punishment for her secrecy and adulterous crime. Shamed by the community, Hester attempts to create a new life. Hester Prynne is the first true heroine of American fiction. The Scarlet Letter is Nathaniel Hawthorne's masterpiece.