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The Willows
by Algernon BlackwoodAlgernon Blackwood’s best known novella, “The Willows,” is considered by H.P. Lovecraft to be the finest supernatural tale in English literature and is an example of early modern horror and weird fiction. When two friends take a break from a canoe trip down the River Danube, they discover the corpse of a peasant in the woods. Returning to their canoe, they find their oars missing, and as night sets in, a general sense of creepiness and unease permeates the wild, rural, and ultimately threatening environment. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
The Well of Loneliness
by Radclyffe HallThe Well of Loneliness is the fifth and best-known novel by English author and poet Radclyffe Hall. Becoming a runaway bestseller in its notoriety, it was originally banned by the British after a legal trial and all copies were ordered to be destroyed due to its lesbian plot and characters. After years and appeals, the novel’s ban was overturned, and today it remains one of the most formative and influential lesbian works of the twentieth century. The novel tells the story of a tomboyish and aristocratic Stephen, who hunts, wears pants, and cuts her hair short—and comes to realize she’s attracted to women. She grows to be a war hero, a bestselling writer, and a loyal lover. But while Stephen’s ambitious drive her, society confines her, and she’s forced into desperate actions. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
The Waste Land
by T. S. EliotOne of the greatest poems in the English language. The Waste Land is T.S. Eliot's masterpiece, a beautiful examination of themes of decay and despair. Like many of his works, it alludes frequently to famous pieces of literature and legend, in this case most prominently to the legends of the Holy Grail and the Fisher King. Several images and lines from The Waste Land have become lodged in the popular consciousness, including "April is the cruellest month" and "I will show you fear in a handful of dust." Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
The Valley of Decision
by Edith WhartonThe debut novel from one of America’s greatest authors. In Edith Wharton’s stunning debut novel, Odo Valsecca, a young Italian raised by peasants, is plucked from poverty and dropped into the lap of luxury as the newly named heir to his cousin, a duke. It is the time leading up to the French revolution, and Europe swirls with conflicting factions and ideologies, some trying to prop up the feudal and religious traditions that empowered them, and others seeking a new way. Meanwhile, in France, a revolution is brewing… Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club
by Dorothy L. SayersUnpleasantness may be an understatement when there is murder afoot. Lady Dormer has a singularly strange will - if she dies before her brother, his grandson's will inherit a considerable fortune, but if she passes first, the money will go to the young artist that she has sponsored. Strange, yes, but relatively simple, until both parties pass on the same morning. It's up to Lord Peter Wimsey to determine the exact timing, and events, surrounding their deaths - a task that becomes more complicated when he starts to suspect foul play. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
The Touchstone
by Edith WhartonThe debut novella from one of America’s greatest authors. In a desperate attempt to find the money necessary to marry his fiancée, Stephen Glennard is willing to cross a line. He takes love letters written to him by a renowned author who has recently passed away, removes his name, and publishes them. They are a success, and he is able to be married. But when the guilt becomes unbearable and he confesses his transgression to his new wife, will she be able to forgive him? Will he be able to forgive himself? Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you high quality, classic works of literature in e-book form. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
The Time Machine
by H. G. WellsOne of the greatest science fiction writers of all time paints a vivid and terrifying picture of humanity's possible future. An unnamed inventor tests his latest creation - a time machine. It works, pulling him far into the future, but while exploring this new world the time machine is stolen, forcing the Time Traveller to rely on help from the innocent, idyllic Eloi to recover it from the brutal, subterranean Morlocks. The book touches on socio-political issues such as classism and industrialization. It has been adapted for film twice. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
The Three Musketeers
by Alexandre DumasA much-loved swashbuckling tale. Cardinal Richileu's machinations are no match for the Musketeer's determination to act "one for all and all for one"! The young D'Artagnan travels to Paris determined to join King Louis XIII's elite guards. Hot-headed and raring to prove himself, D'Artagnan challenges three strangers to a duel. These strangers are none other than the daring band of Musketeers -- Porthos, Athos and Aramis. D'Artagnan's fearless spirit impresses them and the Musketeers take him under their wing. Soon, the wicked plots of Cardinal Richelieu and Milady de Winter propel the four musketeers to adventures on horseback, across seas and over rooftops to defend the honour of the Queen and protect the life of the King. This is a rousing tale of thrilling swordplay and royal intrigue, brave friends and the basest treachery.Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
The Thin Man
by Dashiell HammettThe Thin Man stars Nick Charles, a retired private detective, and his wife Nora, who get sucked into investigating a murder case, and have to navigate the complicated Wynant family, along with cops and criminals, and bring their best to the table in order to solve the crime. It was Dashiell Hammett's last novel, though its 1934 film adaptation did lead to five sequels. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
by Charlotte BronteUtterly compelling in its imaginative power and bold naturalism, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall opens in the autumn of 1827, when a mysterious woman under the assumed name Helen Graham seeks refuge at the moorland mansion of Wildfell Hall. As her neighbour Gilbert Markham comes to realize, Helen has painful secrets from her past that make her the object of gossip and jealousy. Combining the story of a man’s physical and moral decline through alcohol, a study of a broken down marriage, a disquisition on the upbringing of children, and an uncompromising critique of the position of women in Victorian society, this novel of betrayal balances a stern moral framework and an optimistic belief in universal redemption. Scandalizing its readers on publication, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is a daring tale and a powerful depiction of a woman’s fight for independence and creative freedom, told with the author’s signature wit and irony. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
The Sword of Conan
by Robert E. HowardThe third volume of the adventures of the legendary Conan the Barbarian, one of the most iconic fantasy characters in history, on a rarified list next to Gandalf and Harry Potter. Contains "The People of the Black Circle," "The Slithering Shadow," "The Pool of the Black One," and "Red Nails." Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
The Sundial
by Shirley JacksonFamily squabbles and apocalyptic prophecies come together in this unique, wonderful novel. In the wake of the Halloran family's patriarch falling (or, perhaps, being pushed) down the stairs, his elderly mother seizes control of the family home and threatens to kicks many of the inhabitants out. This alone would be enough to cause an uproar, but his sister sees a vision in which he foretells a coming apocalypse that will only spare those left in Halloran house. Now the family must prepare for the coming of a strange, new world - and determine if anyone else will be invited to join them.Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
The Sun Also Rises
by Ernest HemingwayA poignant look at the disillusionment and angst of the post-World War I generation, The Sun Also Rises introduces two of Hemingway’s most unforgettable characters: Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley. The story follows the flamboyant Brett and the hapless Jake as they journey from the wild nightlife of 1920s Paris to the brutal bullfighting rings of Spain with a motley group of expatriates. First published in 1926, The Sun Also Rises helped establish Hemingway as one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century.Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
The Secret Adversary
by Agatha ChristieThe novel that introduced Tommy and Tuppence, a bantering pair of 1920s bright young things who solve a mystery together while falling for each other.The Great War is over and jobs are scarce. Tommy Beresford and Prudence "Tuppence" Cowley, who were friends before the war, run into each other in London and discover they are both equally short of money and opportunities. On a whim, they decide to start a business, advertising themselves as "The Young Adventurers." Their first job leads them into a series of increasingly dangerous situations involving international spies, a society beauty, a Russian count, the wreck of the Lusitania, an amnesia patient, an American millionaire, and a fiendishly clever arch-criminal known only as "Mr. Brown." By the time the dust settles, all the puzzle pieces have been fitted together--and the young couple have realized their feelings for each other and have become engaged.
The Sea-Wolf
by Jack LondonNot all rescuers are heroes… Humphrey van Weyden is an intellectual, more accustomed to using his words than his hands. When his ferry collides with another vessel and sinks off San Francisco, he is rescued by the seal-hunting vessel Ghost and taken in by its captain, Wolf Larsen. Larsen is one part scholar and one part thug, well-educated (and entirely self-taught) but brutal, tyrannically ruling over his ship. He appreciates van Weyden’s intellect but insists on subjecting him to the worst menial labour and abuses by the crew to toughen him up. When the ship rescues the intelligent and beautiful poet Maud Brewster, and van Weyden begins to fall for her, it will take all his old intelligence and newfound toughness to keep them both safe. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you high quality, classic works of literature in e-book form. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
The Road Through the Wall
by Shirley JacksonThe debut novel from one of the twentieth century's most fascinating authors. Pepper Street is a street in suburban California, home to a firmly middle-class group of families, families who have carved out a space for themselves that falls short of the glamour of the nearby upper class communities, but is comfortable and respectable nonetheless. Their communal calm, built on strict social hierarchy, racism, and exclusion, is shattered when a hole opens up in a wall at the end of the street, and things for the inhabitants of Pepper Street become much less stable and much less clear. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
The Reef
by Edith WhartonA dark tale of jealousy, betrayal, and the inability to let go of the past. When Anna Leath’s husband passes away, she finds herself reunited with George Darrow, a former love from before her marriage.
But her frequent delaying of their reunion leads him into an affair with a young actress named Sophy. Eventually George and Anna come together, but their future is complicated by Anna’s stepson, who has fallen in love with a woman that his family disapproves of – Sophy.
Who, as it turns out, has been hired as Anna’s governess. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values.
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The Razor's Edge
by W. Somerset MaughamLarry Darrell is a pilot, wounded and traumatized in the first world war. He turns his back on a normal life to wander the world in search of meaning and happiness.
His wanderings eventually land him in Paris, where he reconnects with his former fiancé Isabel and her new husband Gray, a victim of the 1929 stock market crash.
In a place where none of them quite belong, they all must discover how to find happiness in their lives - and with each other. <>The Razor's Edge has been adapted for film twice, with the most recent version starring Bill Murray. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. <>Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
The Phantom of the Opera
by Gaston LerouxA classic ghost story, inspired by true events. Christine is an up-and-coming talent at the Paris Opera, so talented and beautiful that she attracts the attention of the opera house's mysterious phantom, in reality a deformed man named Erik. Overcome by love, the Phantom kidnaps her in a bid to make her his bride. It was famously adapted for the stage by Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1986 and to the screen in 1925, with Lon Cheney in the leading role. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
The Painted Veil
by W. Somerset MaughamKitty Garstin, a wealthy debutante, loves her life.
She attends all the best functions, and attracts all the best men, though she would never dream of accepting any of their marriage proposals. Never, that is, until she finds herself at twenty-five, most prospects exhausted, facing the possibility of her younger sister beating her to the altar.
Not wanting to risk life as a spinster, she accepts the proposal of Walter Fane, a doctor, and joins him on a posting in Hong Kong.
In the wake of an affair with one of Walter's superiors, she accompanies her husband to the Chinese mainland, where a cholera epidemic is ravaging the populace.
While Walter battles the illness, Kitty's conflict is within - Who is she? Who does she want to be? And who can she be? Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
The Once & Future King
by T. H. WhiteThe definitive modern take on the timeless tale of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round table. The legends of King Arthur date back to medieval Europe, and have become some of the dominant myths of Western culture. In The Once & Future King, T. H. White reinvents the story for a modern audience. The novel starts by introducing the reader to a young Arthur - just a child, and far from the King he will become - as he is raised by the wizard Merlyn, and moves on to chronicle his rise to Kingship, the affair between Guinevere and Lancelot, and the eventual destruction of the round table. The first section, released independently as The Sword in the Stone, was adapted into an animated film by Walt Disney Pictures. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
The Odyssey
by HomerThe incredible sequel to The Iliad, presented here in the Alexander Pope translation.
In the aftermath of the events of the Trojan war, Ulysses sets sail with his men for the shores of Ithaca, his home, but a failure to properly honour the gods enrages them, and Poseidon exacts revenge on Ulysses, keeping him from his destination and forcing him to wander the world.
Meanwhile Penelope, Ulysses's wife, must fend off the advances of a group of miscreant suitors who are convinced that her husband must have perished.
A tale of heroes and gods, it is one of the pillars of the Western canon.
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The Nine Tailors
by Dorothy L. SayersIn the world of Lord Peter Wimsey, even bell-ringing isn’t free from murder.
Chance car troubles leave Lord Peter stranded in the small town, and when he discovers that a theft of emeralds from a family twenty years earlier was never solved, his detective’s curiousity is piqued.
But unsurprisingly, things turn out to be more complicated as Lord Peter could have suspected, as he begins to uncover a web of murder, conspiracy, and false identity.
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The Mysterious Affair at Styles
by Agatha ChristieIn this mesmerizing classic of detective fiction by world-renowned mystery author Agatha Christie, the brilliant Belgian detective Hercule Poirot makes his unforgettable–and legendary–debut.Who poisoned the wealthy Emily Inglethorpe, and how did the murderer penetrate and escape from her locked bedroom? Suspects abound in the quaint village of Styles St. Mary, just outside Essex. Among those basking in the shadow of doubt are the heiress’s fawning new husband, her two aimless stepsons, her volatile housekeeper, and a pretty nurse who works in a hospital dispensary. And though the identity of the culprit will prove as shocking as the crime, nothing gets past the calm logic and cool head of Hercule Poirot.“The key to the success of this style of detective novel lies in how the author deals with both the clues and the red herrings, and it has to be said that no one bettered Agatha Christie at this game.”–Elizabeth George“Future scholars of the simon-pure detective novel will hold that its greatest practitioner . . . has been Agatha Christie.”–The New York Times Book Review
The Murder on the Links
by Agatha ChristieBeloved detective Hercule Poirot made his second appearance in this tale of murder, blackmail, and forbidden love.Hercule Poirot rushes to France in response to an urgent and cryptic plea from a client. But the Belgian detective arrives just too late: the man who had summoned him is found dead on a golf course, stabbed in the back with a letter opener and wearing an ill-fitting coat with a mysterious love letter in its pocket. Strange circumstances multiply, culminating in the discovery of a second body stabbed with the same murder weapon. While the local authorities pursue the false leads suggested by the evidence, Poirot relies instead upon his famous "little grey cells" to cut through the confusion and untangle a story of blackmail, forbidden love, and a long-buried secret.