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The Little House in the Big Woods
by Laura WilderBased on the real-life adventures of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House in the Big Woods is the first book in the classic Little House series. Four-year-old Laura lives in a log cabin on the edge of the Big Woods of Wisconsin, which she shares with her Pa, her Ma, her sisters Mary and Carrie, and their dog, Jack. Though pioneer life isn’t easy for the Ingalls family, they make the best out of every tough situation. They catch, hunt, and grow their own food; take trips to town; celebrate Christmas with homemade treats; and work together to complete the chores needed for survival and livelihood. Told over a year in their life, this book sets the tone for the rest of the series through its themes of hardship and family. 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 Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
by Charles DickensWhen Nicholas's father dies, he, his mother and sister, Kate, are left penniless. To earn his keep, Nicholas becomes a tutor at Dotheboys Hall but soon discovers that the headmaster, Wackford Squeers, is a one-eyed tyrant who insists on a harsh regime. Nicholas embarks on an adventure that takes him from loathsome boarding schools to the London stage. Dickens confronts issues of neglect and cruelty in this blackly comic masterpiece.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 Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories
by Washington IrvingOriginally published under a pseudonym as The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories stands as Washington Irving’s best known literary collection, starring staple characters in American fiction: Ichabod Crane, the Headless Horseman, and Rip Van Winkle. Experience Gothic horror at its best, written by the “Father of the American short story,” in these classic larger-than-life tales sure to chill the faint of heart and thrill the brave-hearted. 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 Lady in the Lake
by Raymond ChandlerIn his fourth novel appearance, private investigator Philip Marlowe is hired to find a businessman’s estranged wife, but instead finds a series of dead bodies and crooked cops. Although Chandler himself adapted the novel into a screenplay, it has never been used. The novel was filmed by Robert Montgomery, using a different, shorter script.
The Jungle Book
by Rudyard KiplingSince its publication in 1894, Rudyard Kipling’s beloved masterpiece The Jungle Book has been celebrated by generations of readers. Composed of seven tales, each one accompanied by a poem, The Jungle Book introduces a lush, colorful world full of adventure and danger. The first three tales include some of the most charming and unforgettable characters in literature—the man-cub Mowgli, the black panther Bagheera, the wise brown bear Baloo, and the ruthless tiger Shere Khan. The other four tales each tell the story of a different animal, such as the travels of the white seal Kotick; the battle between the courageous mongoose Rikki-Tikki-Tavi and the deadly cobra Nag; Toomai and the elephant dance; and the camp animals of the queen’s guard.
The Jungle
by Upton SinclairUpton Sinclair's dramatic and deeply moving story exposed the brutal conditions in the Chicago stockyards at the turn of the nineteenth century and brought into sharp moral focus the apalling odds against which immigrants and other working people struggled for their share of the American dream. Denounced by the conservative press as an un-American libel on the meatpacking industry, The Jungle was championed by more progressive thinkers, including then president Theodore Roosevelt, and was a major catalyst to the passing of the Pure Food and Meat Inspection act, which has tremendous impact to this day.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 Iron Heel
by Jack LondonAn early example of modern dystopian fiction, The Iron Heel dabbles in sci-fi, and is a wonderfully unique, though often terrifying, example of London’s writing. Avis Everhard was born into a position of privilege as the daughter of an esteemed scientist and is also married to a socialist revolutionary. Despite her blessed life, Avis must still watch in horror as, in the early years of the twentieth century, democracy collapses in the United States, replaced by The Oligarchy, or Iron Heel. The middle class has been destroyed, and workers have been reduced to serfdom or poverty. Avis joins an underground resistance, and together they plan the glorious Second Revolt which is sure to obliterate The Oligarchy and put power back in the hands of the people – if they can pull it off…
The Iliad
by HomerThe oldest work of Western literature, and one of the greatest epic poems ever written. Presented here in the Alexander Pope translation. The Iliad tells the story of the Trojan War. Paris, the prince of Troy, has stolen off with Helen, the beautiful wife of Menelaus, the King of Sparta. He leads a coalition of Greek states in a ten-year-long siege of Troy, with the poem picking up the story in the tenth year, and telling of the rivalry between Agamemnon and Achilles. A tale of heroes and gods, it is one of the pillars of the Western canon.
The House of Mirth
by Edith WhartonLily Bart is a beautiful socialite, born into a world of wealth and luxury – a world that threatens to slip through her fingers. The death of her parents and drying up of her family estate threaten to wrench her from the high-class lifestyle of her birth, unless she can secure a marriage to a wealthy young man. But Lily is growing older, and her window of marriageability is getting smaller. A penchant for gambling at bridge, and a secret desire to break free of the claustrophobic expectations of her social class, add extra complication to Lily’s already fraught situation.
The High Window
by Raymond ChandlerIn his third novel appearance, private investigator Philip Marlowe is hired to retrieve a rare coin that has gone missing, but as the bodies start piling up around him he realizes that he has become enmeshed in a web of lies and blackmail. It has been filmed twice, first as Time to Kill, and then as The Brasher Doubloon.
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
by Carson McCullersThe Heart Is a Lonely Hunter is the first novel from the critically acclaimed author Carson McCullers, and one that made her an overnight literary sensation at age twenty-three. Ambitious in scope, this book presents five radically different characters whose troubled lives intersect in the Depression-era south. At the center of the novel is John Singer, a deaf-mute, who becomes a confidant to the town’s four misfits, helping them to navigate their troubles. The five characters unite in a cry of isolation from being voiceless and rejected; the result is a vision of existence as terrible as it is real and as violent as it is beautiful. 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 Hamlet
by William FaulknerThe first novel of Faulkner's Snopes trilogy, The Hamlet is both an ironic take on classical tragedy and a mordant commentary on the grand pretensions of the antebellum South and the depths of its decay in the aftermath of war and Reconstruction. It tells of the advent and the rise of the Snopes family in Frenchman's Bend, a small town built on the ruins of a once-stately plantation. Flem Snopes -- wily, energetic, a man of shady origins -- quickly comes to dominate the town and its people with his cunning and guile.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 Gods Arrive
by Edith WhartonVance and Halo have found each other. But can they find happiness? Picking up from the events of Hudson River Bracketed, Vance’s wife has passed away, and his novel is a success. Halo cannot escape her happy marriage while she stays in America, but between a sudden inheritance and Vance’s newfound wealth, the two can escape to Europe. But what will they find there? Freedom from the pettiness and hollowness they see in the States? Or just more of the same? And can their relationship survive the journey? 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 Glimpses of the Moon
by Edith WhartonAn expertly drawn portrait of two young lovers, caught between bright-eyed passion and the bitter allure of wealth. Nick Lansing and Susy Branch are torn - they are in love, but believe that they can never be happy without the wealth that their friends so cavalierly throw around. They wed, but with an agreement to divorce if a more financially suitable prospect appears for either of them. This agreement makes a certain banal sense, at least at first, but when it is tested by the messy realities of love, lust, desire, and ambition, Nick and Susy realize that they are in over their heads. 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 Glass Key
by Dashiell HammettUnlike most of Hammett's works, the protagonist of The Glass Key isn't a private detective; Ned Beaumont is a gambler, and the friend of a criminal boss.
The action starts when he discovers the body of a senator's son, and his friend wants him to help cover it up as a means of gaining the senator's favour. This draws Beaumont into a brewing gang war, and he has to solve the mystery if he wants to get out alive. 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 Fruit of the Tree
by Edith WhartonJustine is a young nurse, born into a wealth that was lost before she reached adulthood. When she takes a job assisting with the recovery of an injured mill-worker, she finds herself at the centre of a struggle for power, dignity, and a better life.
John Amherst, the assistant manager of the mill, is fed up with the deplorable working and living conditions of the workers in his charge. When the mill's owner passes away, leaving control in the hands of his widow, Amherst sees a chance to change things for the better. Bessy, the widow, is initially receptive to his ideas, but breaking down a lifetime of embedded ideology about class and wealth is no easy feat.
The Franchise Affair
by Josephine TeyRobert Blair has a quiet life as a solicitor in a small town until the Sharpes, a mother and daughter living in The Franchise, their country home, are accused of kidnapping and abuse.
Blair, with some guidance from Scotland Yard's brilliant Inspector Grant, dons the cap of the amateur detective, determined to get to the bottom of these startling accusations. 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 Day of the Locust
by Nathanael WestIn The Day of the Locust a young artist, Tod Hackett, arrives in Los Angeles full of dreams. But celebrity and artifice rule and he soon joins the ranks of the disenchanted that drift around the fringes of Hollywood. When he meets Faye Greener, an aspiring actress, he is intoxicated and his desperate passion explodes into rage.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 Daughter of Time
by Josephine TeyWhat does a great detective do when he's stuck in bed? Inspector Grant is used to prowling the streets, solving crimes and unraveling mysteries, so when he finds himself bedridden in the hospital, he needs something to occupy his mind.
He turns his attention to the figure of Richard III--generally considered a murderous monster by history. But is the reputation really earned? Soon the inspector has his friends delivering stacks of history books to him, but can any detective, even one of his skill, solve a 400-year-old mystery? In 1990, the UK Crime Writers' Association ranked it at number one on their list of The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time. 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 Dain Curse
by Dashiell HammettThe nameless detective known only as the Continental Op is tasked with investigating the theft of diamonds from the Leggets, who have ties to the Dain family - a family that is said to be plagued by a terrible curse that leads those near them to
gruesome deaths. The Op will have to solve the mysteries behind lies, murders, and even a cult if he's going to get to the heart of the matter. 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 Confidence-Man
by Herman MelvilleA Canterbury Tales for pre-Civil War America. On April Fool’s Day the titular Confidence-Man stows away aboard a steamboat, where he tests the motley group of passengers, forcing them to wrestle with their own confidence and where they place their trust. Melville weaves their stories together into an amazing satirical tapestry that crosses genres and styles. It was his final novel, and one of his most challenging. 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 Count of Monte Cristo
by Alexandre DumasImprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit, Edmond Dantès spends fourteen bitter years in a dungeon. When his daring escape plan works he uses all he has learnt during his incarceration to mastermind an elaborate plan of revenge that will bring punishment to those responsible for his fate. No longer the naïve sailor who disappeared into the dark fortress all those years ago, he reinvents himself as the powerful Count of Monte Cristo.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 Colossus and Other Poems
by Sylvia PlathWith this startling, exhilarating book of poems, which was first published in 1960, Sylvia Plath burst into literature with spectacular force. In such classics as "The Beekeeper's Daughter," "The Disquieting Muses," "I Want, I Want," and "Full Fathom Five," she writes about sows and skeletons, fathers and suicides, about the noisy imperatives of life and the chilly hunger for death. Graceful in their craftsmanship, wonderfully original in their imagery, and presenting layer after layer of meaning, the forty poems in The Colossus are early artifacts of genius that still possess the power to move, delight, and shock.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 Children
by Edith WhartonOne man on a journey across the ocean meets seven remarkable children—children on the run from their parents, children who will change his life. Martin Boyne is not a reckless man. A bachelor despite being over forty, he is taking a transatlantic journey to meet with a widow whom he has nursed a cautious love for for years. He is disappointed that he never meets interesting people on his trips—disappointed, that is, until he makes the remarkable acquaintance of the seven Wheater children, travelling only with their nanny, to escape their parents. As if this were not remarkable enough, he discovers that he knows the parents, and the astonishing nature of the encounter is enough to overcome his caution, and he agrees to help them flee, despite the risks. 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 Canterbury Tales
by Geoffrey ChaucerWhile Geoffrey Chaucer composed several magnificent works of poetry, his reputation as “the father of English literature” rests mainly on The Canterbury Tales, a group of stories told by assorted pilgrims en route to the shrine of Thomas à Becket in Canterbury Cathedral.
From the mirthful and bawdy to the profoundly moral, the tales, taken in their entirety, reflect not only the manners and mores of medieval England, but indeed, the full comic and tragic dimensions of the human condition.
Considered the greatest collection of narrative poems in English literature, The Canterbury Tales was composed in the Middle English of Chaucer’s day, possibly to be read aloud at the court of Richard II.
However, their grandeur, humor, and relevance are timeless, as readers of this authoritative edition will discover.
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.