Considered today to be a classic of Japanese literature, Lady Murasaki Shikibu’s groundbreaking novel, The Tale of Genji, is a story of a young man in search of love in the time of Heian aristocracy.In the immediate aftermath of his mother’s death, Genji–the love child of Emperor Kiritsubo and his favorite concubine–is stripped of his birthright and royalty to avoid political scandal. Nevertheless remaining close to the Emperor’s heart, Genji is nicknamed “Shining Prince,”...

The Queen of Regency Romance returns to her craft with her career-launching sophomore novel, These Old Shades.On a previously uneventful night in Paris, two ships–who in any other circumstance would likely continue to pass through the night–collide in a stroke of serendipity. The first being Justin Alastai–the infamous and dastardly Duke of Avon–on his way to seek revenge on the Comte de Saint-Vire; the second being the abused youth Léon, who is in the midst of fle...

“...So much of our lives is meaningless, a self-cancelling vacillation and futility; we strive with the chaos about us and within; but we would believe all the while that there is something vital and significant in us, could we but decipher our own souls. We want to understand; ‘life means for us constantly to transform into light and flame all that we are or meet with’...”The Story of Philosophy (1926) is a groundbreaking work of creative nonficti...

When his partner is killed while on a case, Sam Spade is plunged into the hunt for a priceless, gem-encrusted statuette known as the Maltese Falcon, a legendary artifact coveted by a cast of deceitful characters, including the enigmatic Brigid O'Shaughnessy and the opportunistic Joel Cairo. The Maltese Falcon is a masterclass in ambiguity and moral complexity, establishing Sam Spade as the quintessential detective antihero who operates in a world where truth is an elusive ...

Thomas Wolfe’s 1929 semi-autobiographical novel is a rich and detailed tapestry of human experience, chronicling the coming-of-age of Eugene Gant in the early 20th century.The narrative begins with Eugene's birth into a tumultuous family in the fictional town of Altamont, a place defined by his father's alcoholism and his mother's obsession with property acquisition. As a shy and awkward boy, Eugene grapples with a turbulent home life and the relentless torment of ...

Having studied under famed ethnographer Franz Boas at Columbia University, Martha Warren Beckwith dedicated her career to recording and contextualizing the traditions of people from around the world. Specializing in Jamaican, Hawaiian, Sioux, and Mandan-Hidatsa cultures, she published widely acclaimed works of folklore and ethnography through her interviews with native storytellers around the world.Hawaiian Mythology—her most recognized work—is a highly ce...

Considered an early feminist classic, Sylvia Townsend Warner’s Lolly Willowes; Or The Loving Huntsman is a fantastical comedy about a middle-aged witch and her search for peace that was selected as the first ever Book of the Month upon publication in 1926.“When her father died, Laura Willowes went to live in London with her elder brother and his family…[she] was a gentle creature, and the little girls loved her; she would soon fit into her new home. London...

Matthew Townes, aspiring obstetrician, has hit the glass ceiling. Unable to continue his medical studies in New York City, the young man becomes disillusioned with the reality of racism within the United States and heads for Germany. Arriving in Berlin, Matthew immediately recognizes all that he's lost, not just the harsh prejudices of American society but also his America–Black America–and begins to feel a sense of lonesomeness. Not so long after, he meets the purple haired princ...

In 1928, there were three lesbian novels published in England: Viriginia Woolf’s Orlando: A Biography, Compton Mackenzie’s Extraordinary Women, and Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness. Between them, each book offered then-revolutionary ideas about love, sexuality, and gender; but only one has been banned, welcomed praise, and garnered controversy for almost a century.Stephen Gordon has always been different. Firstly, she was born a girl against her pa...

Daisy Miller is Henry James’ sharpest critique of European high society and a must read for lovers of psychological drama, social deconstruction, and classic literature.The titular Daisy Miller is a woman whose genuine kindness and lust for life is anathema to the rigid and vain culture of 19th Century Europe. For refusing to conform, Daisy is the subject of gossip everywhere she goes and eventually cast out of high society all together, culminating in a m...

Billy Budd is the final novel from legendary author Herman Melville. Published posthumously almost thirty years after his death, the novel is renowned for its richness of character and its thematic ambiguity.Melville couches his tale of morality inside an exciting nautical adventure set during the tumultuous times of the Napoleonic Wars. The novel follows the titular Billy Budd, a handsome and charismatic sailor conscripted aboard a British Man 'O War name...

When man petitions the heavens, is it God or the devil who answers? This question, central to the human experience, is the driving force behind Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s seminal 1806 play, Faust.Based loosely on the facts and dramatized retellings of 15th century alchemist, astrologer, and magician Johann Georg Faust, the play follows Faust’s search for limitless understanding and wisdom through magical means outside the realms of science and religion. The devil, keen t...