Pride and Prejudice / Jane Austen
Human foibles and early nineteenth-century manners are satirized in this romantic tale of English country family life as Elizabeth Bennet and her four sisters are encouraged to marry well in order to keep the Bennet estate in their family. (FIC AUSTEN)
Jane Eyre / Charlotte Bronte
In early nineteenth-century England, an orphaned young woman accepts employment as a governess and soon finds herself in love with her employer who has a terrible secret. (FIC BRONTE)
Wuthering Heights / Emily Bronte
Against a background of English moors in the 18th century, the lives of two families become intertwined through marriage, passion, and the dominating force of a man called Heathcliff. (FIC BRONTE)
Rebecca / Daphne du Maurier
A classic novel of romantic suspense finds the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter entering the home of her mysterious and enigmatic new husband and learning the story of the house’s first mistress, to whom the sinister housekeeper is unnaturally devoted. (FIC DUMAURIER)
The Great Gatsby / F. Scott Fitzgerald
Newly rich Jay Gatsby tries to recapture the past and win back Daisy Buchanan, his former love, despite the fact she has married. (FIC FITZGERALD)
A Room with a View / E.M. Forster
Lucy Honeychurch falls in love while on a visit to Florence and must choose between fulfilling her social role or following her heart. (FIC FORSTER)
Far From the Madding Crowd / Thomas Hardy
After an unfortunate marriage to Sergeant Troy and an affair with Farmer Boldwood, Bathsheba Everdene finally becomes the wife of the man who has always loved her. (FIC HARDY)
The Remains of the Day / Kazuo Ishiguro
Stevens, an elderly butler, hopes to rise to the top of his profession, and he remains stoic and unemotional at his father’s death and neglects the opportunity to pursue a relationship with a former housekeeper. (FIC ISHIGURO)
Gone with the Wind / Margaret Mitchell
First published in 1936, this book is a historical novel set against the dramatic backdrop of the Civil War. It tells the love story of Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler. (FIC MITCHELL)
Anna Karenina / Leo Tolstoy
Beautiful and charming, Anna lives in a splendid world of her own making. She smokes, rides horseback, plays tennis, takes opium, practices birth control, and–although she is already married–falls in love with a handsome army officer. Anna’s life is played out against a backdrop of dazzling balls and the vastness of Russia’s landscape. (FIC TOLSTOY)