Orem Library

Originally published in The Cornhill Magazine in 1878 and in book form in 1879, Daisy Miller brought Henry James his first widespread commercial and critical success. The young Daisy Miller, an American on holiday with her mother on the shores of Switzerlands Lac Leman, is one of Jamess most vivid and tragic characters. Daisys friendship with an American gentleman, Mr. Winterbourne, and her subsequent infatuation with a passionate...

Mark Twain's account of his transformation into a Westerner when he joins his brother, a newly appointed federal official in Nevada.

A strange little child, with old-fashioned ways and strong feelings, seven-year-old Sara Crewe arrives at Miss Minchin's London boarding school like a little princess: with splendid clothes of velvet, lace, and silk, beautiful dolls, furs, and even a French maid. But when a terrible misfortune leaves her penniless and alone, Sara's spirit never wanes. Here, in one of the best-loved children's stories in the world, we follow the adventures of the irrepressible...

"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again" So the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter remembered the chilling events that led her down the turning drive past the beeches to the gray stone manse on the Cornish coast. With a husband she barely knew, the young bride arrived at this immense estate, only to be inexorably drawn into the life of the first Mrs. de Winter, the beautiful Rebecca, dead but never forgotten, her suite of rooms never touched, her...

A powerful view of turn-of-the-century poverty, graft, and corruption, this fiercely realistic American classic is still required reading in many history and literature classes. It will continue to haunt readers long after they've finished the last page. An ardent activist, champion of political reform, novelist, and progressive journalist, Upton Sinclair is perhaps best known today for The Jungle his devastating exposé of the meat-packing...

In this novel, D.H. Lawrence pioneered in fearlessly and frankly describing the act of love. He wrote of physical love with a total lack of inhibition or convention (even to the use of certain four-letter words) and he combined that with lyrical tenderness, joy, and exultation that became, at times, almost religious. He successfully conveyed what others at the time (1928) could only hint at--a white-hot radiance of sexual passion. Not only was this...

Common Sense by Thomas Paine (Bauer World Press) In his 1776 pamphlet Common Sense, Thomas Paine presents a compelling and erudite argument for the independence of the American colonies from the British Crown. With sagacious prose, Paine explicates the inherent injustices and impracticalities of the colonial system, and passionately advocates for the establishment of a new, independent nation. Pane's incisive logic addresses the economic,...

An ordinary woman's unfulfilled dreams of romantic love lead her to a series of desperate acts, including adultery, in a classic novel set against the backdrop of nineteenth-century bourgeois France.

First published in French as a serial in 1909, The Phantom of the Opera is a riveting story that revolves around the young, Swedish Christine Daaé. Her father, a famous musician, dies, and she is raised in the Paris Opera House with his dying promise of a protective angel of music to guide her. After a time at the opera house, she begins hearing a voice, who eventually teaches her how to sing beautifully. All goes well until Christine's childhood...

An immensely popular bestseller upon its publication in 1905, The House of Mirth was Edith Wharton's first great novel. Set among the elegant brownstones of New York City and opulent country houses like gracious Bellomont on the Hudson, the novel creates a satiric portrayal of what Wharton herself called "a society of irresponsib- le pleasure-seekers" with a precision comparable to that of Proust. And her brilliant and complex characterization of...