Bøger i Signature Classics serien

The fictional portrait of Woolf's close friend and lover Vita Sackville-West, the hero Orlando is a young nobleman in Elizabethan England, a dreamy and romantic youth who wakes up one day to find himself transformed, astonishingly, into a woman. Over the span of three centuries, Orlando will fall in love many times and rub shoulders with the great artists and writers--and observe how differently history treats men than women. Bold and tender, Orlando is a truly multifaceted work that has been hailed as a satire of biography, a queer classic, and a loving portrait of an irrepressible spirit.

When the Bergson family leaves their home in Sweden to travel to the United States in search of a better life, they, like many immigrants, are awed by the beautiful harshness of their new life in Nebraska. When their father, John Bergson, grows sick and dies, he leaves the farm in the hands of his eldest daughter, Alexandra Bergson. Resourceful and determined, Alexandra devotes her life to her family's farm, determined to prosper even as her neighbors are overwhelmed by the unremitting demands of pioneer life. But when she falls in love with her childhood friend Carl Linstrum, Alexandra must choose between her duty to the land, and to her heart. A spirited celebration of the immigrants who have shaped the United States, O Pioneers! is a masterpiece by a Pulitzer Prize-winning author.

Inspired by the long-standing affair between D. H. Lawrence's German wife and an Italian peasant, Lady Chatterley's Lover follows the intense passions of Constance Chatterley. Trapped in an unhappy marriage to an aristocrat whose war wounds have left him paralyzed and impotent, Constance enters into a liaison with the gamekeeper, Mellors. Originally banned in multiple countries, Lady Chatterley's Lover is an unapologetic portrayal of pleasure recognized as Lawrence's "best novel" (Anaï Nin) and "one of the most important works of fiction of the century" (Archibald MacLeish).

The orphan of a Danish mother and a West Indian father, Helga Crane is a young woman caught between cultures and in search of a home. Though her beauty and education open many doors, as a biracial woman in 1920s America, Helga is accepted by neither the Black nor the white communities--instead remaining an object of curiosity and an outsider wherever she goes. Her furious quest for belonging will take her from Chicago to New York to Denmark: a journey rife with autobiographical parallels to Larsen's own life. With its astonishingly contemporary take on identity and an angry, rebellious heroine, Quicksand is a classic novel ripe for rediscovery.

Set in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast at the end of the nineteenth century, The Awakening centers on Edna Pontellier, an apparently happy twenty-eight-year-old wife and mother of two. But when a summer romance reignites Edna's appetite for life, she discovers that her conventional family, friends, and surroundings do not make her happy. Boldly--and to the astonishment of her husband and the consternation of New Orleans society--Edna begins to discover the joys of solitude, creative expression, and erotic freedom. A scandal and a shock to readers when it was first published in 1899, The Awakening remains a daring portrayal of a woman rejecting domesticity in favor of her own happiness and self-expression. This edition includes some of Chopin's most studied short stories, including "Désirée's Baby," "A Pair of Silk Stockings," and "The Story of an Hour."

Seneca the Younger was a playwright, essayist, lecturer (and tutor to the emperor Nero) who remains one of the most important Stoic philosophers. Emphasizing both theory and practical advice, Seneca's writing is perfectly suited to contemporary readers. He articulated the difficulties of living ethically and influenced many writers, including Marcus Aurelius, Michel de Montaigne, Dante Alighieri, Tertullian, Baruch Spinoza, and Edmund Burke.

The Federalist Papers first appeared in 1787 as a series of letters to New York newspapers exhorting voters to ratify the proposed Constitution of the United States and the fate of the nation quite literally hung in the balance. Writing in concert as "Publius," Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison urged voters to ratify the proposed Constitution of the United States. A masterpiece of political theory, The Federalist Papers remains important and vital reading for anyone seeking to understand the tensions at the heart of the United States.

When her family becomes impoverished after a disastrous financial speculation, Agnes Grey determines to find work as a governess in order to contribute to their meager income and assert her independence. But Agnes's enthusiasm is swiftly extinguished as she struggles first with the unmanageable Bloomfield children and then with the painful disdain of the haughty Murray family; the only kindness she receives comes from Mr. Weston, the sober young curate. Anne Brontë's first novel, which draws on her own experiences, offers a compelling personal perspective on the desperate position of unmarried, educated women for whom becoming a governess was the only respectable career open to them in Victorian society.

A dazzling collection of short stories, including: "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle" by Washington Irving "The Sculptor's Funeral" by Willa Cather "The Yellow Wall-Paper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry And many more. This edition also features an introduction by Jane Smiley.

Holmes has changed since his "resurrection" in "The Adventure of the Empty House" in 1903. He is as keenly observant and nimble of mind as ever, but his patience with British justice is wearing thin and at times he takes the law into his own hands and knowingly breaks the law. What can have happened to produce such uncharacteristic behavior in the world's greatest detective? Included in this volume are the fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel, The Valley of Fear, and the thirty-three stories comprising The Return of Sherlock Holmes, His Last Bow, and The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes.

Here, in one volume, are the stories that transformed Sherlock Holmes into a household name: the fateful first meeting of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in A Study in Scarlet, the mysterious treasure of The Sign of the Four, the formidable Irene Adler of A Scandal in Bohemia--and many more! This collection also includes The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.

When Harriet Beecher Stowe was introduced to Abraham Lincoln in 1862, the president reportedly said, "So this is the little woman who made this great war." Apocryphal or not, the words were apt. Uncle Tom's Cabin's portrayal of the evils of institutionalized slavery galvanized the American public to new abolitionist heights and today remains a crucial literary artifact in a country still wrestling with the legacies of its past.

Featured in these pages are Edgar Allan Poe's best-loved and most-feared literary creations: the clever C. August Dupin, precursor to Sherlock Holmes; the terrifying ghouls of "Tales of the Grotesque" and "Arabesque"; as well as the tragic sensibilities of "The Raven and Other Poems." This is an essential treasury for Poe novices and experts alike.

A young Midwesterner travels east to attend Princeton University, where he shows promise as a student and writer. In love with Isabelle Borgé, Amory Blaine hones his craft writing letters and poems to her. When disillusionment sets in, he leaves Princeton to fight in the First World War. This Side of Paradise is a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

When Charles Marlow travels to Africa to serve as steamboat pilot for an ivory-trading company, he learns he is to rendezvous with Kurtz, a trading-post agent held in high regard. But the deeper Marlow penetrates into the jungle, the grimmer the assessments of Kurtz become. Described by Conrad himself as "something quite on another plane than an anecdote of a man who went mad in the Centre of Africa," Heart of Darkness has long been regarded as a powerful appraisal of the fragility of civilization and the consequences of imperialism. This collection includes another five of Conrad's incomparable tales of adventure, including "The Secret Sharer," "Youth," and "Typhoon."

What a study in contrasts is the friendship between Henry Jekyll and his boon companion, Edward Hyde. Where Jekyll is a handsome and respected man of science, Hyde is a surly and brutish misanthrope. Nevertheless, Jekyll has allowed Hyde free access to his home and laboratory and, surprisingly, made him the sole beneficiary of his will. Given the closeness of their bond, it seems peculiar that no one has ever seen the two men together in public. And yet they share a remarkable chemistry . . . First published in 1886, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale of the duality of human nature and his iconic presentation of what would come to be referred to as the "split personality."

Mrs. Darling dozes in the nursery as her children sleep. Suddenly, the window bursts open, and Peter Pan, the boy who refuses to grow up, flies in. Seeing a grown-up in the room, he gnashes his perfect set of pearly baby teeth at her. The children's nurse, Nana, a Newfoundland dog, gallops in and chases the boy out the window, slamming it shut with her paws. Peter escapes just in time, but his shadow is not so lucky. Now it is trapped in the nursery, and everyone knows he will come back for it. When he does, Wendy, John, and Michael will begin the greatest adventure any siblings have ever had. Peter whisks the children off to Neverland to meet the Lost Boys, Tinker Bell the fairy, and Princess Tiger Lily. Together, they wage fierce battles against the evil Captain Hook and his dreaded band of ruthless pirates, whose only goal in life, it seems, is to destroy Peter and his friends.