English Fiction
From Pride and Prejudice to Middlemarch, from The Vicar Of Wakefield to English Traits, we can help you find the english fiction books you are looking for. As the world's largest independent marketplace for new, used and rare books, you always get the best in service and value when you buy from Biblio.com.au, and all of your purchases are backed by our return guarantee.
Top Sellers in English Fiction
Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice is the second novel by English author Jane Austen, after Sense and Sensibility. First published on 28 January 1813, Austen sold the copyright for just £110. Its manuscript was initially written between 1796 and 1797 in Steventon, Hampshire, where Austen lived in the rectory. Originally called First Impressions, it was never published under that title, and in following revisions it was retitled Pride and Prejudice. It was first published anonymously. A...
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The Great Gatsby
by F Scott Fitzgerald
Written in 1925, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is widely
considered to be one of the author’s greatest works. Set in New York City and
Long Island during the Roaring Twenties, the focus of the story is (of course)
its title character, Jay Gatsby, and his unswerving desire to be reunited with
Daisy Buchanan, the love he lost five years earlier. However, Nick Carraway,
who happens to be both Gatsby’s neighbor and Daisy’s cousin, narrates Gatsby's journey
from poverty to wealth, into the... Read more about this item
considered to be one of the author’s greatest works. Set in New York City and
Long Island during the Roaring Twenties, the focus of the story is (of course)
its title character, Jay Gatsby, and his unswerving desire to be reunited with
Daisy Buchanan, the love he lost five years earlier. However, Nick Carraway,
who happens to be both Gatsby’s neighbor and Daisy’s cousin, narrates Gatsby's journey
from poverty to wealth, into the... Read more about this item
Animal Farm
by George Orwell
Animal Farm is a dystopian novella by George Orwell. Published in England on 17 August 1945, the book reflects events leading up to and during the Stalin era before World War II. Orwell, a democratic socialist and a member of the Independent Labour Party for many years, was a critic of Joseph Stalin and was suspicious of Moscow-directed Stalinism after his experiences with the NKVD during the Spanish Civil War.
A Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens
The full title of Charles Dickens' most famous work is technically A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost-Story of Christmas. This novella was published on December 19, 1843, and the first edition run of 6000 copies were sold out by Christmas Eve of that year. The publication of the first edition was fraught with complications, and even though the book was received to positive reviews, profits of the book fell far below Dickens' expectations, and the financial strain caused rifts between Dickens and...
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Nineteen Eighty-Four
by George Orwell
Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) by George
Orwell has become the definitive dystopian novel of the twentieth
century. Originally published on June 8, 1949 by Secker and
Warburg in the United Kingdom, the book follows the main character,
Winston Smith, through his disillusionment with totalitarianism and a
doomed struggle of resistance. George Orwell is a pen-name, Orwell's
real name was Eric Blair. -
Orwell has become the definitive dystopian novel of the twentieth
century. Originally published on June 8, 1949 by Secker and
Warburg in the United Kingdom, the book follows the main character,
Winston Smith, through his disillusionment with totalitarianism and a
doomed struggle of resistance. George Orwell is a pen-name, Orwell's
real name was Eric Blair. -
The Silmarillion
by J R R Tolkien
The Silmarillion narrates the complexity of Middle-earth through a collection of J.R.R Tolkein’s 5 mythopoeic works, illustrating an extensive history and lore in relation to his work, The Hobbit. The collection was originally published as individual works, but was later rejected due to incompleteness. In 1977 The Silmarillion was edited and published posthumously by Tolkien's son Christopher, with assistance from Guy Gavriel Kay, who later became a noted fantasy writer.
Brave New World
by Huxley Aldous
Brave New World is a novel by Aldous Huxley, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Set in the London of AD 2540 (632 A.F. in the book), the novel anticipates developments in reproductive technology and sleep-learning that combine to change society. The future society is an embodiment of the ideals that form the basis of futurism. Huxley answered this book with a reassessment in an essay, Brave New World Revisited (1958), and with his final work, a novel titled Island (1962), both summarized below. In...
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Dracula
by Bram Stoker
Dracula is a gothic horror book written by Bram Stoker and published in 1897. The story is told through a series of journal entries, letters, and newspaper articles, and it follows the efforts of a group of people led by Professor Abraham Van Helsing to defeat the vampire Count Dracula.Dracula by Bram Stoker has been attributed to many literary genres including vampire literature, horror fiction, the gothic novel, and invasion literature. It has become a cultural icon, spawning countless adaptations in...
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Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Bronte
Jane Eyre is a famous and influential novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published in London, England in 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. with the title Jane Eyre, an Autobiography under the pen name "Currer Bell". Orphaned as a child, Jane felt like an outcast during her childhood. She was sent by her cruel aunt to a boarding school where she was met with further torment. After the devastating loss of a friend, she finds herself enrolled under a new headmaster at the Lowood School...
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Wuthering Heights
by Emily Bronte
Wuthering Heights, the only book written by Emily Brontë, and originally published in 1847 by Thomas Cautley Newby under the pseudonym Ellis Bell, is a classic work of English literature. The Brontë sisters are known for classical and important literature, such as Jane Eyre (by Charlotte Brontë) and Agnes Grey (by Anne Brontë). The first edition of Wuthering Heights was first published in three volumes, the first two composed of Wuthering Heights, with the third volume containing Anne...
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Romeo and Juliet
by William Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet is one of the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare's most beloved and popular plays, remaining since its premiere one of the most performed as well. The story was derived by Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) from many sources. The version most contemporary to his own was the 1562 poem "The Tragicall History of Romeus and Juliet" by Arthur Brooke, which was an adaptation of a French piece by Pierre Boaistuau Boaistuau had adapted from the Italian. Indeed, aspects of the tragic story...
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Treasure Island
by Robert Louis Stevenson
Treasure Island is an adventure novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. The story was originally serialised in the children's magazine Young Folks under the title The Sea Cook over a period of several months from 1881-82.Traditionally considered a coming-of-age story, Treasure Island is the classic pirate tale, known for its superb atmosphere, character and action. It is one of the most frequently dramatised of all novels. The influence of Treasure Island on popular perception of...
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A Tale Of Two Cities
by Charles Dickens
Written by Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities is a historical novel that follows Manette, a French doctor imprisoned for 18 long years in Paris’s Bastille. Following his release, he goes to live in London with his daughter Lucie, who had never met him and believed him to be dead. Set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution and Reign of Terror, A Tale of Two Cities is a fictitious story that falls both into the historical and adventure genres. The famous book is one of the...
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Watership Down
by Richard Adams
Watership Down is an allegorical fantasy novel written by British author Richard Adams, narrating the adventures of a small group of anthropomorphized rabbits as they escape the destruction of their homeland. The story is set in England’s Downs, an idyllic rural home to the small native creatures who possess their own cultures, languages, poetry and mythology. They are soon faced with the settlement of humanity and watch as their land is ravaged by farmland and industrialized commercial...
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The Picture Of Dorian Gray
by Oscar Wilde
"The Picture of Dorian Gray" is a classic novel by Oscar Wilde, first published in 1890. It tells the story of a young, handsome man named Dorian Gray, who becomes the subject of a portrait painted by an artist named Basil Hallward. Dorian is introduced to the pleasures of life by his friend, Lord Henry Wotton, who encourages him to pursue beauty and pleasure above all else.Dorian becomes obsessed with his own youth and beauty, and he wishes that his portrait would age instead of him. His wish is...
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Alice's Adventures In Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
by Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel, Through
the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, tell the story of a young
girl in a fantasy world filled with peculiar, anthropomorphic
creatures. The classic tale of literary nonsense takes the reader on an
exploration of logic and absurdities. The Alice books — sometimes
combined or referred to with the abbreviated title Alice in Wonderland —
have been translated into at least 97 languages with over a hundred
different editions.... Read more about this item
the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, tell the story of a young
girl in a fantasy world filled with peculiar, anthropomorphic
creatures. The classic tale of literary nonsense takes the reader on an
exploration of logic and absurdities. The Alice books — sometimes
combined or referred to with the abbreviated title Alice in Wonderland —
have been translated into at least 97 languages with over a hundred
different editions.... Read more about this item
Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens
Great Expectations is a classic novel by Charles Dickens, published in 1861. It tells the story of Pip, a young orphan boy brought up by his abusive sister and her blacksmith husband in rural England. Pip dreams of becoming a gentleman and escaping poverty, but his life takes a dramatic turn when he receives a large fortune from an anonymous benefactor. As he rises in society, he becomes involved with a host of colorful characters, including the eccentric Miss Havisham and her adopted daughter Estella,...
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Hamlet
by William Shakespeare
In this quintessential Shakespearean drama, Hamlets halting pursuit of revenge for his fathers death unfolds in a series of highly charged confrontations that climax in tragedy. The play begins with the ghost of Hamlet's father revealing that he was killed by Hamlet's uncle, Claudius, who has now married Hamlet's mother, Gertrude. Consumed by grief and madness, Hamlet feigns insanity as he plots his revenge. His inner turmoil and moral dilemmas are explored through soliloquies, while the play...
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Macbeth
by William Shakespeare
Macbeth by William Shakespeare is a tragic play that delves into the destructive consequences of unchecked ambition. The story follows Macbeth, a Scottish nobleman, who, driven by his wife's relentless ambition and the prophecies of three witches, succumbs to his own inner darkness. As he ascends to the throne through deceit, Macbeth becomes consumed by guilt and paranoia. The play explores themes of power, guilt, fate, and the corrupting nature of ambition. Through vivid imagery, complex characters, and...
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Paradise Lost
by John Milton
Paradise Lost is an epic poem written by John Milton, first published in 1667. Set against the backdrop of Adam and Eve's fall from grace in the Garden of Eden, the poem explores complex themes of sin, free will, and the nature of evil. Milton skillfully crafts vivid imagery and powerful metaphors to depict Satan's rebellion against God, his subsequent expulsion from heaven, and his relentless pursuit of revenge. The narrative follows the interplay between God, Satan, and mankind, with Milton's eloquent...
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Emma
by Jane Austen
Emma is a novel by Jane Austen, published in 1815. The story follows the life of Emma Woodhouse, a wealthy and beautiful young woman who lives in the English countryside. Emma fancies herself as a matchmaker and sets out to find a suitable husband for her friend Harriet Smith. However, her attempts to play cupid lead to several misadventures, including a love triangle involving her own romantic interests. As the story unfolds, Emma learns important lessons about humility, love, and the consequences of...
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The Pilgrim's Progress
by John Bunyan
The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come is a Christian allegory written by John Bunyan and published in February, 1678. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of English literature, has been translated into more than 200 languages, and has never been out of print.
To the Lighthouse
by Virginia Woolf
To the Lighthouse is a novel by Virginia Woolf. A landmark novel of high modernism, the text, centering on the Ramsay family and their visits to the Isle of Skye in Scotland between 1910 and 1920, skillfully manipulates temporality and psychological exploration. To the Lighthouse follows and extends the tradition of modernist novelists like Marcel Proust and James Joyce, where the plot is secondary to philosophical introspection, and the prose can be winding and hard to follow.
Othello
by William Shakespeare
End your struggle with the Bard's prose and enjoy a timeless thriller filled with passion, prejudice, insane jealousy, murder, and suicide. Shakespeare on the Double! Othello includes an easy-to-understand modern English translation alongside the original Shakespearian text so that you can read only the translation, read the translation with the original text, or tackle the original text, referring only to the translation when you're stumped. A comprehensive character list describes the traits of each...
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Middlemarch
by George Eliot
On April 10, 1994, PBS stations nationwide will air the first episode of a lavish six-part Masterpiece Theatre production of Eliot's brilliant work, Middlemarch, hosted by Russell Baker and produced by Louis Marks. The Modern Library is pleased to offer this official companion edition, complete with tie-in art and printed on acid-free paper. Unabridged.From the Hardcover edition.
English Fiction Books & Ephemera
The Vicar Of Wakefield
by Goldsmith, Oliver
"The greatest object in the universe, says a certain philosopher, is a good man struggling with adversity." When Dr Primrose loses his fortune in a disastrous investment, his idyllic life in the country is shattered and he is forced to move with his wife and six children to an impoverished living on the estate of Squire Thornhill. Taking to the road in pursuit of his daughter, who has been seduced by the rakish Squire, the beleaguered Primrose becomes embroiled in a series of misadventures –...
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The Mayor Of Casterbridge
by Hardy, Thomas
THOMAS HARDY was born on June 2, 1840. His father was a stonemason. He was brought up near Dorchester and trained as an architect. In 1868 his work took him to St Juliot's church in Cornwall where he met his wife-to-be, Emma. His first novel, The Poor Man and the Lady, was rejected by publishers but Desperate Remedies was published in 1871 and this was rapidly followed by Under the Greenwood Tree (1872), A Pair of Blue Eyes (1873) and Far from the Madding Crowd (1874). He also wrote many other novels,...
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Shakespearean Tragedy
by Bradley, A C
"A.C. Bradley put Shakespeare on the map for generations of readers and students for whom the plays might not otherwise have become 'real' at all" writes John Bayley in his foreword to this edition of Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth. Approaching the tragedies as drama, wondering about their characters as he might have wondered about people in novels or in life, Bradley is one of the most liberating in the line of distinguished Shakespeare critics. His...
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