Victorian Sampler
An ideal gift: nine memorable novels, a whole shelf-full of first-class British literary fiction: • Bleak House Often adjudged to be Dickens' finest work, this novel written in his latter years blends elements of social commentary, detective fiction, romance, melodrama, and satire. • David Copperfield To create this story of a young orphan's struggles, Charles Dickens drew on details of his own troubled childhood. This edition contains the illustrations by Phiz that helped make it so beloved. • Wuthering Heights This powerful, stark novel by Emily Brontë is not just a classic; an authoritative poll honored it as the greatest romantic novel of all time. • The Woman in White. Like the novel's main character, readers of Wilkie Collins' masterpiece are drawn in by the spell of the plaintive woman in white. Though first published in book form in 1860, this mystery story still excites the imagination of modern readers. • Middlemarch George Eliot's realistic novel about an intellectual, idealistic woman has won recognition as one of the 10 Greatest Books of All-Time. • Jane Eyre Written in the form of an autobiography, Charlotte Brontë's novel about a poor young woman's struggles with matters of the heart has earned a reputation as one of the most resilient novels of all time. • Tess of the D'Urbervilles Thomas Hardy's penetrating look at the sexual hypocrisy of Victorian society attracted strong barbs (and numerous readers) when first published. Today it is revered for its subtle character portraits and resonant symbolism. • Vanity Fair Featuring Becky Sharp, one of the most memorable characters in world fiction, this mid-19th century novel by William Makepeace Thackeray appears now in a sparkling new edition that contains more than 100 illustrations by the author himself. • Wives and Daughters Elizabeth Gaskell's final novel focuses on two very different stepsisters who become love rivals for the affections of a Squire's sons. Popula