Emma, a novel by Jane Austen, was published in three volumes in 1815. Set in Highbury, England, in the early 19th century, the novel centers on Emma Woodhouse, a precocious young woman whose misplaced confidence in her matchmaking abilities occasions several romantic misadventures. Austen structures  the novel around various courtships and romantic connections and  presents marriage as a fundamental aspect of society. Jane Austen writes about what she has seen and experienced, depicting leisured...

‘Sense and Sensibility’, novel by Jane Austen, was published anonymously in three volumes in 1811. The satirical, comic work offers a vivid depiction of 19th-century middle-class life.   ‘Sense and Sensibility’ tells the story of the impoverished Dashwood family, focusing on the sisters Elinor and Marianne, personifications of good sense (common sense) and sensibility (emotionality), respectively. They become destitute upon the death of their father, who leaves his home, Norland Park, to their half-brother,...

‘The Invisible Man’, science-fiction novel by H.G. Wells, published in 1897. The story concerns the life and death of a scientist named Griffin who has gone mad. Having learned how to make himself invisible, Griffin begins to use his invisibility for nefarious purposes, including murder. ‘The Invisible Man’ explores such themes as isolation, community, science, power, awe and amazement, wealth, betrayal, violence, identity.  

‘The Time Machine’, first novel by H. G. Wells, published in book form in 1895. The novel is considered one of the earliest works of science fiction and the progenitor of the “time travel” subgenre.   A nameless Time Traveler is hurtled into the year 802,701 by his elaborate ivory, crystal, and brass contraption. The world he finds is peopled by two races: the decadent Eloi, fluttery and useless, are dependent for food, clothing, and shelter on the simian subterranean Morlocks, who prey on them....