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Inspired by Jane Eyre, Dinah Maria Craik's 1850 novel, Olive, was one of the first to feature a disabled central character. 'Slightly deformed' from birth, Olive believes that she will never be able to marry like other women, so she devotes her life to her art, her mother, and above all, her religion. It takes a dark secret from the past and a new, fascinating acquaintance, to make her realize what her life could be. (Summary by Arielle Lipshaw)...

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Fiction, Literature

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The story takes place in the fictional city of Western City circa 1920. It begins with a man named Billy who is attacked by a mob of ex-servicemen outside a theater after watching a German film. Billy stumbles into a church to escape the mob and is visited by Carpenter, that is Jesus, who walks out of the stained glass window of the church. Carpenter is shocked and appalled by his observations of greed, selfishness, lust, sorrow, and the ultimate division between rich and poor. The story then roughly follows the ministry of Jesus. (Summary from Wikipedia and modified by the Reader)...

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Fiction, Religion

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Third book in the Chautauqua Girls series. Written by Isabella Alden under the pseudonym Pansy.Ruth's father brings home a wife and daughter, after 18 years, that Ruth had never known about. Suddenly she is no longer the queen of her home. And what's worse, the new mother and sister are rude and antagonistic. How will Ruth bear this cross? (Summary by Tricia G)...

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Fiction, Religion, Romance

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Immature Mr. Tresevant (from The King's Daughter) comes to Newton with his spoiled wife to be the new pastor of the church attended by Dr. and Mrs. Douglass, Mr. and Mrs. Sayles, and Mr. and Mrs. Tyndall (from Ester Ried and Julia Ried), boarding with Jerome and Abbie Sayles. Authored by Isabella M. Alden under the pen name Pansy. Fourth in the Ester Ried series. (Summary written by TriciaG.)...

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Fiction, Religion

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This is the story of Miriam, an orphan Christian woman living in Rome in the first century. She falls in love with a Roman officer, but knows that her Jewish childhood playmate loves her too- and will do anything in order to get her love in return. (Summary by Stav Nisser)...

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Adventure, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Religion, Romance

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Cyril Gordon, a young and handsome secret service agent is running from pursuers who desperately want the information he holds. He hides out from them in a church, and then finds himself married to a woman he’s never seen before. A sweet and sometimes, funny, romance, with several exciting chases. (Summary by Gail Mattern)...

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Adventure, Fiction, Romance, Religion, Spy stories

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Seventh book in the Chautauqua Girls series. Written by Isabella Alden under the pseudonym “Pansy.” Erskine, Ruth's son (a 5-year-old at the end of Judge Burnham’s Daughters ) is now a grown man, and Ruth is 50-something. He brings home an American wife from Paris, a woman who seems to want to tear apart mother and son. But Irene has some big secrets to hide. (Summary by TriciaG)...

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Fiction, Religion

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“THE BOOK THAT DORIAN GRAY LOVED AND THAT INSPIRED OSCAR WILDE”. Such is the enticing epigraph of one early translation of Huysmans’ cult novel of 1884, which is also routinely called the Bible of Decadence. Accurate descriptions, both, of this bizarre masterpiece which has reverberated ever since through high and popular culture.“Against Nature” (or in this version “Against The Grain”) explores to the furthest limit the life of the world-rejecting aesthete living a reclusive existence devoted entirely to artificial paradises of his own devising. This is no solemn tract, however: the book’s anti-hero Duc Jean Floressas Des Esseintes spectacularly fails to achieve his life’s work, as all his attempts to create worlds of perverse experience through synaesthesia and interior decoration prove ludicrously unsatisfying and injurious to health. An innocent tortoise also falls casualty to his theories, in the wonderful fifth chapter.This is probably a novel best savoured one chapter at a time, and not only because John Howard’s clunky translation makes indigestible listening. Those who can skip whole chunks without guilt would do well to av...

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Fiction

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This is the second book of the much loved Elsie Dinsmore series and starts where the first book left off. Elsie is still recuperating from her weakness, with her kind and indulgent father by her side. The story revolves around how a strong bond of love and understanding takes root between the father and daughter, as they holiday at Roselands, and visit exciting places, with some of our favorite friends from the first book, Mr. Travilla, Adelaide, Chloe, Lora and the others. (Summary by Neeru Iyer)...

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Fiction, Children, Religion

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Published in 1901, The Sacred Fount delves into the interior observations and obsessions of one Englishman during a weekend gathering in the country. Regarding himself as a master of human psychology, the narrator watches the goings-on of the other guests and weaves theories about the interpersonal implications of what he witnesses, leaving the not infrequently perplexed reader the task of sorting out whether his conclusions are facts or fancies. (Introduction by S. Kovalchik)...

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Fiction, Literature

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Authored by Isabella M. Alden under the pen name “Pansy.” First in the Chautauqua Girls series. Four friends - spoiled, quirky Ruth; fun-loving and mischievous Eurie; poor, independent and brainy Marion; and meek, approval-seeking Flossy - attend Chautauqua on a lark, and their lives are changed forever. (Chautauqua is an adult education movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Chautauqua brought entertainment and culture for the whole community, with speakers, teachers, musicians, entertainers, preachers and specialists of the day.) (Summary by TriciaG and Wikipedia)...

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Fiction, Religion, Teen/Young adult

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Tip Lewis is a mischievous, unpromising scamp. One Sunday, a visiting Sunday school teacher tells his mission class how her minister had grown up in similarly bad circumstances, but had decided to follow God and had never regretted it. Tip decides to try to BE somebody, like that minister did. He is given a Bible - his lamp - to use as a guide, and from there, his life begins to change. (Introduction by TriciaG)...

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Fiction, Religion

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Final book in the Chautauqua Girls series. The four original girls return to Chautauqua on the 25 year anniversary of the trip that changed their lives forever. They have with them some children that could use the lessons they themselves learned there. (Introduction by TriciaG) Music for the hymn in Chapters 9 & 26 is titled Chautauqua by William, F. Sherman, 1877. Music for the children's song in Chapter 19 is adapted from Love Lifted Me by Howard E. Smith, 1912. The scan of the book at Archive.org contains photos of various scenes and people of Chautauqua....

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Fiction, Religion

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Julia Cloud, the oldest--and most responsible--child of her family, helped raise her four siblings due to their mother's long-time illness and father's death. After faithfully nursing two ill brothers (who died), she then cared for her invalid mother for many years. When Julia's mother passes on, her only surviving sibling Ellen fully expects--and nearly demands--that her spinster sister come live with her family. But to earn her keep, Julia must be their live-in housekeeper and babysitter for Ellen's four children. But Julia's college-age niece and nephew arrive unexpectedly from California and offer Aunt Cloudy Jewel a surprise opportunity she never expected in her wildest dreams. (Summary by Joy Easton)...

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Fiction, Religion

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Fifth in the Chautauqua Girls series. Ruth Erskine Burnham has helped raise her husband's two daughters, but all have rejected her faith and values. The constant pressure to compromise has weakened her walk and made her life miserable. Her one comfort is her sickly 5 year old son. Will she return to the strong faith of her young womanhood, and will her family finally follow? (Summary by Tricia G)...

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Fiction, Religion

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Esther Ried Randall tries to live up to her parents' expectations and the name she's been given, but her religion is a chore. Will she learn the lesson of faith that Ester did? Fifth and final book in the Ester Ried series. Authored by Isabella M. Alden under the pen name “Pansy.” (Summary written by Tricia G)...

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Fiction, Religion

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A very heart touching story about two homeless children, a brother and sister, living on the streets of Liverpool, England during Victorian times. (Summary by Larraine Paquette)...

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Children, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Religion

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She was born a princess, heir to her father’s kingdom of Portugal, and she might at will have reigned from almost any throne in Europe. But instead of this, she made what to her world seemed a thoroughly mad choice – for she chose to have a throne in heaven. Today those scepters are dust which she would not accept, and as Blessed Joanna of Portugal she possesses a throne imperishable… This children’s biography of Blessed Joanna of Portugal was written by Sister Mary Jean Dorcy, a Catholic Dominican Nun. The author is probably best known for her exquisitely intricate paper cutting silhouettes, with which she illustrated her books. (Introduction from the original book and by Maria Therese)...

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Fiction, Religion

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Not once upon a time but just now, in a white house by the side of a road, live three happy children. Their mother and father gave them very odd names, for two old uncles and one aunt, which pleased the old people very much. Their names are all written in the big family Bible,--Jehosophat Green, Marmaduke Green, and Hepzebiah Green. So begins this collection of bedtime stories for children, one each night for twenty days, involving these three happy children and their playmates. (Summary by P. Cunningham)...

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Children, Fiction

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Dr. David Throckmartin’s scientific expedition to the South Sea Islands discovers among ancient ruins a portal into Muria, an unknown underground world. After the disappearance of Throckmartin, his wife and two companions, his old friend Dr. Walter Goodwin enters Muria with a rescue party, only to confront an fantastic world filled with incredible beings, astounding scientific advances, and the worship of the most evil of all creatures, The Dweller. (Introduction by Mark Nelson)...

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Fantasy, Fiction, Horror/Ghost stories