Two sisters of opposing temperaments share the pangs of tragic love. Their mutual suffering brings a closer understanding between the two sisters, and true love finally triumphs.

Sensational, dramatic, packed with rich excitement and filled with the sweep and violence of human passions, LES MISERABLES is not only superb adventure but a powerful social document. The story of how the convict Jean-Valjean struggled to escape his past and reaffirm his humanity, in a world brutalized by poverty and ignorance, became the gospel of the poor and the oppressed.

"The Scarlett Letter is a dark tale of love, crime, and revenge set in colonial New Enland. It revolves around a single, forbidden act of passioin that forever alters the lives of three members of a small Puritan community: Hester Prynne, an ardent and fierce woman who bears the punishment of her sin in humble silence; the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, a respected public figure who is inwardly tormented by long-hidden guilt; and the malevolent Roger...

Alice McDermott's powerful novel is a vivid portrait of an American family in the middle decades of the twentieth century. Witty, compassionate, and wry, it captures the social, political, and spiritual upheavals of those decades through the experiences of a middle-class couple, their four children, and the changing worlds in which they live. While Michael and Annie Keane taste the alternately intoxicating and bitter first fruits of the sexual revolution,...

Pulitzer prize-winner author of All Over but the Shoutin', Rick Bragg builds a monument to his grandfather Charlie Bundrum. Known for being a passionate family man with a special talent for living and surviving, Bundrum was a master roofer, carpenter, whiskey-maker, fisherman, banjo player, and buck dancer. Unable to read, he asked his wife Ava to read him the newspaper every night so he would not be ignorant. Set in the Great Depression, Bundrum's...

Faulkner examines the changing relationship of black to white and of man to the land, and weaves a complex work that is rich in understanding of the human condition.

After the suspicious death of her mother in 1895, sixteen-year-old Gemma returns to England, after many years in India, to attend a finishing school where she becomes aware of her magical powers and ability to see into the spirit world.

Presents a selection of letters written to Tom Brokaw in response to his book "The Greatest Generation," in which he examines the lives and experiences of the men and women of the Depression and World War II era who Brokaw credits with building modern America.

Discusses the political, historical, and cultural life of the United States in the 1980s, including the end of communism, the Iran-Contra affair, and pop culture of the time.