Eliot, George: Silas Marner, an intensely human story, a heart history; Romola, a thrilling story of Florence in the days of Savonarola, a study in the degeneration of character that comes from doing only the agreeable things in life.
Goldsmith, Oliver: The Vicar of Wakefield, an amusing and at times pathetic picture of English country life in the eighteenth century.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel: The Scarlet Letter, a tale of sin and its punishment in Puritan New England; The Marble Faun, an Italian story full of the art and culture of Rome.
Hugo, Victor: Les Miserables, one of the greatest novels of the world, but its digressions and its philosophy make it difficult reading for the young. Interesting abridgements of it may be had from the schoolbook houses.
Saint Pierre, Bernardin De: Paul and Virginia, a pretty love story from the French.
Scott, Sir Walter: Kenilworth, a tale of the days of Queen Elizabeth; Old Mortality, a story of the Covenanters; Guy Mannering, an eighteenth century tale, with Meg Merrilies, Dominic Sampson and others of Scott’s most famous characters; The Heart of Midlothian, a tale of sin and its punishment, with a wonderful picture of a sister’s love and devotion.
Stowe, Harriet Beecher: Uncle Tom’s Cabin, an interesting story, but like most books written for partisan purposes, its influence is not now wholesome.
Thackeray, William Makepeace: Henry Esmond, Pendennis and The Newcomes may be read in the order named. Vanity Fair is better appreciated by adults.
Twain, Mark: Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, two stories whose fun every boy will appreciate.
Wallace, Lew: Ben Hur, a Tale of the Christ. An admirable historical novel.