Cranford. Mrs. GASKELL.
To praise Cranford at this time of day is an idle task. After being overshadowed for a little, it has taken its place finally among the masterpieces of English fiction, along with Jane Austen and the Vicar of Wakefield. There has never been a more delightful and tender study of English village life, or one in which insight is so joined with kindliness.
East Lynne, Mrs. HENRY WOOD.
The Channings.
Mrs. Wood has long been the most popular of writers, and the publishers are glad to be able to add her two chief novels to their series. The whole world is familiar with her characters.
The Deerslayer, FENIMORE COOPER.
The Last of the Mohicans, "
The Pathfinder. "
Fenimore Cooper was the Scott of America, the man who, by turning his own history into great romance, gave it immortality. Many years have passed since the first publication of these books, and there have been many imitators, but their merits still remain unsurpassed.
The Three Musketeers. ALEXANDRE DUMAS.
Dumas is, after Scott, the foremost of historical novelists, and The Three Musketeers is, by universal consent, his masterpiece. It tells of a great companionship in arms, and the names of Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and D'Artagnan are among the most familiar to all lovers of good fiction. No man had so generous an imagination, so great a sense of drama, so boyish a love of high enterprises, or so masterly a power of narrative.
Villette. CHARLOTTE BRONTË.
From an artistic point of view, the most perfect of Charlotte Brontë's stories. Practically an autobiography, it abounds with rich humour and keen analysis of character.