Friends of the Aiken Public Library
Friends of the Aiken Public Library
See also The Romance Reader Top 100 List
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Wuthering Heights by Emily BronteBronte's only novel is considered a classic of English literature. It is unlike the other novels of the time because it relies heavily on flashbacks and stories inside stories. It is set in an English manor house on the moors and tells the tale of Catherine and Heathcliff, their all-encompassing love for one another, and how this unresolved passion eventually destroys them both. Social tensions prevent their union, leading Heathcliff to shun and abuse society. |
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Rebecca by Daphne Du MaurierAt Manderley, an estate in Cornwall, the widower Max deWinter brings home a new bride to become the mistress of the house and succeed the dead Rebecca deWinter. The new Mrs. deWinter is shy and unassertive, and is instantly hated by the housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers. Mrs. Danvers does her worst to make the new wife feel inadequate, and as the conflict escalates, questions arise about the circumstances surrounding Rebecca's death. |
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The Great Gatsby by F. Scott FitzgeraldSet in the Jazz Age of the 1920s, this is the story of the upper classes in New York, and in particular that of Jay Gatsby, an extremely wealthy man known for hosting lavish soirées in his Long Island mansion. Gatsby falls in love with another man's wife, Daisy Buchanan. This type of infidelity and the amorality of the rich lead to a tragic end. |
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Madame Bovary by Gustave FlaubertA novel that was attacked for obscenity by public prosecutors when it was first serialized in a Paris magazine in 1856. The trial publicity made it a best-seller and it is now seen as one of the first modern realistic novels. It is the story of a doctor's wife, Emma Bovary, who has adulterous affairs and lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities and emptiness of provincial life. |
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Gone With the Wind by Margaret MitchellScarlett O'Hara, the daughter of a rich plantation owner, lives the life of the rich just before the start of the Civil War. She is in love with Ashley Wilkes, but he marries his cousin Melanie Hamilton. Rhett Butler, a blockade runner, loves Scarlett but sees her for what she is, a spoiled rich girl. As the Civil War comes to Georgia, the way of life is changed forever. |
