Best historical fiction
16 stories
THE POETICAL WORKS OF WILLIAM WORDSWORTH - VOL 1 (Completed) by williamwordsworth
williamwordsworth
  • WpView
    Reads 1,906
  • WpVote
    Votes 40
  • WpPart
    Parts 36
The poetical works of William Wordsworth edited by William Knight.
A Pair of Blue Eyes (Completed) by ThomasHardy
ThomasHardy
  • WpView
    Reads 10,317
  • WpVote
    Votes 444
  • WpPart
    Parts 41
"A Pair of Blue Eyes" is the third novel by Thomas Hardy, and the first to be published in his own name. First published in 1873, the book tells the story of a love triangle between a young woman and her two suitors from very different backgrounds. Elfride Swancourt, a vicar's daughter living in a remote corner of England, knows very little about the world that lies beyond when she becomes entangled with two men; The boyish architect, Stephen Smith, and the older literary man, Henry Knight. The former friends become rivals, and Elfride faces an agonizing choice.
Twelfth Night by WilliamShakespeare
WilliamShakespeare
  • WpView
    Reads 58,536
  • WpVote
    Votes 1,452
  • WpPart
    Parts 19
"Twelfth Night; or, What You Will" is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601-02 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. Viola is shipwrecked on the coast of Illyria and she comes ashore with the help of a captain. She loses contact with her twin brother, Sebastian, whom she believes to be dead. Disguising herself as a young man under the name Cesario, she enters the service of Duke Orsino through the help of the sea captain who rescues her.
THE SCARLET LETTER (Completed) by NathanielHawthorne
NathanielHawthorne
  • WpView
    Reads 22,424
  • WpVote
    Votes 605
  • WpPart
    Parts 26
The Scarlet Letter: A Romance is an 1850 novel in a historical setting, written by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne. The book is considered to be his "masterwork". Set in 17th-century Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony, during the years 1642 to 1649, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an affair and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. Throughout the book, Hawthorne explores themes of legalism, sin, and guilt.
Gulliver's Travels (1726) by JonathanSwift
JonathanSwift
  • WpView
    Reads 124,625
  • WpVote
    Votes 1,829
  • WpPart
    Parts 42
Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships, better known simply as Gulliver's Travels (1726, amended 1735), is a novel by Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan Swift, that is both a satire on human nature and a parody of the "travellers' tales" literary sub-genre.
Villette by CharlotteBronte
CharlotteBronte
  • WpView
    Reads 11,340
  • WpVote
    Votes 776
  • WpPart
    Parts 42
After a family disaster our protagonist, Lucy Snowe, travels to Villette where she teaches at an all girl's school and gets wrapped up in romance and adventures.
Agnes Grey (Completed) by AnneBronte
AnneBronte
  • WpView
    Reads 18,492
  • WpVote
    Votes 873
  • WpPart
    Parts 25
This is the debut novel of English author Anne Brontë, first published in December 1847 ( and originally written under the pen name, Acton Bell). The novel follows governess Agnes Grey as she works with the families of the English gentry, and is considered to be largely based on Brontë's own experiences as a governess. The novel addresses the position of governess and what it entailed, and how it affected a young woman. Cover by @FrankRSP
A Tale of Two Cities (1859) by CharlesDickens
CharlesDickens
  • WpView
    Reads 361,820
  • WpVote
    Votes 4,769
  • WpPart
    Parts 46
The novel depicts the plight of the French peasantry demoralized by the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolution, the corresponding brutality demonstrated by the revolutionaries toward the former aristocrats in the early years of the revolution, and many unflattering social parallels with life in London during the same time period. It follows the lives of several protagonists through these events. The most notable are Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton. Darnay is a former French aristocrat who falls victim to the indiscriminate wrath of the revolution despite his virtuous nature, and Carton is a dissipated English barrister who endeavors to redeem his ill-spent life out of his unrequited love for Darnay's wife. Cover art done by @orangedusk
A Midsummer Night's Dream by WilliamShakespeare
WilliamShakespeare
  • WpView
    Reads 156,912
  • WpVote
    Votes 3,433
  • WpPart
    Parts 10
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and Hippolyta. These include the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of six amateur actors, who are controlled and manipulated by the fairies who inhabit the forest in which most of the play is set.
Macbeth by WilliamShakespeare
WilliamShakespeare
  • WpView
    Reads 210,031
  • WpVote
    Votes 4,221
  • WpPart
    Parts 29
"Macbeth" tells the story of a brave Scottish general named Macbeth who receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders King Duncan and takes the throne for himself. He is then wracked with guilt and paranoia, and he soon becomes a tyrannical ruler as he is forced to commit more and more murders to protect himself from enmity and suspicion. The bloodbath and consequent civil war swiftly take Macbeth and Lady Macbeth into the realms of arrogance, madness, and death. Cover by @newsies-