Classic Irish Fiction

A House of Pomegranates is a collection of fairy tales, written by Oscar Wilde, which was published in 1891 as a second collection for The Happy Prince and Other Tales (1888). Wilde once said that this collection was "intended neither for the British child nor the British public."

The Irish Short Story tradition is packed with literary leviathans who take the raw ingredients of the land, it’s people and their own talents to create quite dazzling narratives in these perfectly pitched short stories. Genius has many names.

In The Celtic Twilight, Yeats explores the world of fairies, ghosts and spirits. The title refers to the pre-dawn hours when the Druids performed their rituals. The work comprises tales recounted to the poet by his friends, acquaintances and various country folk.

Ellenor, fille d'un riche attorney et Ralph, jeune avocat ambitieux, sont amis d'enfance. Peu à peu, leur amitié s'est transformée en un sentiment plus tendre. Ils s'éprennent l'un de l'autre et se fiancent. Et, tout à coup, une nuit de mai va bouleverser leur vie...

The short stories of Irish writers appeal to audiences far beyond the shores of Eire. These stories, in turn atmospheric, spookily funny, full of intriguing characters, picturesque, and touching, are steeped in the Irish delight in story-telling and cover an intriguing century of Irish city and country life.

Die Familie Bennet hat fünf Töchter. Eine Heirat mit einem möglichst begüterten Mann ist die einzige Karriere, die ihnen das Leben zu bieten hat. Leicht vorstellbar, dass es jede Menge Aufregung gibt, als zwei junge Männer von Vermögen in die Gegend ziehen. Schon bald macht Mr. Darcy, ein standesbewusster Gutsbesitzer, der munteren und geistvollen Elizabeth einen Heiratsantrag, den sie jedoch spontan ablehnt. Sein Freund Charles fühlt sich sehr zu Elizabeths älterer Schwester Jane hingezogen. Ein verwirrendes Spiel um leidenschaftliche Gefühle und Eifersucht beginnt.

Just as many more sayings and doings of the Lord existed prior to and alongside the canonical Gospels, so were there, prior to and alongside the subsequently selected or canonical acts, many other narratives professing to record the doings and sayings of the apostles and disciples of the Lord. This is one such gnostic text which had been lost for centuries.

Idealistic parson's son Jim goes to sea thirsting for adventure as the mate of the pilgrim ship Patna. However, when disaster looms, Jim is persuaded by his crewmates to abandon the ship, leaving the vessel and hundreds of passengers to their fate. But with his life in ruins, Jim alone has the courage to face up to the public censure which follows, piquing the interest of Captain Marlow, who befriends Jim and relates the tale of the young man's attempts to come to terms with his guilt and make an honorable future for himself.

The Beetle tells the tale of an evil, ancient Egyptian spirit seeking revenge on an up-and-coming British politician, Paul Lessingham. The shape-shifting creature that pursues Lessingham is possessed of hypnotic powers and takes different forms, both male and female, as well as morphing into a beetle - a figure that induces terror in its victims.

The magic of the impish Puck transports little Una and Dan to centuries past, where they witness the making of myth and the making of history, the heritage of England.

Captain Stephen Sorrell returns from the First World War decorated with the Military Cross but unnerved by the conflict. His mercenary wife has deserted him for 'one of the fellows who stayed behind' and left him responsible for their son, Christopher. A promised position in an antique shop fails to materialise, and Sorrell faces poverty. Despite losing status, he takes a job as a hotel porter, cleaning shoes and carrying luggage. Thus begins the long climb to financial security.

Tom Jones is a splendid Hogarthian panorama of 18th-century English life and morals, encompassing both city and country, and comprising some of the greatest comic characters in British literature. First published in 1749, it was an instant success and has gone on to become a classic of its genre. Quite simply, there has never been anything like it.

Fifteen-year-old Esperance Darbois, the only daughter of philosophy professor François Darbois, is determined to become a woman of the stage. But becoming an actress will sully the respectability of the Darbois family, damage her marriage prospects, and harm her father’s distinguished reputation.

Virginia Woolf, ici, va droit aux faits avec la plus redoutable précision. Femme, elle reconnaît, décèle et dénonce en précurseur ce scandale d'autant plus occulté qu'il s’inscrit partout, s'étale avec une évidence majestueuse : le racisme ordinaire qui réduit les femmes à l’état d'êtres minoritaires, colonisés. Scandale politique. Dictature qui annonce toutes les autres.

Chi conosce Edgar Wallace per i suoi thriller resterà stupito di questo suo romanzo leggero. Scritto nel 1909, è una ironica e delicata satira dell'atteggiamento inglese verso la nobiltà. In certi punti si può quasi pensare che Woodhouse, che ha fatto di questo tipo di romanzi la sua fortuna, si sia ispirato a questo tipo di scrittura.

The gripping and entertaining tale of terror and suspense as well as a potent Faustian allegory of hubris and science run amok, The Invisible Man endures as one of the signature stories in the literature of science fiction. A brilliant scientist uncovers the secret to invisibility, but his grandiose dreams and the power he unleashes cause him to spiral into intrigue, madness, and murder. The inspiration for countless imitations and film adaptations, The Invisible Man is as remarkable and relevant today as it was a hundred years ago.

Dracula is an 1897 Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to move from Transylvania to England so he may find new blood and spread the undead curse. It then relates the epic battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor Abraham Van Helsing.

Zahvatyvayushchaya istoriya o Maugli, mal'chike, vospitannom volkami i prochimi obitatelyami dzhungley, ego blizost' k miru zhivotnyh, a takzhe dramaticheskie otnosheniya s lyud'mi, k kotorym on vse-taki vynuzhden vernut'sya; udivit'sya hrabrosti malen'kogo otvazhnogo mangusta Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, vstupivshego v edinoborstvo s kobrami; ocenit' muzhestvo i uporstvo belogo kotika, reshivshego obespechit' svoim sobrat'yam bezopasnuyu zhizn'.

Now, Bram Stoker's Dracula - the pinnacle of Gothic horror for generations - rises again. When young English lawyer Jonathan Harker arrives in Transylvania on the eve of Saint George's Day, he cannot shake a strange feeling of uneasiness. The air grows colder as he arrives at his destination: the castle of Count Dracula. Jonathan has been summoned by the count for business, and while he finds his new host obliging and polite, he can't help but notice the man's pallid skin, odd lack of appetite, and long daytime absences.

Conrad’s Lord Jim is the iconic story of a romantic young man and his struggle with guilt and self-loathing. The novel begins with Jim’s earlier life as a ship’s officer. He and the other crew members abandon an imperiled vessel and its passengers after a mysterious collision reveals a dangerous bulge below the water line. But the ship does not sink and Jim survives to face an official inquiry. He is stripped of his license and faces universal scorn and the reality of his own guilt.