5 Highly Recommended Classics to Indulge In

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Scarlet Letter (1850) is a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It is considered his magnum opus. Set in 17th-century Puritan Boston, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who gives birth after committing adultery and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. Throughout the novel, Hawthorne explores themes of legalism, sin, and guilt.


Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Wuthering Heights is Emily Brontë's only novel. It was first published in 1847 under the pseudonym Ellis Bell, and a posthumous second edition was edited by her sister Charlotte.

The name of the novel comes from the Yorkshire manor on the moors on which the story centres (as an adjective, wuthering is a Yorkshire word referring to turbulent weather). The narrative tells the tale of the all-encompassing and passionate, yet thwarted, love between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, and how this unresolved passion eventually destroys them and many around them.


The Awakening by Kate Chopin

The Awakening is a short novel by Kate Chopin, first published in 1899. It is widely considered to be a proto-feminist precursor to American modernism. The novel chronicles the life of Edna Pontellier, the book’s protagonist, as she examines her happiness, role as a mother, and place in society. The novel is commonly studied to review feminist issues, and discover underlying controversies, as well as the reasons why Chopin chose to include these issues in her novel. It has also been condemned for its overwhelming use of complex sexual themes, which caused a major uproar when the novel was first published.



Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Sense and Sensibility is a novel by the English novelist Jane Austen. Published in 1811, it was the first of Austen's novels to be published, under the pseudonym "A Lady".

The story revolves around Elinor and Marianne, two daughters of Mr. Dashwood by his second wife. They have a younger sister, Margaret, and an older half-brother named John. When their father dies, the family estate passes to John, and the Dashwood women are left in reduced circumstances. The novel follows the Dashwood sisters to their new home, a cottage on a distant relative's property, where they experience both romance and heartbreak. The contrast between the sisters' characters is eventually resolved as they each find love and lasting happiness. This leads some to believe that the book's title describes how Elinor and Marianne find a balance between sense and sensibility in life and love.



Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Great Expectations is a novel by Charles Dickens first serialised in All the Year Round[1] from 1 December 1860 to August 1861. It is regarded as one of his greatest and most sophisticated novels, and is one of his most enduringly popular, having been adapted for stage and screen over 250 times.[2]

Great Expectations is written in a semi-autobiographical style and is the story of the orphan Pip, writing his life from his early days of childhood until adulthood and trying to be a gentleman along the way. The story can also be considered semi-autobiographical of Dickens, like much of his work, drawing on his experiences of life and people.

The action of the story takes place from Christmas Eve, 1812, when the protagonist is about seven years old, to the winter of 1840.[3]

Each installment in All the Year Round contained two chapters and was written in a way that kept readers interested from week to week, while still satisfying their curiosity at the end of each one.

p/s happy reading my dear classmates~!