• Wieland

    When I chose Wieland: or, The Transformation for my history class, I was not expecting a masterpiece of plot, philosophy, or characters.  I did expect a good old-fashioned Gothic tale with a dash of melodrama, an eerie edifice, and maybe a ghost or two.  Sadly, this is the third book connected to my class that… Read more >>

  • The Prairie

    Chronologically last in James Fenimore Cooper‘s Leatherstocking series, The Prairie follows the wagon train of Ishmael Bush and his family, who are journeying into the recently acquired Louisiana Purchase.  The Bushes make their own laws and shun society, even that of an old, solitary Trapper who stumbles across their campsite.  He does not fail to… Read more >>

  • Paris in the Twentieth Century

    This is a remarkable book with an even stranger setting – written in 1863, set in 1960, and not published till 1994.  It’s not such a stretch, however, to include it in the Turn of the Century Salon, as Jules Verne was writing novels up through the early 1900s, and he is always associated with… Read more >>

  • The House of the Seven Gables

    New England, early 1800s.  Hepzibah Pyncheon, a hermit-like woman with a severe face and a soft heart, lives quietly in the seven-gabled Pyncheon House.  She is rescued from poverty only when her young relative, Phoebe, comes to live with her and help her run a small shop.  Phoebe is interested to meet the other lodger… Read more >>

About Me

Hi, I’m Marian—I talk about classics, history, and other books on this blog, as well as on YouTube.

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