Books Like “A severed head”

The Awakening

Kate Chopin

1899

'The voice of the sea is seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in abysses of solitude' When 'The Awakening' was first published in 1899, charges of sordidness and immorality seemed to consign it into obscurity and irreparably damage its author's reputation. But a century after her death, it is widely regarded as Kate Chopin's great achievement. Through careful, subtle changes of style, Chopin shows the transformation of Edna Pontellier, a young wife and mother, who - with tragic consequences - refuses to be caged by married and domestic life, and claims for herself moral and erotic freedom. The Penguin English Library - collectable general readers' editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century to the end of the Second World War.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Edward Albee

1962

Billy Rose Theatre, Theater 1963, Richard Barr, Clinton Wilder, presents Uta Hagen, Arthur Hill, George Grizzard in Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" with Melinda Dillon, directed by Alan Schneider, production designed by William Ritman

Rose in Bloom

Louisa May Alcott, Harriet Roosevelt Richards

1876

Rose in Bloom is a sequel to Eight Cousins. The story begins when Rose comes back from a long trip to Europe. Everyone is well altered and as a joke, when she arrives home, she lines up her seven cousins to take a long look at them, just as they did to her when they first met. Rose Campbell, the heroine of the story, is sweet, kind, pretty, and ambitious. She is an heiress just come of age, and struggles with the many suitors she attracts by learning to judge love versus those who regard her only as "a good match."

Ethan Frome

Edith Wharton

1910

"Ethan Frome" by Edith Wharton is a poignant exploration of isolation, duty, and unfulfilled desires set against the bleak backdrop of a New England winter. The narrative unfolds through the eyes of an unnamed narrator who becomes intrigued by the enigmatic figure of Ethan Frome, a man marked by physical and emotional scars. The story is set in the fictional town of Starkfield, Massachusetts, where the harsh winter mirrors the desolation in Ethan's life. Ethan is trapped in a loveless marriage with his sickly wife, Zeena, and burdened by the responsibilities of his failing farm. The arrival of Mattie Silver, Zeena's young cousin, brings a glimmer of hope and warmth into Ethan's life. As Ethan and Mattie grow closer, their mutual affection becomes a source of both joy and torment, as they are bound by societal and moral constraints. The tension culminates in a tragic "smash-up," leaving Ethan physically and emotionally crippled. Wharton's narrative delves into themes of duty versus desire, the effect of environment on the human spirit, and the tragic consequences of choices constrained by circumstance. Through vivid descriptions and a keen psychological insight, Wharton paints a haunting portrait of a man caught between the life he yearns for and the one he is forced to endure.

The Longest Journey

E. M. Forster

1907

Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 - 7 June 1970) was an English novelist, short story writer, essayist and librettist. He is known best for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society. Forster's humanistic impulse toward understanding and sympathy may be aptly summed up in the epigraph to his 1910 novel Howards End: "Only connect ... ". His 1908 novel, A Room with a View, is his most optimistic work, while A Passage to India (1924) brought him his greatest success. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 13 different years.

The Age of Innocence

Edith Wharton

1920

Edith Wharton’s acclaimed novel of love, duty, and half-known truths in Gilded Age New York society, with a foreword by bestselling author Elif Batuman Dutiful Newland Archer, an eligible young man from New York high society, is about to announce his engagement to May Welland, a suitable match from a good family, when May’s cousin, the beautiful and exotic Countess Ellen Olenska, is introduced into their circle. The Countess brings with her an aura of European sophistication and a hint of perceived scandal, having left her husband and claimed her independence. Her worldliness, disregard for society’s rules, and air of unapproachability attract the sensitive Newland, despite his enthusiasm about a marriage to May and the societal advantages it would bring. Almost against their will, Newland and Ellen develop a passionate bond, and a classic love triangle takes shape as the three young people find themselves drawn into a poignant and bitter conflict between love and duty. Written in 1920, Edith Wharton’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about a time and place long gone by—1870s New York City—beautifully captures the complexities of passion, independence, and fulfillment, and how painfully hard it can be for individuals to truly see one another and their place in the world. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Phineas Finn, the Irish member

Anthony Trollope

1867

Phineas Redux is a novel by Anthony Trollope. It is the fourth of the "Palliser" series of novels and the sequel to the second book of the series, Phineas Finn. After the death of his Irish wife, Phineas Finn returns to London and to the House of Commons. But though drawn back apparently irresistibly, he never approaches politics with the zest of earlier days. What Trollope describes, in some of his most powerful writing, is a sad, at times almost sombre, progress towards maturity and self-wisdom. Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) was one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. His first major success came with The Warden (1855) - the first of six novels set in the fictional county of Barsetshire. The comic masterpiece Barchester Towers (1857) has probably become the best-known of these. His satirical novel The Way We Live Now critics acknowledge as his masterpiece.

Brideshead Revisited

Evelyn Waugh

1945

Evelyn Waugh's beloved masterpiece, with an introduction by Paula Byrne The most nostalgic and reflective of Evelyn Waugh's novels, Brideshead Revisited looks back to the golden age before the Second World War. It tells the story of Charles Ryder's infatuation with the Marchmains and the rapidly disappearing world of privilege they inhabit. Enchanted first by Sebastian Flyte at Oxford, then by his doomed Catholic family, in particular his remote sister, Julia, Charles comes finally to recognise his spiritual and social distance from them. 'Lush and evocative ... Expresses at once the profundity of change and the indomitable endurance of the human spirit' The Times

Misalliance

George Bernard Shaw

1957

George Bernard Shaw was born in Dublin in 1856. Before becoming a playwright he wrote music and literary criticism. Shaw used his writing to attack social problems such as education, marriage, religion, government, health care, and class privilege. Shaw was particularly conscious of the exploitation of the working class Misalliance is a 1909 house-comedy. There is a clash between social classes when an Edwardian aristocrat wants to marry the daughter of an underwear tycoon. The entire play takes place in an afternoon in a Victorian drawing room.

Lady Chatterley's Lover

D. H. Lawrence

1900

Trapped in a marriage which has become sterile and joyless since her husband's return from the trenches of the First World War, partially paralysed and confined to a wheelchair, Connie seizes the chance of sexual fulfilment she had thought lost to her forever.

Dombey and Son

Charles Dickens

1800

Charles Dickens's *Dombey and Son* chronicles the rigidly controlled life and subsequent downfall of Paul Dombey, a proud shipping magnate obsessed with his firm and his male heir, who ultimately neglects his family. The novel explores the destructive consequences of this ambition on his wife, daughter Florence, and son Paul, highlighting themes of pride, greed, and the enduring power of familial love against societal pressures and personal failings. Through a rich cast of characters, Dickens paints a vivid portrait of Victorian London and the complex interplay between business acumen and human connection.

To the Lighthouse

Virginia Woolf

1927

In To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf draws on her childhood experiences to create an autobiographical novel with universal themes; a masterpiece in the tradition of Proust and Joyce.

The Shining

Stephen King

1977

This inspiring and compelling book has won ten awards to date, including Honorable Mentions at the December 2012 New England and London Book Festivals, October 2012 Southern California Book Festival and June 2012 New York Book Festival in the category of Spiritual books; is winner of the North American Bookdealers ́ Exchange (NABE) Pinnacle Award for “Inspirational” books in Spring 2011; and has become a much sought-after reference for people seeking to affect positive change around the globe. Readers are: * taught how to recognize, harness and channel positive personal power for the betterment of themselves, their loved ones, associates and our universe * provided an invaluable checklist of great leadership behaviors and attitudes * taught how to recognize controlling behaviors of others and the negative patterns in society * inspired to be the best they can be * compelled to ask themselves "why am I here; what good can I do for humanity?" * taught how to recognize a self-limiting posture so they can improve their level of self-awareness......to the point of real self-intelligence and, by so doing, break free of life’s boxes, labels and restrictions * encouraged to erase their fears, trust their abilities and remove their baggage........and take the journey to empowerment and fulfilment in everything they do!

The Pearl

John Steinbeck

1945

The classic novella from Nobel Prize-winner John Steinbeck explores the secrets of man's nature, the darkest depths of evil, and the luminous possibilities of love. Like his father and grandfather before him, Kino is a poor diver, gathering pearls from the gulf beds that once brought great wealth to the Kings of Spain and now provide Kino, Juana, and their infant son with meager subsistence. Then, on a day like any other, Kino emerges from the sea with a pearl as large as a sea gull's egg, as "perfect as the moon." With the pearl comes hope, the promise of comfort and of security....

Horton Hatches the Egg

Dr. Seuss

1940

When a lazy bird hatching an egg wants a vacation, she asks Ortone, the elephant, to sit on her egg--which he does through all sorts of hazards until he is rewarded for doing what he said he would.

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

Robin S. Sharma

1996

After a heart attack nearly kills him, a high-powered lawyer treks to India to learn how to live a more meaningful life. Months later, he returns to the West and recounts the story of seven principles and practices that can help anyone experience true happiness.

Family ties

Danielle Steel

1995

From Manhattan to Paris and all the way to Tehran, Danielle Steel weaves a powerfully compelling story that reminds us how challenging and unpredictable life can be—and how the bonds of family hold us together. FAMILY TIES Annie Ferguson was a bright young Manhattan architect with a limitless future—until a single phone call changed the course of her life forever. Overnight, she became the mother to her sister’s three orphaned children, keeping a promise she never regretted making, even if it meant putting her own life indefinitely on hold. Now, at forty-two, still happily single with a satisfying career and a family that means everything to her, Annie is suddenly facing an empty nest. With her nephew and nieces now grown and confronting challenges of their own, she must navigate a parent’s difficult passage between helping and letting go. The eldest, twenty-eight-year-old Liz, an overworked editor in a high-powered job at Vogue, has never allowed any man to come close enough to hurt her. Ted, at twenty-four a serious law student, is captivated by a much older woman with children, who is leading him much further than he wants to go. And the impulsive youngest, twenty-one-year old Katie, is an art student about to make a choice that will lead her to a world she is in no way prepared for but determined to embrace. Then, when least expected, a chance encounter changes Annie’s life again in the most surprising direction of all. . . .

How Oliver Olson changed the world

Claudia Mills

2009

Afraid he will always be an outsider like ex-planet Pluto, nine-year-old Oliver finally shows his extremely overprotective parents that he is capable of doing great things without their help while his class is studying the solar system.

Read to Your Bunny

Rosemary Wells

1997

Brief text and colorful illustrations tell what happens when parents and children share twenty minutes a day reading.

Say What?

Margaret Peterson Haddix

2004

Sukie is worried -- her parents are acting strange. When she runs in the house, her dad asks, "If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you jump off a bridge too?" When she eats peas with her fingers, Mom yells, "You'll put an eye out with that thing!" What is going on? Have her parents been replaced by aliens? Are they robots with broken circuits? She and her older brothers decide to investigate. And what they discover leads to a kids-against-parents WAR! This very funny book casts a new light on family rules.

Little Women

Louisa May Alcott

1848

Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women in two parts, each resoundingly popular and receiving critical acclaim. The novel follows the lives of the four March sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, from childhood into maturity. The journey is not an easy one, and each is humbled and ultimately uplifted by her encounters with love, society and death. The work is based loosely on Alcott's experiences growing up with three sisters.

Metamorphosis

Franz Kafka

1915

The story is about Gregorio Samsa, whose sudden transformation into a huge insect makes it more and more difficult for his social environment to communicate with him, until he is considered intolerable by his family and finally perishes. One morning, after a restless sleep, Gregorio Samsa tries to get up to go to work, but realizes that during the night he has transformed into an insect; Realizing how late it is, he tries to start his usual daily activities, but lying on his back, he cannot get out of bed.

Five Children and It

Edith Nesbit

1905

FIVE CHILDREN AND IT By EDITH NESBIT The five children find a cantankerous sand fairy, a psammead, in a gravel pit. Every day 'It' will grant each of them a wish that lasts until sunset, often with disastrous consequences.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

J. K. Rowling

1998

Den 12-årige Harry Potter har trolddomsevner. Derfor er han blivet optaget på trolddomsskolen Hogwarts, som ligger i en parallelverden. Men nu indtræffer der uhyggelige og mystiske hændelser på trolddomsskolen