John Sutherland

The History of Mr. Polly is a 1910 comic novel by H. G. Wells. The protagonist of The History of Mr. Polly is an antihero inspired by H. G. Wells's early experiences in the drapery trade: Alfred Polly, born circa 1870, a timid and directionless young man living in Edwardian England, who despite his own bumbling achieves contented serenity with little help from those around him. Mr. Polly's most striking characteristic is his "innate sense of epithet",...

The mysterious financier Augustus Melmotte buys a great house in London, where he succeeds in persuading many prominent Londoners to invest in his fictitious railroad, the South Central Pacific and Mexican. Melmotte also attempts to secure for himself a place in the House of Commons and to marry his daughter to a titled aristocrat. Trollope's masterpiece is a scathing indictment of the materialism and greed that permeated the Victorian Age.

Set in Devon, where Rachel lives with her widowed mother and older sister, 'Rachel Ray' charts the romantic interests of young Rachel. When Londoner Luke Rowan comes to their small village of Baslehurst she becomes infatuated, and the pair are soon engaged. Rumours begin to swirl about Luke's character however, as the locals begin to resent the outsider. Will Rachel and Luke be able to overcome the suspicions of others? First published in 1863 in...

The second novel in Trollope's Palliser series, Phineas Finn's engaging plot embraces matters as diverse as reform, the position of women, the Irish question, and the conflict between integrity and ambition. Through the engaging figure of the handsome Irishman Phineas Finn, Trollope explores the realities of political life, and the clash between compromise and conviction, that is as topical today as it was in the 1860s. In his introduction, Simon...

Scott's young hero Francis Osbaldistone is plunged into the intrigue and adventure of the 1715 Jacobite Rebellion when he is falsely accused of highway robbery on his journey to the North of England. In his fight for both love and justice he must outwit his villainous cousin, Rashleigh, and travel to Scotland--a land of breathtaking beauty and dark foreboding--where his salvation can only be obtained with the help of the greatest outlaw of all, Robert...

One of our best-known and best-loved literary critics turns his attention to the more bizarre areas of literature in this miscellany of fact and trivia. Which author had the heaviest brain? What was the original title of 1984? What do 12% of all winners of the Booker prize have in common? When did cigarettes start making an appearance in English literature? And, while we're at it, who wrote the first Western, and is there any link between asthma and...

"LITERARY LANDSCAPES delves deep into the geography, location, and terrain of our best-loved literary works and looks at how setting and environmental attributes influence storytelling, character, and our emotional response as readers. Fully illustrated with hundreds of full-color images throughout. Some stories couldn't happen just anywhere. As is the case with all great literature, the setting, scenery, and landscape are as central to the tale as...