Books with title My Antonia, Literary Touchstone Edition

This Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Classic™ includes a glossary and reader’s notes to help the modern reader contend with Cather’s allusions and vocabulary. My Ántonia, Willa Cather’s vivid portrayal of immigrant life on the American prairie during the nineteenth century, has been a favorite since it first appeared in 1918. The harsh—yet forgiving—land, the growth and maturity of Jim Burden, the narrator, the intriguing characters, and the force of Ántonia’s strength all combine to make this novel exceptional. Cather’s style perfectly depicts the sparseness of the prairie and the desolation of the immigrants’ existence in winter and comes alive when the glory and beauty of spring emerge. Whether you see it as a love story, an indelible portrait of a wise, enduring female character, or a coming-of-age novel, My Ántonia is deserving of its respected place in American literature.

This Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Classic™ includes a glossary and reader's notes to help the modern reader contend with Eliot's subtle themes and language. Silas Marner, which first appeared in 1861, is a tale about life, love, and the need to belong. Accused of a crime he didn't commit and unjustly forced from his home town, Silas lives a reclusive and godless life, finding love and companionship only in material objects. It will take the theft of his gold and the discovery of an abandoned infant to remind him of the importance of human relationships and faith. Mary Ann Evans, writing under her pen name of George Eliot, carefully weaves the interaction of plot and character, and, in so doing, depicts Silas Marner's redemption and rebirth through his love and protection of the orphaned girl and the possibility of losing her. Throughout the book, Eliot also takes the opportunity to voice her feelings about industrialization, religion, and social class distinctions.

This Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Edition™ includes a glossary and reader’s notes to help the modern reader contend both with Hesse’s philosophical points and Siddhartha’s journey. First published in 1922, Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha is the tale of a young Indian priest who searches for personal enlightenment throughout his life. Although steeped in the mysticism of Hindu traditions, this classic is, above all, about Siddhartha’s search for independence from all teachings and freedom from all earthly knowledge. Siddhartha struggles with ignorance, prayer, loyalty, friendship, and desire during his quest for the essence of human existence, all the while seeking to understand truth through his experiences. His growth and revelations have enthralled and inspired readers for decades.

This Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Edition™ includes a glossary and reader’s notes to help the modern reader enjoy the characters and situations as Austen intended and not merely as relics of a long-past era. Jane’s Austen’s delightfully scathing satire on class, pride, and proper behavior is as beloved today as it was when first published in 1813. The long road that the quick-witted, sharp-tongued Elizabeth Bennet and the haughty Darcy travel from mutual disdain to unfulfilled longing and finally to love and marriage is beset with obstacles in the form of Elizabeth’s insufferable mother, irrepressible younger sister, and Darcy’s own secret pain. In Pride and Prejudice, Austen has captured not only the frivolous sensibilities of early-nineteenth-century provincial England, but also the hearts and minds of anyone who has loved outside of social expectations and aspired to a happiness beyond mere propriety.

This Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Classic includes a glossary and reader's notes to help the modern reader contend with Eliot's subtle themes and language.Silas Marner, which first appeared in 1861, is a tale about life, love, and the need to belong. Accused of a crime he didn't commit and unjustly forced from his home town, Silas lives a reclusive and godless life, finding love and companionship only in material objects. It will take the theft of his gold and the discovery of an abandoned infant to remind him of the importance of human relationships and faith.Mary Ann Evans, writing under her pen name of George Eliot, carefully weaves the interaction of plot and character, and, in so doing, depicts Silas Marner's redemption and rebirth through his love and protection of the orphaned girl and the possibility of losing her. Throughout the book, Eliot also takes the opportunity to voice her feelings about industrialization, religion, and social class distinctions.

This Prestwick House Literary Touchstone EditionTM includes a glossary and reader’s notes to help the modern reader contend with Sinclair’s characterizations and language. Chicago, 1904: The lure of good wages and a chance to live The American Dream lure thousands of unsuspecting immigrants to the big city, where they find—instead of wealth and freedom—only stifling poverty, pervasive corruption, infectious disease, and early death. Upton Sinclair’s masterpiece of muckraking fiction-mixed-with-fact led to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act, but not in time to save the struggling Lithuanian family whose members come to life in The Jungle. The daily dangers of the meatpacking industry, dishonest politicians, and greedy businessmen, who care only about profits, conspire to rob Jurgis, Marija, Ona, and the rest of their hope and dignity. One after another, they succumb to the horrors that Sinclair so vividly depicts.