Regina Barreca

Newland Archer, a young lawyer in upper-crust 1870's New York, becomes a victim of social expectations and restrictions when he becomes infatuated with his docile fiancee's nonconformist cousin, Countess Ellen Olenska.

Representing the best Italian-American contributions to American literature, this anthology of fiction, poetry, journalistic writings, and essays ranges from the 1800s to the present day.

"Fast Fallen Women includes 75 previously unpublished pieces on the topic of the ways in which women fall--whether they reach the boundaries of their lives and take flight, whether they stumble, or are pushed over the edge. Holding a compact mirror up to life, given that all the essays are under 750 words, the book bears witness to women's resilience, creativity, and wit as women write about rising up against all odds. With new and original works...

"Contains two novel, in Gentleman Prefer Blondes, Lorelei Lee, a beautiful blonde whose dense exterior belies a keen ability to play men for all they are worth, Lorelei chronicles a tour of Europe; and in But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes, chronicles the adventures of marriage."--

Hailed by Henry James as "the finest piece of imaginative writing yet put forth in the country", Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter reaches to our nation's historical and moral roots for the material of great tragedy. Set in an early New England colony, the novel shows the terrible impact a single, passionate act has on the lives of three members of the community: the defiant Hester Prynne; the fiery, tortured Reverend Dimmesdale; and the obsessed,...