Classic Irish Fiction

Unable to resist the desire running wild through their veins, Lady Dynna and the warrior from the north risk dishonor—and death—for their forbidden and dangerous love. In this powerful tale from New York Times bestselling author Bobbi Smith, a woman and a man from worlds apart come together and make a bold escape for true passion. To escape her forced marriage to the brute Prince Edmund, the young English Lady Dynna flees her father’s castle. From the hills of the Saxon coast she spies an approaching ship. Its blood-red sails can mean only one thing: a savage Viking attack. On the ...

Under Western Eyes, Conrad's novel of political treachery and oppression, begins with a bomb that kills a hated Russian minister of police along with innocent bystanders. A young student named Razumov hides the perpetrator, then betrays him and becomes a spy among his exiled comrades. He faces a moral dilemma from which there is no escape. This masterwork, published six years before the Russian Revolution, is a chillingly accurate prophecy of what was to come.

Wives and Daughters, Elizabeth Gaskell's last novel, is regarded by many as her masterpiece. Molly Gibson is the daughter of the doctor in the small provincial town of Hollingford. Her widowed father marries a second time to give Molly the woman's presence he feels she lacks, but until the arrival of Cynthia, her dazzling stepsister, Molly finds her situation hard to accept. Intertwined with the story of the Gibsons is that of Squire Hamley and his two sons.

“Five Stars!! Second Fave!...you have to read this book to get an understanding of what the time period was about and what goes on with women the opposite of the fighter.”—Samantha Rinaldo, Goodreads The homespun tale of good luck and passion when a man finds himself in the arms of a woman who happens to find him when he is in desperate shape and he must decide to stay or go. HE ESCAPES Rachael Irons is out walking her dogs along the edge of her Delaware farm, Rachel’s Choice, when she finds the man, barely conscious. He wakes up to the sound of her dogs barking and looks up into ...

'Fans of Maeve Binchy and Cathy Kelly will love this.' A story of the aftermath, of picking up the pieces, of finding yourself again and discovering that life isn’t always easy . . . it’s not meant to be, but it can be worth it. Ann Maguire believes that discovering the truth of her past will set her free, but sometimes having all the answers isn’t enough . . . Forced to leave Dublin after her marriage crumbles, Ann returns to her childhood home of Knockmore, to find herself even more isolated than before. Catapulted back to grieving for her parents and the life she once knew, ...

Barchester Towers, the sequel to The Warden, is the second novel in Trollope's major series, the Chronicles of Barsetshire. It focuses on the power struggle between Archdeacon Grantly, Mr. Slope and the Proudies as they fight for control of the diocese of Barchester. Meanwhile, another struggle is taking place for the heart of Eleanor Bold. Who will win her? The vile Mr. Slope, the idling Bertie Stanhope or someone else entirely?

Gwendolen Harleth gambles her happiness when she marries a sadistic aristocrat for his money. Beautiful, neurotic, and self-centered, Gwendolen is trapped in an increasingly destructive relationship, and only her chance encounter with the idealistic Deronda seems to offer the hope of a brighter future. Deronda is searching for a vocation, and in embracing the Jewish cause he finds one that is both visionary and life-changing.

Tall, broad and strikingly handsome, Adam Trend tempts every woman, even when he is not in his secret pirate disguise. But when he wages a campaign of seduction against a beauty whose passion matches his own, he’s not prepared. Throwing a young girl out of her home is hardly decent behavior—even for a pirate. So when Adam Trent wins Lianne Ducharme’s frontier home on the bayou in a card game, he makes Belle Arbor his secret pirate base, the perfect spot for his scheme of revenge. Adam agrees not to throw the girl out of her home until she comes of age—a decision he soon ...

An untouched young girl finds a gorgeous man shipwrecked and washed up onshore on a tropical island in the Pacific and they find pure ecstasy and the promise of eternal love. Espri Duchant saves the shipwrecked shipping magnate and when his gaze meets hers, he celebrates his good luck. Adrift at sea he survived when all the others perished. Innocent Espri Duchant has always sworn to guard her virtue. But when she discovers the handsome stranger lying on her beach, she soon vows she will kiss his chiseled lips, feel his tender touch. Espri is eager to learn the mysteries of sensual ecstasy...

Now, Bram Stoker's Dracula - the pinnacle of Gothic horror for generations - rises again. When young English lawyer Jonathan Harker arrives in Transylvania on the eve of Saint George's Day, he cannot shake a strange feeling of uneasiness. The air grows colder as he arrives at his destination: the castle of Count Dracula. Jonathan has been summoned by the count for business, and while he finds his new host obliging and polite, he can't help but notice the man's pallid skin, odd lack of appetite, and long daytime absences.

The fourth book in the bestselling The Mouse That Roared series brings the Duchy of Grand Fenwick's most extraordinary achievement yet--the defeat of OPEC and the happy solution to the world's oil crisis, which came about through the best that international diplomacy has to offer: duplicity and dumb luck. It all began when the Count of Mountjoy, the prime minister of Grand Fenwick, was unable to get a hot bath because of the fuel shortage... Books in The Grand Fenwick Series: Books 2 through 5 are best read after The Mouse That Roared, but all of the books can be read and enjoyed at any ...

In this romping romance, a low-born beauty branded as a witch has no chance to live unless she goes with the illegitimate son of King Charles II on his adventure to recover his hidden gold treasure and soon she discovers much more—first passion under sweet breezes and tropical moonlight and the promise of bliss with a man she truly loves. "Read it years ago and fell in love with it, it's just one of those quick sweet romances you can revisit over and over again! :)”—Nessah, Amazon verified purchase “Fortune's Mistress is a wonderful tale of two people brought together by chance and ...

It tells the tale of Frank Gresham and Mary Thorne, a couple intent on marriage despite their conflicting social backgrounds. Frank is engaged in a fierce battle with his family as his mother vehemently opposes the marriage and pushes him to marry a wealthy heiress; however, Frank shuns her attempts and is determined to accept Mary on her own terms.

From New York Times Bestselling Author Norah Hess, author of Hawke’s Pride, comes the gripping story of a beautiful girl and her determination to find her one true love. Rachael Jobe in colonial Jamestown loses her mother as a young child. She is raped as a young girl and taken advantage of by one opportunistic man after another. Rachael has to resort to shameful measures to feed herself and her father and to survive she will do almost anything for men. She keeps whatever she earns to feed her family, taking care of her father, who seems like he loves drink more than he loves her. Rachael...

A must-read for fans of Anna Jacobs, Dilly Court and Jennifer Donnelly Plans are nothing more than dust and life has a way of dangling happiness in front of you, only to snatch it away. Victoria Caldwell discovers it’s much easier to protect her children when decisions are made for them. Would her son, Sean, really have ended his life? Is her daughter, Bella, old enough to choose the right man? Will her stepdaughter, Kate, allow her insecurities to ruin her life? For Victoria, their pain is her torture. Sean’s life in America was a heady mix of work and pleasure until faced with ...

Bereft of his beloved wife, Glencora, and his role as prime minister, Plantagenet Palliser enters the realm of family politics as he struggles to guide and connect with his three wayward children. Lord Silverbridge, the Duke's first born and natural inheritor, expelled from Oxford, a gambler at the racetrack and an elected Conservative, further troubles his father when he becomes engaged to Isabel Boncassen. Lady Mary, his daughter, falls in love with a penniless young gentleman named Frank Tregear, while his second son, Gerald, displays similar behavior to his brother.

"WOW!! Really love this book and couldn’t put it down…I wasn’t disappointed!!”—Amazon Customer In this alluring frontier love story, the warrior kidnaps the young English lady to free his unjustly accused brother, but when they look into each other’s eyes they cannot stop and they make a promise to be together—forever. He only kidnaps her to free his brother from the false charges and the white man's jail. But Tshingee, the young Lenni-Lenape warrior, finds it hard to look away from his captive, Lady Deborah Montague. She has cast a spell on him and her skin is so soft it ...

Leo Vincey is haunted by a goddess. In a nighttime vision, she appears to him, revealing her location deep in the mountains of Central Asia. Determined to discover his lost love, he searches for 16 years, finally discovering a lost civilization, ruled by an ambitious queen of unearthly beauty. Could this be his Ayesha reborn? And if so, will the secret of immortality bind them together for eternity?

Through the sands of the scalding deserts of India, two loafing vagabonds follow a half-scribbled map, heading for a land they hope to conquer.

The Irish are arguably the most literate people in the world. The number of famous Irish authors, from Joyce to Trevor and from Goldsmith to O'Brien, is a clear testimony to that. In this rich selection, we have concentrated on some of the early Irish writers who were particularly adept at the difficult art of writing good short stories.