Showing results for "The Classics" in Literature & Fiction

A disturbing tale of a young man's uncanny ability to remain both young and beautiful while descending into a life of heartless debauchery, The Picture of Dorian Gray was considered proof of both Wilde's genius and his perversion. Oscar Wilde's scandalous best seller of 1891 was one of the most damning pieces of evidence used against him in the trial that brought about his downfall.

After publication in 1928, it was banned for obscenity before going on to become an international best seller. It tells the story of Stephen Gordon, an Englishwoman from an upper-class family who is ostracised for falling in love with another woman, Mary Llewellyn. Groundbreaking in its day, Radclyffe Hall’s novel ultimately makes a very clear plea in regards to homosexuality: 'Give us also the right to our existence'.

"If it were I who were to be always young and the picture to grow old, I would give my soul for it." So says Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde's brilliant creation who sells his soul for youth and beauty.

One of Them’s 10 Most Anticipated Books of 2025 One of Book Riot’s and The Mary Sue’s 15 Most Anticipated Queer Books of 2025 One of The Millions’, Kirkus’s, and The AV Club's Most Anticipated Books of 2025 An unforgettable and heartwarming book-club debut following a trans...

One of the most influential gay and lesbian novels, The Well of Loneliness recounts the life and loves of Stephen Gordon, a defiant woman who simply wants to be true to herself. Named by a father who wanted a boy, Stephen is a keen fencer, horse rider and lover of women. Her less-than-feminine behavior causes a rift between her and her mother and eventually she leaves home, living on her own terms and experiencing a series of affairs. Her journey of self-discovery takes her from bohemian Paris to the battlefield of World War One, where she becomes a hero.

This remarkable novel begins in 1850s Louisiana, where Gilda escapes slavery and learns about freedom while working in a brothel. After being initiated into eternal life as one who "shares the blood" by two women there, Gilda spends the next 200 years searching for a place to call home. An instant lesbian classic when it was first published in 1991, The Gilda Stories has endured as an auspiciously prescient book in its explorations of blackness, radical ecology, re-definitions of family, and yes, the erotic potential of the vampire story.

First published in the 1930s, The Berlin Stories contains two novels, The Last of Mr. Norris and Goodbye to Berlin. Classics of modern fiction, these novellas capture 1931 Berlin—charming, grotesque, and dangerous, as Hitler was ascending to power. The Berlin Stories is inhabited by a wealth of characters, in particular the nightclub performer Sally Bowles, whose misadventures were popularized on stage and screen in I Am a Camera and Cabaret.

Oscar Wilde brings his enormous gifts for astute social observation and sparkling prose to The Picture of Dorian Gray, the dreamlike story of a young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty. This dandy, who remains forever unchanged---petulant, hedonistic, vain, and amoral---while a painting of him ages and grows increasingly hideous with the years, has been horrifying and enchanting readers for more than 100 years.

Set in the 19th century, Isabel Miller's classic lesbian novel traces the relationship between Patience White and Sarah Dowling, whose romantic bond does not sit well with their puritanical New England community. In addition to being an inspiring love story, the audiobook for Patience and Sarah is an ideal listen for young-adult audiences. It is a story that shows how irrelevant race, religion, and gender are to love and that loving and being loved are what keep us human and sane.

Published in 1928, Orlando is a fictional biography that spans several centuries and follows the protagonist, Orlando, an Elizabethan nobleman who undergoes a mysterious gender transformation. The novel explores themes of gender identity, fluidity and the constraints imposed by societal norms. It challenges traditional notions of gender roles and raises questions about the nature of identity and the passage of time.

Meet Orlando: a young nobleman in Elizabethan England, poet, lover, adventurer—and, after a transformational sleep, a woman. Spanning over 300 years of British history, Orlando bends the rules of time, gender, and narrative as its protagonist navigates shifting societies, identities, and expectations, all while seeking something elusive: the truth of the self. Playful, profound, and radically ahead of its time, Virginia Woolf's groundbreaking novel is part love letter, part satire, and part meditation on the fluid nature of existence.

FINALIST FOR THE GILLER PRIZE FINALIST FOR THE ETHEL WILSON FICTION PRIZE Bold and lyrical, sensual and highly charged, Cereus Blooms at Night is the beautifully written, sensational first novel by Shani Mootoo, one of Canada’s most exciting literary voices. At the core of this...

At the beginning of Virginia Woolf's fantastical and satirical 1928 novel, Orlando is a young nobleman in Elizabethan, England. At the age of 30, Orlando awakens to have found he's now a woman. Moving through the following centuries, the novel stretches over 300 years, during which time Orlando meets several key figures of English literary history.

A PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick The first novel in the beloved Tales of the City series, Armistead Maupin’s bestselling San Francisco saga, and inspiration for the Netflix original series, Tales of the City “A consummate entertainer who has made a generation laugh. . . . It is...

Dorian Gray embodies every artistic element for artist Basil Hallward. But when Lord Henry reveals the phenomenal world experienced only to the young and beautiful, Dorian makes a devious deal. Thus begins Dorian Gray's extensive journey into dissipation, while somehow maintaining every element of his youth and innocence. What is his secret? And why does he keep Basil Hallward's painting hidden from prying eyes?

Stephen Gordon is an ideal child of aristocratic parents - a fencer, a horse rider and a keen scholar. Stephen grows to be a war hero, a best-selling writer and a loyal, protective lover. But Stephen is a woman, and her lovers are women. As her ambitions drive her, and society confines her, Stephen is forced into desperate actions.

En esta novela, Oscar Wilde indaga sobre el mito de la eterna juventud, al recrear el tema de un pacto diabólico para conservar la belleza y permanecer eternamente joven. Un pintor queda fascinado por la extraordinaria hermosura de Dorian, su joven modelo, que vive en plena era victoriana satisfaciendo todos sus deseos, sin límites ni prejuicios. El pintor declara que sería dichoso si Dorian pudiese permanecer para siempre exactamente como es. Este deseo se traduce en un pacto que lleva a Dorian a cometer todo tipo de atrocidades, hasta llegar al crimen.

Winner of the Barbara DiBernard Prize in Fiction "A funny and moving debut."—Charles Arrowsmith, The Washington Post “A love letter to Berlin, to travel, and to saying yes to life.”—Alan Cumming It’s the new millennium and the anxiety of midlife is creeping up on Sam Singer, a...

The journey will be long and difficult, one thousand miles. Try not to be too obvious. Stick to the backroads. You’ ll know you’ ve arrived when you get there. Stephen Bolin leaves a bizarre note by his deathbed, asking his sisters to take his body back to his birthplace in Far North...

Introduction written and read by Rachel Maddow Narrated by Frances McDormand The first novel in the beloved Tales of the City series, Armistead Maupin’s bestselling San Francisco saga, and inspiration for the Netflix original series, Tales of the City “A consummate entertainer who has...