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Delve into the festive world of Charles Dickens with this collection of twenty stories originally published in the Christmas editions of his periodicals Household Words and All the Year Round. While some tales brim with holiday spirit, others reveal Dickens' sharp critique of the social and economic injustices of his time. Each story offers a unique glimpse into the complexities of Victorian society, blending warmth, wit, and social commentary.

Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities is a sweeping story of love, sacrifice, and redemption in an age of chaos and change. From the crowded streets of London to the shadowed alleys of revolutionary Paris, Dickens paints a vivid portrait of two cities—and the people whose lives are bound together by fate, injustice, and hope. At its heart lies a tale of deep human emotion: a man’s long imprisonment, a daughter’s unshakable devotion, and a love that transcends despair.

Toby “Trotty” Veck, a humble and tender-hearted messenger, struggles each day under the crushing weight of poverty and the harsh indifference of the society around him. A man of simple faith and steadfast spirit, he finds his hope tested by the injustices he witnesses—the arrogance of the wealthy, the despair of the poor, and the cruel suggestion that the downtrodden are to blame for their own misery. On a bleak New Year’s Eve, as Trotty listens to the ancient church chimes echoing through the fog, a strange and wondrous transformation occurs.

Charles Dickens’s David Copperfield is a sweeping tale of resilience, growth, and self-discovery—often regarded as the author’s most personal and heartfelt work. Following the life of David from his troubled childhood to his journey toward maturity, the novel captures the struggles, joys, and moral lessons that shape him into the man he becomes. Along the way, Dickens fills the story with some of his most memorable characters: the loyal Peggotty family, the ever-optimistic Mr. Micawber, and the slyly deceitful Uriah Heep.

Young Nicholas Nickleby is suddenly thrust into the harsh realities of life after his father’s death leaves the family penniless. Determined to protect his mother and sister, Nicholas must navigate a world of greed, cruelty, and corruption. From the grim boarding school run by the cruel Wackford Squeers to the bustling streets of London, Nicholas encounters both villainy and kindness, finding allies in unexpected places and enemies at every turn.

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ rises anew in this sweeping, unabridged presentation that restores Lew Wallace’s monumental epic to its full emotional, spiritual, and cinematic grandeur, telling the story of Judah Ben-Hur with a vividness and intensity that resonates far beyond its historical setting.

Crime and Punishment stands as one of the most penetrating psychological dramas ever written—a dark, relentless journey into the mind of a young man who believes he can outthink morality itself. Raskolnikov, trapped in the poverty-stricken streets of St. Petersburg and drowning in his own feverish theories, commits a desperate act that shatters every illusion he ever held about power, conscience, and destiny. In the days that follow, he discovers that the courts do not deal out the real punishment, but by the silent terror of his own soul.

The Metamorphosis is a story about a man who wakes up transformed into a bug and the repercussions it has on his life and the people around him. What does it all mean? It is most probably an autobiography of how Kafka himself experienced early life living with his parents. Kafka describes how he endured his mother and father's financial and emotional exploitations, to the point of detaching from them and thereby ceasing to be their son (the real metamorphosis).

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was born September 29, 1547, was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists. He is best known for his novel Don Quixote, a work often cited as both the first modern novel and one of the pinnacles of world literature. Much of his life was spent in poverty and obscurity, many of its details are disputed or unknown, and the bulk of his surviving work was produced in the three years preceding his death.

Candide is characterized by its tone as well as by its erratic, fantastical, and fast-moving plot. A picaresque novel with a story similar to that of a more serious coming-of-age narrative, it parodies many adventure and romance clichés, the struggles of which are caricatured in a tone that is bitter and matter-of-fact. Still, the events discussed are often based on historical happenings, such as the Seven Years' War and the 1755 Lisbon earthquake.

A Room with a View is a 1908 novel by English writer E. M. Forster, about a young woman in the restrained culture of Edwardian-era England. Set in Italy and England, the story is both a romance and a humorous critique of English society at the beginning of the 20th century. Merchant Ivory produced an award-winning film adaptation in 1985.

Persuasion is a novel by Jane Austen that follows the story of Anne Elliot, an unmarried woman struggling to reconcile her feelings for a man she met and fell in love with eight years earlier, Captain Frederick Wentworth. The fast-paced novel explores themes of love, class, and social expectations in 19th-century England. Austen uses Anne's character to highlight the societal limitations placed upon women during this time. Women were expected to marry for financial security and status, rather than for love.

Pride and Prejudice is a novel written by Jane Austen, first published in 1813. The novel explores the themes of prejudice, love, and the role of women in society. The story revolves around the Bennet family, particularly the second-oldest daughter, Elizabeth. The novel explores the consequences of judging others based on appearance or reputation rather than getting to know them. The characters in Pride and Prejudice are well-developed and memorable. Elizabeth is a strong independent woman not afraid to speak her mind. She can also be stubborn and impulsive.

Moby-Dick or The Whale is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship Pequod, for revenge on Moby Dick, the giant white sperm whale that on the ship's previous voyage bit off Ahab's leg at the knee. A contribution to the literature of the American Renaissance, the work's genre classifications range from late Romantic to early Symbolist. Its reputation as a "Great American Novel" was established only in the 20th century, after the centennial of its author's birth.

Ulysses is a modernist novel by Irish writer James Joyce. It was first serialized in parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920 and then published in its entirety in Paris by Sylvia Beach on February 2, 1922, on Joyce's 40th birthday. It is considered one of the most important works of modernist literature and has been called "a demonstration and summation of the entire movement."

"A Passage to India" is a novel written by E.M. Forster and published in 1924. It explores the complexities of human relationships and the clash of cultures during the British Raj in India. The novel revolves around the experiences of various characters, both British and Indian, in the fictional city of Chandrapore. The main plot follows Dr. Aziz, a young Indian Muslim physician, and his interactions with a British schoolteacher named Adela Quested.

Love and Freindship [sic] is a juvenile story by Jane Austen, dated 1790, when Austen was 14 years old. Love and Freindship (the misspelling is one of many in the story) is clearly a parody of romantic novels Austen read as a child. This is clear even from the subtitle, "Deceived in Freindship and Betrayed in Love," which neatly undercuts the title. Written in epistolary form, it resembles a fairy tale as much as anything else, featuring wild coincidences and turns of fortune, but Austen is determined to lampoon the conventions of romantic stories.

Middlemarch is a novel by the English author Mary Anne Evans, who wrote as George Eliot. It first appeared in eight installments in 1871 and 1872. Set in Middlemarch, a fictional English Midland town, from 1829 to 1832, it follows distinct, intersecting stories with many characters. Issues include the status of women, the nature of marriage, idealism, self-interest, religion, hypocrisy, political reform, and education. Despite comic elements, Middlemarch uses realism to encompass historical events.

Arguably the greatest literary masterpiece, War and Peace is an amazing blend of philosophy, history, spirituality, and love told through two families, the Rostovs and the Bolkonskys. The Rostovs personify the Russian spirit. Count Rostov, a generous, kind spendthrift, can deny his family nothing. His countess is a warm, loving, overindulged woman. These characteristics are reflected in their children, while the austere Bolkonskys are duty-bound.

The Dream of the Red Chamber (also known as The Story of the Stone) is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of China, and considered the greatest of them all. Almost 40 main characters and some 500 minor characters tell the fortunes of the Chia family; the book details mainly the life of Chia Pao-yü, the heir apparent, who is described as very intelligent, but also as carefree and self-indulging. The already wealthy Chia family rises to new heights when Pao-yü's elder sister becomes an imperial consort.