The Floating Press imprint: 2252 books

Washington Square by Henry James is the story of the gentle, dull Catherine Sloper who falls for the ambivalent Morris Townsend, who her father believes is a fortune hunter. When Catherine's father refuses to countenance the marriage and threatens to disinherit her if she proceeds, the dutiful Catherine...

The Moon and Sixpence is a fictional novel heavily influenced by the life of French painter Paul Gauguin. The novel is told first-person, dipping episodically into the mind of the artist. Charles Strickland is an English stock broker, who leaves everything behind him in his middle age to live in defiant squalor in Paris as an artist. His genius is eventually recognized by a Dutch painter.

The Untamed, Max Brand's first foray into Westerns, is regarded by critics and fans alike as one of the writer's most successful efforts. Combining an unforgettable main character with a story packed with action, conflict, and revenge, The Untamed is a classic of the genre that will captivate any reader.

The Story of an African Farm is the story of three children who grow up on a farm in South Africa, and their journey into adulthood. The narrative is complex, with fluid chronology and narrative point of view. The novel was a bestseller when it was first published, though it was also controversial, dealing with themes of feminism, pre-marital sex, free thought and transvestitism.

Swash-buckling adventure on the high seas, passionate romance between star-crossed lovers -- The Lady and the Pirate has it all. This popular novel from American writer Emerson Hough is a fun read for pirate fans, historical romance junkies, and everyone in between.

Essayist and newspaper columnist Fanny Fern achieved a remarkable level of fame in her lifetime, and in addition to hundreds of newspaper columns, she penned two novels that were based in large part on her own life experiences. Rose Clark, the follow-up to the spectacularly popular Ruth Hall, focuses...

North and South draws on Gaskell's own experiences of the poverty and hardship of life in the industrial north of England. Her heroine, Margaret Hale, is taken from the wealthy south by her nonconformist minister father, to live in a fictional northern town. The stark differences are explored through...

The Marvelous Land of Oz is the second book in Baum's Oz series. The series chronicles the further adventures of Dorothy both in and out of Oz, as she deals with the characters, situations and desires which continue to spill over from her first fateful adventure.

Anthem takes place in a dark, dystopian future. Collectivism and socialist economics have driven mankind to a technological standstill. The individual is not acknowledged in this society, the word "I" having been eliminated from speech altogether. Rand explores the tension between collectivism and individualism and equates the errors or triumphs of these with socialism and capitalism.

In George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion a phonetician believes the power of speech is such that he can introduce a Cockney flower girl to polite society after careful language and etiquette training, and no one will discern her true roots. The professor and the flower girl grown close, but after her...

As You Like It is truly one of Shakespeare's greatest romantic comedies. The heroine, Rosalind has grown up in the court of her usurping uncle Duke Frederick, her father, the rightful duke, having been exiled by his younger brother. Rosalind falls in love with Orlando, but Orlando is forced to flee when...

Major Barbara is a 1905 play by George Bernard Shaw. Andrew Undershaft, a wealthy weapons trader, despises poverty believing "The greatest of our evils and the worst of our crimes is poverty ... our first duty, to which every other consideration should be sacrificed, is not to be poor". His daughter,...

Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen's play Hedda Gabler was first published in 1890. Despite premiering the next year to negative reviews, the play since been hailed as a classic work of realism, with the character Hedda being considered by some critics as one of the great dramatic roles; a female Hamlet....

The Beggar's Opera is the only ballad opera that is still popularly performed today. A ballad opera is a satirical musical, which uses the form of an opera but incorporates popular songs and ballads as well as operatic numbers. The Beggar's Opera satirizes the corruption to be found in all levels of...