Mrs Oliphant Oliphant: 80 books

For reasons never explained to him, Edgar Arden was raised and educated on the Continent, away from his father and sister Clare. Now after the death of his father Edgar returns as squire of Arden Hall. The only shadows in his path are the enmity of the next heir, his cousin Arthur Arden, and vague...

The beautiful old pre-Elizabethan house and estate of Whiteladies is strictly entailed. The two ladies in their late fifties who live there, Susan and Augustine Austin, are the daughters of the prior possessor. Augustine, who lives and dresses as a penitent nun, believes Whiteladies is cursed. The...

Lily Ramsay, age twenty-two, is the ward of her dour uncle, Sir Robert Ramsay. Sir Robert will leave her his fortune, but only if she is obedient in every way. When she falls in love with a poor barrister, Ronald Lumsden, Sir Robert not only disapproves of Ronald, but sends Lily away from Edinburgh...

Mary loves her husband Major Ochterlony, and their marriage is happy - except when the fidgety Major periodically becomes obsessed with some unwelcome idea which he insists on seeing through, no matter how foolish or hurtful to Mary. They are in India, far from home, when he has his worst idea yet...

Excerpt: "It is natural to suppose that the arrival of the new Rector was a rather exciting event for Carlingford. It is a considerable town, it is true, nowadays, but then there are no alien activities to disturb the place—no manufactures, and not much trade. And there is a very respectable amount...

Excerpt: "Carlingford is, as is well known, essentially a quiet place. There is no trade in the town, properly so called. To be sure, there are two or three small counting-houses at the other end of George Street, in that ambitious pile called Gresham Chambers; but the owners of these places of business...

A woman tells delightful accounts of her neighbours and friends from the village of Dinglefield Green. A book of excellent character studies of people in the Victorian era, much of which is still relatable today.

Excerpt: "Theodore Warrender was still at Oxford when his father died. He was a youth who had come up from his school with the highest hopes of what he was to do at the university. It had indeed been laid out for him by an admiring tutor with anticipations which were almost certainties: "If you will...

When the aged Curate in Charge of Brentburn parish church loses his position of 20 years, he is too overwhelmed to act for himself - it will be up to his two daughters to determine how to support the family of five (which includes two little boys from a second marriage). The eldest sister Cecily is...

Excerpt: "Towards the west end of Grove Street, in Carlingford, on the shabby side of the street, stood a red brick building, presenting a pinched gable terminated by a curious little belfry, not intended for any bell, and looking not unlike a handle to lift up the edifice by to the public observation....

Excerpt: "The summer was a very happy period of repose for us all. The warmth of Indian suns was still in our veins. It seemed to us that we could never have enough of the greenness, the dewiness, the freshness of the northern landscape. Even its mists were pleasant to us, taking all the fever out...

Excerpt: "‘The dead rise out of their graves!’ These words, though one has heard them before, took possession of my imagination. I saw the rude fellow go along the street as I went on, tossing the coin in his hand. One time it fell to the ground and rang upon the pavement, and he laughed more...