Historical romance

Best Historical Romance Novels 

• Anthony Hope published his adventure book The Prisoner of Zenda in 1894. In it, the night before being crowned, the King of Ruritania takes drugs and is unable to attend the event. A man on vacation who looks like the monarch is convinced to serve as his political stooge.Michael, Duke of Strelsau, Rudolf V's half-brother, see to it that he is given a bottle of wine that has been drugged. His friends are unable to rouse him up in time for Rudolf V, the Elector of Ruritania, to be crowned.Englishman Sapt persuades Rassendyll to impersonate the King of France so he can attend Duke Michael's coronation. The King is being held in the castle at Zenda.Rassendyll explores the moat by swimming at night. King Rudolf can be heard conversing with one of his captors. A supporting factor, according to Rupert, is his attraction to Antoinette de Mauban.In defiance of Michael's men, Rupert stands at the drawbridge and challenges Michael to fight for Antoinette. Despite having a pistol, Rassendyll is unable to shoot Rupert. Accidentally learning about Rudolf Rassenyll, Princess Flavia collapses. King Rudolf is reinstated to the throne, but the lovers are forced to split ways because of duty and honor.

• The Federalist Papers are a collection of 85 articles and essays written by James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton to promote the ratification of the US Constitution. Up to the 20th century, the collection was usually referred to as The Federalist.They were intended to persuade people to accept the Constitution. In Federalist No. 10, Madison argues for a vast, commercial republic and explores ways to prevent majority faction domination. In Federalist No. 84, Alexander Hamilton argues that the proposed Constitution's multiple freedom-protecting clauses collectively constitute a "bill of rights." The best explanation of what has come to be known as "Federalism" is provided by James Madison. An "incomparable explication of the Constitution" may be found in The Federalist Papers.Hamilton turned down three of Morris's essays, and Morris declined the invitation. Duer later wrote in favor of the three Federalist authors under the pen name "Philo-Publius," which is based on Hamilton's pseudonym Publius and may mean either "Friend of the People" or "Friend of Hamilton."The three men produced 85 articles in all for six months. Madison is regarded as the father of the Constitution, while Hamilton served as the first secretary of the Treasury.

• Something New opens the adventures at Blanding Castle and introduces some of P.G. Wodehouse's beloved recurring characters and locations. Both Freddie and Aline are pleased with the arrangement when they become engaged. The engagement gives them both, who come from affluent and illustrious families, a greater social status.But Freddie starts to worry that past letters he wrote to an ex might endanger the engagement. Freddie hires a shady fixer to get the letters out of desperation. American millionaire J. Preston Peters, who is the father of Aline, extends an invitation to Freddie's father, the Earl of Emsworth, to visit his residence. Peters tries to impress Emsworth with his extensive collection of beetles while the two men chat casually there. But when Emsworth mistakenly steals Peters' most valuable beetle and puts it in his pocket, a passive-aggressive confrontation develops.Peters has suspicions about the other guy, but he is hesitant to approach him out of concern for their children's relationship. As an alternative, he posts a prize for its return, encouraging a gang of greedy thieves to take the beetle for themselves. Aline and Freddie battle to keep their engagement alive in the face of conflicting dads, a gang of robbers, a dubious fixer, and a missing beetle.

• The Secret Passage is a fantastic murder mystery by Fergus Hume. It has contrived another of his hide-and-seek, jack-o'-lantern murder mysteries. The story starts with an elderly, wealthy, and queer woman who was found stabbed to death on her chair with no sign of the culprit. Then, there are so many new clues that even the fictional investigator is perplexed. Then almost everyone is shown to be someone else using an alias, and all the leads are in vain.Young Susan Grant, who is looking for work, turns up at Miss Loach's house, Rose Cottage. Susan is hired as a parlor maid after a quick but intensive interview, and she soon learns about the high expectations Miss Loach has for her staff. Her sister Mrs. Octagon, a self-promotional writer who lives across the street with her husband Peter and daughter Juliet, is a writer. One day, after having afternoon tea with Juliet, Mrs. Octagon brings up her sister, whose peaceful existence she much disapproves of. Her husband unexpectedly enters the room at this precise time with the news of Miss Loach's murder.Was it Susan, whose prior experience working for a shady Spaniard seems dubious at best? Was it Mrs. Octagon, who always reacted with the worst of insults when she brought up her sister?

• Uncle Tom's Cabin describes the story of Uncle Tom, an enslaved person portrayed as innocent and honorable, respectable and ethical in his beliefs. While being shifted by boat to an auction in New Orleans, Tom saves the life of Little Eva, a lovely and forgiving little girl, whose thankful dad then buys Tom. Later, Eva and Tom become great friends. Eva is always in a delicate situation and starts to decline quickly, and on her deathbed, she requests her father to free all his enslaved people. He makes arrangements to do so but then finds out that he is killed by the cruel Simon Legree, Tom's new owner, who has whipped Tom to death when he refuses to tell him about where the slaves escaped. Tom maintains his constant Christian attitude toward his own suffering.

• To the Lighthouse, a novel by Virginia Woolf was published in 1927. This book is one of her most successful experiments in the stream-of-consciousness style. The three parts of the book take place between 1910 and 1920 and describe the stories of different members of the Ramsay family during visits to their summer home on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. In the first part, the reader sees the world through Mrs. Ramsay's eyes as she manages her kids and a gathering of guests during the summer holidays. In the second part of the book, Woolf tells the time passage by portraying the changes created in the summer home over 10 years. The third part relates to the returns of the Ramsay children, presently grown, and Lily Briscoe, a painter, and friend of the family. Her successful completion of a painting that she had been working on since the start of the book is symbolic of this unification.

• The Well of Loneliness is a revolutionary novel that was published by Radclyffe Hall herself in 1928. It was immediately banned in England because of its lesbian topic and was allowed only in the US after a long court fight. When it was available, The Well of Loneliness sold in excess of 20,000 copies. The story revolves around a girl born into a rich English family named Stephen by her father, who wanted a boy. Radclyffe Corridor conveys the strong message that lesbianism is natural. This message, alongside Radclyffe Hall's depiction of lesbians in masculine stereotypes and feminine roles, caused the book to be written down by feminists in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Well of Depression is worth reading as it breaks the silence of brutality and passes on a message about homophobia and incorporated shame applicable to lesbians even today.

• E. H. Forster wrote a book titled A Passage to India on his trip to India in 1912-1913 and his time serving as the Maharajah of Dewas State's private secretary in 1921-1922. Ross Masood, a friend of his, was honoured in the dedication.A young British schoolteacher travels to the fictional city of Chandrapore with an elderly friend. Adela must choose whether or not she wants to wed Ronny Heaslop, the son of Mrs. Moore. Young Indian Muslim doctor Dr. Aziz is having dinner with two of his Indian friends when they start talking about whether it's feasible to be friends with an Englishman.Cyril Fielding, the principal of Chandrapore's government-run college for Indians, is introduced to Adela. Adela is assisted by Aziz as she climbs to the upper caverns with the aid of a guide. Aziz is detained and accused of abusing Adela sexually. The run-up to his trial releases the racial tensions between the British and Indians. Mrs. Moore dies during the voyage to England before she can testify at Aziz's trial. At the trial, her absence from India becomes a significant issue. Aziz is upset at Fielding for being friends with Adela after she almost destroyed his life. The bond between the two men weakens, and Fielding leaves for England.

• Novella by George Orwell called Animal Farm is sarcastic and allegorical. A bunch of farm animals rebel against their human farmer in this tale. The rebellion is ultimately put down, and the farm is left in an even worse condition than it was before.Two young pigs named Snowball and Napoleon take over Manor Farm in Willingdon, England, in the novel Animal Farm. They adopt the "All Animals Are Equal" commandment, which is the most important of the "Seven Commandments of Animalism."In Animal Farm, Napoleon declares that he invented the windmill and rids the farm of animals who he believes are in league with Mr. Jones's former enemy Snowball. Many animals that are allegedly aiding Snowball in plans are killed by Napoleon's hounds. The song "Animal Farm" is substituted for "Beasts of England," and a song is written and performed in praise of Napoleon, who is apparently embracing a man's way of life.The majority of the animals that took part in the rebellion are now either old or dead. As the pigs begin to walk upright, carry whips, consume alcohol, and wear clothing, they begin to resemble people. The animals outside can no longer tell the difference between pigs and men when they look at them.

• French author Honoré de Balzac wrote a novella titled Le Colonel Chabert in 1832. It is a part of his La Comédie Humaine novella series (The Human Comedy). In the story, French society during the Restoration and July Monarchy is shown and parodied.A prostitute named Rose Chapotel is married to Colonel Chabert. Napoleon Bonaparte then holds Colonel Chabert in high regard as a French cavalry officer. Chabert was gravely wounded during the Battle of Eylau (1807), and his death and burial are listed with the other French casualties. He does, however, manage to escape his tomb and is then given medical attention by the villagers in the area. He requires several years to fully recover. When he gets back to Paris, he learns that his widow has wed the ascetic Count Ferraud and sold all of Chabert's belongings. He engages Derville, a lawyer, to help him get his money back and his honor after they were wrongfully handed away as an inheritance.Derville, who also represents Countess Ferraud, cautions Chabert against accepting the Countess's offer of a settlement bribe. Chabert ultimately leaves empty-handed and spends the rest of his days in a mental institution.

• The Most Hazardous Game, also published as "The Hounds of Zaroff," is a short story by Richard Connell. It was published in Collier's on January 19, 1924, with illustrations by Wilmot Emerton Heitland. The story includes a major incident about a big-game hunter from New York City who falls from a yacht and swims to what seems to be an abandoned and isolated island in the Caribbean, where he gets hunted by a Russian nobleman. The story is influenced by the major big game hunting safaris in Africa and South America that were especially popular among rich Americans during the 1920s.The story has been adapted several times, most outstandingly as the 1932 RKO Pictures film The Most Dangerous Game, featuring Joel McCrea, Leslie Banks, and Fay Wray, and for a 1943 episode of the CBS Radio Series Suspense, featuring Orson Welles. It has been known as the most famous short story ever written in English. Simultaneously, the publication won the O. Henry Grant.The Most Hazardous Game is one of many masterpieces that entered the public domain in the US in 2020.

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