BY ALEXANDER DUMAS
A young Gascon nobleman, d’Artagnan, sets off for Paris in hopes of joining the Musketeers. He proves himself fighting with them and earns a place in their ranks. With d’Artagnan the three preserve the honor of the king and thwart the schemes of Cardinal Richelieu.
Source: www.shop.com
BY VICTOR HUGO
Les Misérables is set in the Parisian underworld. The protagonist, Jean Valjean, is sentenced to prison for 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread. After his release, Valjean plans to rob monseigneur Myriel, a saintlike bishop, but cancels his plan. However, he forfeits his parole by committing a minor crime, and for this crime Valjean is haunted by the police inspector Javert. Valjean eventually reforms and becomes under the name of M. Madeleine a successful businessman, benefactor and mayor of a northern town.
Source: www.online-literature.com
by ARTHUR GOLDEN
“I wasn’t born and raised to be a Kyoto geisha….I’m a fisherman’s daughter from a little town called Yoroido on the Sea of Japan.” How nine-year-old Chiyo, sold with her sister into slavery by their father after their mother’s death, becomes Sayuri, the beautiful geisha accomplished in the art of entertaining men, is the focus of this fascinating first novel. Narrating her life story from her elegant suite in the Waldorf Astoria, Sayuri tells of her traumatic arrival at the Nitta okiya (a geisha house), where she endures harsh treatment from Granny and Mother, the greedy owners, and from Hatsumomo, the sadistically cruel head geisha.
Source: Library Journal Review
