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At the end of 1853, Newton Norcliff, a young lieutenant in a British lancer regiment, learns that his regiment will leave in the spring for the war in the East. He spends his last leave in Scotland, with Lady Louisa, whom he loves, and who is also courted by Berkeley, a cold and cunning officer. Newton and Louisa become secretly engaged, then Newton sets sail for the Crimea. Written by a former officer, this novel takes us from garrison life to the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava, the charge of the “six hundred” that Tennyson made famous in a poem. Newton tells his own story, and the novel is easy to read in the language you are learning.

In the 1260s, England is torn apart between King Henry III and the barons led by Simon de Montfort. Hugh de Monthermer, a young knight, loves Lucy de Ashby, the daughter of a house once hostile to his own. Meanwhile, in Sherwood Forest, Robin Hood and his outlaws take the side of the barons. From village fairs to the Battle of Evesham, this novel of adventure and love brings a medieval civil war back to life, with the most famous of all outlaws at the heart of the action. Full of twists, it is a pleasure to read in the language you are learning.

In Chicago at the start of the twentieth century, Rose Stanton, a lively, independent student who means to study law, marries Rodney Aldrich, a wealthy lawyer she met by chance, within a few weeks. Settled in a fine house, surrounded by servants and then the mother of twins, she realises that she is expected to be a decorative wife, with no role and no real work. Rose wants a life of her own, and she fights for it, even trying to earn her own living in the world of the theatre. Published in 1916, this novel speaks about marriage and women's place with astonishing frankness. Its absorbing story and lively dialogue are a pleasure to read in the language you are learning.