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The son of a sawmill owner in the Jura, Julien Sorel is poor, proud and ambitious, and secretly admires Napoleon. Taken on as tutor in the household of the mayor of Verrières, he seduces his wife, Madame de Rênal. Then, from the seminary in Besançon to the Paris mansion of the Marquis de La Mole, he climbs through a society that despises him. It is Stendhal's great novel of ambition and love. Julien, alone against a whole society, is one of the most fascinating heroes in literature. With the translation always in front of you, you can read this masterpiece in the language you are learning.

Young Werther settles in a quiet German village. At a ball he meets Charlotte, a radiant young woman who looks after her little brothers and sisters, but who is already promised to another man. In the letters he writes to his friend Wilhelm, Werther tells of his happiness, then of his torment. This short novel made Goethe famous overnight. All Europe was gripped by Werther, so much so that young men began to dress like him, in a blue coat and a yellow waistcoat. Written in the form of letters, it is easy to read in the language you are learning.

In Andalusia, a scholarly traveller meets a wanted bandit, Don José, and then, in Córdoba, a gypsy woman who tells fortunes: Carmen. Months later, he finds Don José in prison, on the eve of his execution, and listens to him tell his life story. A young soldier marked out for promotion, Don José lost everything the day he met Carmen. Free and defiant, Carmen gives in to no one: she has become one of the most famous heroines in the world, so much so that her name alone stands for passion. You can read this short story in one sitting in the language you are learning.

In the nineteenth century, the sailing ship taking two eight-year-old cousins, Dick and Emmeline, to San Francisco catches fire in the middle of the Pacific. The children escape in a small boat with Paddy Button, an old Irish sailor, and the fog separates them from the other boats. They land on a desert island, ringed by a coral reef that shelters a blue lagoon, where Paddy fishes, cooks and looks after them. The years go by: with no school and no society to explain the world to them, the children grow up free. As teenagers, Dick and Emmeline find their feelings changing. An adventure novel about nature, innocence and the discovery of love. Its absorbing story is easy to read in the language you are learning.

At seventeen, the Chevalier des Grieux, a young man from a good family, meets the beautiful Manon Lescaut in Amiens, as she is being taken to a convent. He runs off with her at once and gives up everything for her: his family, his fortune, his honour. Through escapes, cheating at cards and spells in prison, he will follow her all the way to Louisiana. Manon loves des Grieux, but she also loves luxury, and that is her whole mystery: you never know whether she will betray him or follow him. Published in 1731, it remains one of the finest stories of passion in literature. Told by des Grieux himself, it can be read in one sitting in the language you are learning.

Catherine Morland, seventeen and a clergyman's daughter, adores Gothic novels. On a visit to Bath, the town of balls and spa waters, she makes friends with the charming Isabella Thorpe and with Henry Tilney, a young clergyman full of humour. When Henry's father invites her to his old abbey of Northanger, Catherine thinks she is living one of her novels: a stormy night, papers hidden in an old cabinet, the mysterious death of Mrs Tilney. Jane Austen gently mocks the fashionable novels of her day, and everything the imagination can invent. Its humour and lively dialogue make it a delightful read in the language you are learning.

In the little town of Cloisterham, in the shadow of its cathedral, young Edwin Drood is to marry Rosa Bud, a bride chosen for him since childhood. His uncle, John Jasper, the choirmaster, seems to love him dearly, but he secretly smokes opium and hides a passion for Rosa. One Christmas night, Edwin disappears. Dickens died before finishing this novel, without leaving the solution. For more than a hundred and fifty years, readers have been trying to guess what happened to Edwin. Full of suspense, this novel is a pleasure to read in the language you are learning.

Paris, 1819. In the modest Vauquer boarding house, old Goriot, a retired vermicelli maker, goes without everything for his two daughters, who have married into high society. His young neighbour, Rastignac, a poor student from the provinces, dreams of entering that glittering world. The mysterious Vautrin, another lodger, explains its ruthless rules to him. This novel made Rastignac a common noun in French for an ambitious young man. It is one of the high points of “The Human Comedy”, about money, ambition and a father's love. With the translation always in front of you, you can read this great novel by Balzac in the language you are learning.

Jonathan Harker, a young solicitor, travels to Transylvania to complete the sale of a property near London to Count Dracula. In the isolated castle, he notices that his host never eats, never appears by day and has no reflection in the mirror. Soon Jonathan realises that he is a prisoner. This is the novel that created the most famous of all vampires, and fixed his image for ever: the castle, the night, the fangs and the fear that lurks. Told through diaries and letters, it reads like a thriller in the language you are learning.

Perdican, who has just taken his doctorate, returns to the family castle, where his father wants him to marry his cousin Camille, who has only just left the convent. Camille rejects him. To sting her, Perdican pretends to court Rosette, a young peasant girl, and the game of pride between the two cousins grows more and more dangerous. Between laughter and tears, this play by Musset holds one of the finest speeches about love, and its title has become a saying in French: you do not trifle with love. Written in short, lively dialogue, it can be read in one sitting in the language you are learning.

Silvia is to marry Dorante, whom she has never seen. To observe him without being recognised, she takes the place of her maid Lisette. But Dorante has had exactly the same idea, and arrives disguised as a manservant. Each then falls in love with someone they believe to be a servant, and no longer knows what to do with their heart. It is Marivaux's most famous comedy, a very subtle game of masks and feelings. Its author even gave a word to the French language: marivaudage. Written in short, lively dialogue, it is easy to read in the language you are learning.

Tonio Kröger, son of a respected family in Lübeck, grows up feeling different. He admires his schoolfellow Hans Hansen, blond and sure of himself, then falls in love with blonde Inge, who does not notice him. Once he becomes a writer, he feels at home neither among artists nor among the “normal” people he secretly envies. Thomas Mann put a great deal of himself into it: it is a book for everyone who has ever felt like an outsider. This short story reads well in the language you are learning, with the translation always in view.

When their father dies, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood lose the family home and go to live with their mother in a cottage in Devon. Elinor, the elder, keeps her feelings to herself; Marianne, passionate, says everything she feels. Marianne falls in love with the charming Willoughby, who came to her rescue one rainy day, and hides nothing of her happiness. Elinor, for her part, silently loves the reserved Edward. With her light irony, Jane Austen shows two ways of loving, and right to the end we wonder which of the two sisters is right. Its witty dialogue makes it an enjoyable read in the language you are learning.

Orphaned, Denise arrives in Paris from Normandy with her two young brothers. Her uncle, a small draper, is being ruined by the department store across the road, The Ladies' Paradise. Denise starts work there as a shop assistant, mocked by the other employees, and little by little catches the eye of the owner, the ambitious Octave Mouret. Huge departments, dazzling shop windows, customers spending freely: Zola tells of the birth of the department store, and the story of an upright young woman whom money cannot buy. With the translation always in front of you, this absorbing story is easy to read in the language you are learning.

In Milan, in May 1831, Vittore, a former soldier of Napoleon, dies in poverty. His eldest son, Damiano, must then support his mother, his sister Stella and his young brother. Yet he dreams of being a painter, and has secretly learnt to draw from a poor old artist. Subtitled “Story of a Poor Family”, this novel brings to life the humble people of the outskirts of Milan. It speaks tenderly of duty, of poverty and of the dignity of ordinary people. This touching family story is a pleasure to read in the language you are learning.

At twenty-nine, Valancy Stirling lives under the thumb of her mother and a family who make fun of her, in a small town in Ontario. She consoles herself by dreaming of a blue castle where she would at last be happy. The day a doctor tells her she has only a year to live, she decides to obey no one any more. At last she says what she thinks, leaves home and meets Barney Snaith, a mysterious man the whole town speaks ill of. A romantic comedy full of humour, about the courage to live for yourself at last. By the author of “Anne of Green Gables”, this radiant novel is a joy to read in the language you are learning.

Two stories of young love. In “First Love”, a sixteen-year-old boy on holiday in the country falls under the spell of his neighbour, a young princess surrounded by admirers, and learns what love can cost. In “Asya”, on the banks of the Rhine, a traveller meets a free, proud and unpredictable young woman, and is slow to tell her what he feels. Turgenev tells with restraint and nostalgia of these loves we never forget. Written in a clear and gentle style, these two stories are a pleasure to read in the language you are learning.

Three stories by Dostoevsky. In “White Nights”, a lonely young dreamer meets, four evenings in a row in the bright nights of St Petersburg, a young woman who is waiting for someone. In “A Gentle Creature”, a man keeps watch over the body of his young wife and tries to understand. In “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man”, a man in despair falls asleep and has a dream that changes everything. Tender, tragic or visionary, they show another side of the great Russian novelist. You can read each of these short stories in one sitting in the language you are learning.

In a mining district in the north of Spain, la Nela, a poor orphan girl without beauty, acts as guide to Pablo, a young blind man. He loves her for her kindness and for the way she describes the world to him. One day, a famous surgeon arrives in the village, hoping to give Pablo his sight. A tender and poignant love story that asks a simple question: what will Pablo see when his eyes are opened? It is one of the best loved novels of Galdós, the great Spanish novelist. Its absorbing story and endearing characters make it enjoyable to read in the language you are learning.

This collection retells six great tragedies by Shakespeare in prose. Here are Prince Hamlet, who wants to avenge his father, Macbeth, driven to crime by his wife, Othello, the jealous Moor, and old King Lear, betrayed by his daughters. Romeo and Juliet, the lovers of Verona, are here too, with the fabulously rich Timon of Athens. Written in 1807 for young readers, these tales keep Shakespeare's own words in the most famous passages. It is the simplest way into his work. Simply told, these stories are easy to read in the language you are learning.

This collection brings together four of Chekhov's finest stories. In “Ward No. 6”, a provincial doctor starts talking with a patient in his asylum and ends up wondering who is really mad. In “The Lady with the Dog”, a man and a woman, each married to someone else, meet in Yalta and fall into a love they had not foreseen. We also meet a bishop, alone and ill on the eve of Easter, and a young bride-to-be who decides to leave everything behind. Chekhov never judges: in a few pages, he makes you feel a whole life. You can read each of these stories in one sitting in the language you are learning.

In New England, while their father is away at the Civil War, four sisters grow up with their mother: Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. The family has little money but plenty of imagination. Jo, the most independent, writes plays and dreams of becoming a writer. First balls, first loves, quarrels and reconciliations: this warm novel about family and the wish to choose one's own life has been loved for generations. Jo March remains one of the most endearing heroines in literature. Its lively dialogue and everyday scenes are easy to read in the language you are learning.

One Sunday in November, Augustin Meaulnes, a daring teenager, arrives at the school in Sainte-Agathe and fascinates François, the schoolmaster's son. During an escapade, Meaulnes gets lost and comes to a mysterious estate where a strange celebration is being prepared. There he meets a young woman he will never stop searching for. A novel of adolescence, dreams and nostalgia, which keeps alive the memory of that moment when we believe anything is possible. François tells the story as a memory, and the novel is a pleasure to read in the language you are learning.

This collection retells fourteen of Shakespeare's comedies and romances in prose. We meet the exiled magician of The Tempest on his island, the fairies who sow confusion in the wood near Athens, the merchant of Venice facing his moneylender, twins who are forever being mistaken for each other and a young woman disguised as a boy. Written in 1807 by Mary Lamb for young readers, these stories full of mix-ups, disguises and happy endings are a very gentle way into Shakespeare. Short and clear, each tale can be read in one sitting in the language you are learning.