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Brought up in a disreputable London tavern, young Paul Clifford is sent to prison for a theft he did not commit. He comes out a thief for good, and becomes the elegant leader of a band of highwaymen who rob wealthy travellers. Then he falls in love with a young woman from good society, Lucy Brandon. The novel opens with a famous line: “It was a dark and stormy night.” Snoopy made it legendary, and it is one of the most quoted opening lines in the world. Full of action and irony, the novel is a pleasure to read in the language you are learning.

Once a red-haired office boy, Torchy has become private secretary to the president of a big New York company. Married to Vee and a young father, he lives in the suburbs at the end of the First World War. At the office as at home, he meddles in the affairs of his colleagues, his neighbours and his friends, especially when love is involved. Seventeen linked comic stories, told by Torchy himself, with his New York straight talk and plenty of humour. Short and lively, they are easy to read in the language you are learning.

London, 1869: Robert Orange, a young Catholic MP of French descent and a protégé of Disraeli, marries Brigit, a young widow whom he loves with an almost religious love. On the very day of the wedding, they learn that Brigit's first husband, believed drowned, is alive: so their marriage is not valid. Torn between politics, his faith and the eyes of the world, Orange must decide how to act, while the ambitious Lady Sara de Treverell takes an interest in him. This novel is about love, honour and conscience. With the translation always in front of you, you can read it in the language you are learning.

Eighteen-year-old Barrie MacDonald grows up near Carlisle with a stern grandmother who hates the theatre and has let her believe that her mother is dead. The day Barrie learns that her mother, an actress, is very much alive, she runs away to find her. On the way she meets a rich Scotsman back from America, who takes her on a motoring tour of Scotland. A fresh romantic comedy, with the roads and landscapes of Scotland as its backdrop. Told partly by Barrie herself, the story is easy to read in the language you are learning.

In northern Alabama around 1874, a cotton mill from New England has brought into being Cottontown, a mill village where children work from morning till night. Hillard Watts, a former plantation overseer turned preacher, watches over these families. His small congregation calls him “the Bishop”. Meanwhile, Richard Travis, the mill's treasurer, is forever looking for new workers. Mixing humour, faith and melodrama, the book, published in 1906, pleads against child labour, sometimes with the dated outlook of its time. With the translation always in front of you, this novel is easy to read in the language you are learning.

In New York around 1913, Harvey Forbes, a young lieutenant with no fortune, comes back from the Philippines. At the theatre he meets Persis Cabot, a rich and very beautiful young woman whom everyone around her already sees married to Willie Enslee, the richest man in her circle. Persis does not love Willie, and she is drawn to this officer who lives only on his pay. Amid luxury motor cars, evenings at the theatre and fashionable dances, everyone watches and judges everyone else. In this world, one question decides everything: what will people say? This love story that defies convention is a pleasure to read in the language you are learning.