Showing results by author "Thomas Bailey Aldrich" in All Categories

Told through the amused, watchful eye of a local narrator, Our New Neighbors at Ponkapog is a gently ironic portrait of curiosity, manners, and the subtle dramas that unfold when privacy meets polite scrutiny. As the young couple settles into their secluded life, questions arise—not dramatic ones, but the kind born of daily observation: Who are they? How do they live? And why do they remain so carefully out of reach?

Master wit Mark Twain selected these 27 stories himself by 15 of his favorite 19th-century authors. The order follows that which Twain placed them in in the original anthology, published in 1888. He indulged his comic fancy rather than making a textbook in which all themes or authors are placed together, saying that "This way you will have to peruse the whole thing before discovering that one of your favorites is not included." Among others, you'll find: Artemus Ward, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Francis Lee Pratt, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Frederick W. Cozzens, and Twain himself.

The Story of a Bad Boy (1870), a semi-autobiographical novel by Thomas Bailey Aldrich, is considered the first in the "bad boy" genre of literature. It is hailed as the precursor to stories such as Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. The protagonist, Tom Bailey, is mischievous, a vandal, and a troublemaker. The narrative follows Tom as he engages in a series of adventures from New Hampshire to New Orleans and beyond. Among the supporting characters, Sailor Ben, Miss Abigail, and Conway stand out.

Via a series of letters between himself and a friend, a man falls in love with a woman he has never met - and receives a shocking surprise when he travels to meet her.

Thomas Bailey Aldrich’s journey begins in the vibrant streets of New Orleans, where his father relocated from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. After a decade, Aldrich returned to Portsmouth to prepare for college, a formative chapter of his life vividly captured in his semi-autobiographical novel, *The Story of a Bad Boy* (1870). In this groundbreaking work, young Tom Bailey emerges as a relatable hero, heralded by critics as one of the first realistic portrayals of childhood in American literature—laying the groundwork for future classics like *Adventures of Huckleberry Finn*. Aldrichs literary...

In A Midnight Fantasy, Thomas Bailey Aldrich weaves a whimsical, imaginative tale that blurs the lines between dream and reality, tragedy and romance. As the story opens, a solitary narrator roams the quiet, gaslit streets of 19th-century Boston after attending a performance of Romeo and Juliet. Haunted by Shakespeare’s tragedies, he envisions an alternate world where Hamlet meets Juliet—not to mourn, but to love. What unfolds is a charming reimagining of destiny: Hamlet travels to Verona and finds Juliet at a masquerade ball, sparking a romance that sidesteps the tragic paths fate once set.

Explore the gripping narrative of The Stillwater Tragedy, an 1880 classic by Thomas Bailey Aldrich. Renowned as an American poet, novelist, and editor, Aldrichs fame arguably rests on his semi-autobiographical novel, The Story of a Bad Boy, and his anthology of short stories, Majorie Daw and Other People. Set in a quiet New England manufacturing town, The Stillwater Tragedy unveils a community thrown into chaos by a murder and a subsequent all-encompassing trade union strike. Follow the journey of Richard Shackford, the nephew of the murdered man, as he finds himself entangled in the turbulent...