AustLit

Exemplary tale. A rich man recalls his temptation as a junior clerk in an American firm to steal some money he was charged to deliver. The prayers of an old man, his wife and their infant grandson save him. Slightly pious sentiments and work ethic honesty. (PB)

Harsh boyhood expereince. Tale of a boy left by his mother's remarriage and death to the care of his stern step-father. His sensitive nature is crushed by the man's harshness and his reason finally goes after a heavy beating and a night locked in a closet with rats. Painting gives him some relief but he dies as a young man leaving his step-father to remorse. Scenes of hell and imprisonment imagined by the boy are vivid. (PB)

Dramatised account of Mozart's absorption in his composition - and a waltz composed for his butcher. Biographically based legend. (PB)

Account of a French nobleman who escapes baliffs at St Malo by swimming into the sea and restores his fortunes by wooing the daughter of a rich English merchant at Jersey. Purports to be fact. (PB)

London satirical romance between an Oxford graduate turned journalist and Greek theatre writer, and a charming young actress. His egotism and mistrust cause the rupture of their engagement when he mistakes a burlesque mimic for her on a 'theatrophone' at his club. Humour; includes terrible imitation of Greek verse and burlesque lyrics. (PB)

Exemplary tale of a young girl's detection while shoplifitng. Driven to it by her love of dress and display, she is released and confesses to her father - but loses a friend and her desire for jewellery. Slight. (PB)

Threatening night in an isolated Yorkshire inn. A young woman and her ailing father are rescued by the girl's escape through her bedroom window to get help. Burning eyes in a statues' head alert her to their potential attackers. Slight; predictable. (PB)

US boarding-house keeper's tale of a fallen woman, a former lodger and her little daughter who died in the house. The woman had left her husband and family years before for a local politician who had deserted her, and married another. He learned of her return after her death and claimed his daughter as she died in his arms. Well structured tale, a little sentimental but also moving. (PB)

English tale of an encounter with an apparent madman in a north-bound train - and the later discovery that it was a diamond merchant's ingenious ploy to protect his stones. Humour, variation on the lunatic in a railway carriage theme. (PB)

An English gentleman-rider and his ill-luck on the course. Humour. (PB)

Romance set in England and Germany. An older widow persuades a younger shipowner and merchant who had once saved her from a fire to marry her - to enable her to gain her inheritance and to save him from financial ruin. The 'mother and son' marriage eventually takes on the dimension of love when she reveals herself to be a young woman and an actress. Light; slightly confusing. (PB)

A year-old child's complaints of his rough handling by adults. Humour. (PB)

London tale of a lodger's night on the streets and his unknowing involvement in a robbery - which he foils. Light; some humour. (PB)

English railway traveller's joke upon a newly-married couple and an old farmer - making them think there were two long tunnels when the second was very short and revealed their secret behaviours: kissing and drinking. Slight; humour. (PB)

Australian tale of a mining speculation deliberately begun to settle an old score - and a romance between the land owner's daughter and the young share-broker he approaches. Scheme of deliberate dishonesty. Motive for revenge a little unclear. Concludes in England. Light. (PB)

The female American proprietor of a shanty - beautiful and a lady - helps rescue a young man from a mine cave-in. The narrator, a mounted trooper, is attracted to her and she entrusts a document to him in case of her death. She is murdered out of jealousy by her estranged husband but she tears a piece of his shirt out with her teeth which convicts him. (PB)

English tale of a fallen woman - a child-bride, neglected by her husband who refuses to help her by taking her away from the handsome young cousin she eventually runs away with. Story told by the husband years later - acknowledges the loss and sin is his. Little narrative power. (PB)