British Prose Fiction: A Select Chronological List
Explore a curated chronological list of British prose fiction, featuring select classic and modern novels. Discover the evolution of British literature through this essential reading guide.
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Roxana
by Daniel Defoe
Beautiful, proud Roxana is terrified of being poor. When her foolish husband leaves her penniless with five children, she must choose between being a virtuous …
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The Adventures of Roderick Random
by Tobias Smollett
Roderick Random (1748), Smollett's first novel, is full of the dazzling vitality characteristics of all his work, as well as of his own life. Roderick …
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Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure
by John Cleland
Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (commonly known as Fanny Hill), the most famous erotic novel in English, was denounced by its author as 'a …
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The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
by Laurence Sterne
A novel about writing a novel is the subject of this complex classic which has been described as the greatest shaggy dog story in the …
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The Italian
by Ann Radcliffe
First published in 1797, The Italian's fast-paced, chilling narrative centres on Ann Radcliffe's most brilliant creation, the sinister monk Schedoni, whose past is shrouded in …
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Sense and Sensibility
by Jane Austen
For Elinor Dashwood, sensible and sensitive, and her romantic younger sister Marianne, the propect of marrying the men they love appears remote. In a world …
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Oliver Twist
by Charles Dickens
A gripping portrayal of London's dark criminal underbelly, published in Penguin Classics with an introduction by Philip Horne. The story of Oliver Twist - orphaned, …
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Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Brontë
Jane is the governess to the young ward of the mysterious Mr. Rochester.
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Mrs. Dalloway
by Virginia Woolf
Mrs. Dalloway is the portrait of a single day in a woman's life.
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Sexing the Cherry
by Jeanette Winterson
In the reign of Charles II, Jordon and his mother, the Dog-Woman, live on the banks of the stinking Thames, where they take in sights …