"The tomb of Ts'in" by Edgar Wallace is an adventure-thriller novel written in the early 20th century. It centers on a dangerous hunt for the legendary tomb of China’s First Emperor, mixing crime, espionage, and archaeology. The key players include the flamboyant adventurer Captain Ted Talham, the brilliant Italian sleuth Signor Tillizinni, the poised Yvonne Yale, and the ruthless Mr. Soo, all entangled with a murderous secret society and a priceless jade clue. The opening of the story introduces the stakes through repeated attempts to rob a ship’s safe carrying a Chinese Embassy mailbag, leading Tillizinni to the Ambassador, whose historical article about the First Emperor’s burial becomes the catalyst for intrigue. Talham rescues Yvonne from Chinese pursuers in Hyde Park and deciphers the inscription on her ancient jade bracelet—directions that seem to point toward the tomb—before persuading her to let him hold it for safety. Soon after, the Ambassador is found strangled and a Chinese assailant shot dead in a bureau drawer; a vital envelope is empty, and the suave Mr. Soo emerges as a formidable rival, mobilizing his secret-society network. As deceptions multiply—a fake bracelet is swapped, two burglars (Talham and Tillizinni) collide in de Costa’s house, and a bomb nearly kills the detective—the strands tighten around the tomb’s secret, with social niceties masking a deadly contest for the true jade clue. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

The children by Edith Wharton is a novel written in the early 20th century. It follows Martin Boyne, a middle‑aged engineer, who becomes entangled with the glamorous yet chaotic Wheater clan—especially teen caretaker Judith, her delicate twin Terry, and a volatile mix of full-, half-, and step‑siblings—while their wealthy parents drift between yachts and hotels. The story explores modern divorce and remarriage and the cost of adult caprice on children who are determined to keep themselves together. The opening of the novel finds Boyne on a cruise from Algiers, where he notices Judith minding a baby and a swarm of children and ends up sharing a cabin with her twin, Terry. Through Judith and the governess, Miss Scope, he learns the family tangle: the Wheater parents split and remarried disastrously (to a movie star and an Italian prince), then reunited; the brood now includes “steps” Bun, Beechy, and Zinnie alongside Judith, Terry, and Blanca, with baby Chip adored by the parents. A day trip to Monreale shows Judith’s flair for mothering even as high art leaves her cold, deepening Boyne’s interest. When Terry begs for an education, Boyne agrees to help, stays on to meet the parents in Venice, and secures a cultivated tutor, Gerald Ormerod. Over breakfast at the modest pension where the children stay, Judith refuses school for herself, vowing never to leave the tribe, and hints that Joyce may prefer to keep the tutor in Venice for her own amusement. The section closes with Boyne uncomfortably aware of adult currents swirling around the children he has begun to care about. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Yksin Lontoossa by Hesba Stretton is a novel written in the late 19th century. Set amid the streets around Holborn and the Strand, it follows gentle old newsvendor James Oliver, who unexpectedly becomes guardian to a deserted little girl, Dolly, and bonds with a street boy, Tony. The story promises a tender, faith-infused portrait of poverty, loneliness, and small acts of kindness in the great city. The opening of the novel shows a sweltering London evening, Oliver’s cramped shop-home, and his wistful talk with his sister about their past and his estranged daughter, Susanna. After Charlotta leaves, a woman abandons Dolly in the shop; Oliver keeps the child despite Tony’s offer to take her. A note reveals Dolly is Susanna’s daughter, sent to mend the rift, but another letter soon explains Susanna has chosen to follow her soldier husband to India, leaving Dolly in Oliver’s care. Oliver’s joy mixes with worry over age, poverty, and failing memory, while Tony becomes a nightly lodger, absorbs Oliver’s simple Christian comfort, prays for honest work, and—helped by Dolly buying him a broom—finally starts sweeping a busy crossing and earns his first coins. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

"Slighted love : or, At her heart's expense" by Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller is a novel written in the late 19th century. It follows Italy Vale, a striking young woman determined to clear her mother’s name after her father’s murder, as she enters her wealthy kinsman’s New England home and confronts old scandals, dangerous secrets, and fraught romances. The story weaves melodrama and mystery around inheritance, social stigma, and the hazards of love, with key figures including the reserved heir Francis Murray, the charming Percy Seabright, and the volatile Mrs. Dunn. The opening of the story reveals Italy’s mother confessing that Italy’s father was murdered and that she herself was tried and acquitted, yet condemned by public opinion; years later, after her mother’s death, Italy goes to Francis Murray’s seaside estate, The Lodge, suspecting him because he benefited from the entail. Tension rises as Italy somnambulates into his library in search of her father’s missing diary, Francis confronts her motives, and she flees to Boston to seek her mother’s old lawyer. There she is deceived by a clerk, Craig Severn, lured to a private house, and nearly assaulted before a mysterious shot kills him; found later walking in her sleep, she is retrieved by Francis and brought back. She meets Percy Seabright—her father’s friend—and faints; newspapers soon report Severn’s body found with a bullet wound. Emmett Harlow gently courts Italy and is refused, while jealous Alys Audenreid and her aunt Mrs. Dunn bristle; during a yacht outing Italy is pushed overboard, rescued by Ralph Allen and Francis, and Mrs. Dunn spitefully accuses Emmett before Francis quells the charge. These chapters set the central quest—finding the truth behind the murder and the missing diary—amid simmering jealousy, peril, and uncertain loyalties. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

"Le cas étrange du docteur Jekyll; Un logement pour la nuit" by Stevenson is a collection of fiction written in the late 19th century. It pairs a Gothic investigation into the bond between the esteemed Dr. Jekyll and the menacing Mr. Hyde with an additional tale likely set in medieval Paris. The main thread follows lawyer Mr. Utterson as he probes the unsettling overlap between public respectability and hidden vice in Victorian London. The opening of the collection introduces Mr. Utterson, who hears Enfield’s story of a cruel, small man named Hyde using a key to a mysterious door and producing a dubious cheque linked to Dr. Jekyll. Troubled by Jekyll’s will that favors Hyde, Utterson seeks and confronts Hyde, confirms his access to Jekyll’s home, and soon learns of the savage murder of Sir Danvers Carew; Hyde disappears, while police find evidence in his Soho rooms. Jekyll disavows Hyde and shows a note, which Utterson’s clerk remarks resembles Jekyll’s handwriting; Lanyon then falls fatally ill after a secret rupture with Jekyll and dies, leaving a sealed packet, while Jekyll grows reclusive. The section ends as Poole, Jekyll’s servant, fearfully begs Utterson to come at once, implying something is terribly wrong behind the locked laboratory door. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

"The Last Dragon" by Dan Totheroh is a children's fantasy novel written in the early 20th century. It follows siblings Johnathan, Janet Jane, and Peter Baxter, their intrepid Grandma, and two dogs as they befriend a gentle, blue‑eyed dragon—the last of his kind—and ride him back into the Dark Ages. The tale sets up a quest to save the enchanted Princess Silver Toes from the rival dragon Dallahan, aided by a prickly cave-gnome named Crubby. The opening of this story finds the Baxter children staging Arthurian games in a meadow beside a mysterious woodlot, where six-year-old Peter wanders into a cave and awakens a kindly green dragon who calls himself the last in the world. After the children warm to him (and Grandma welcomes him), their mother drives him away, and their father can’t see him at all; but before dawn the dragon taps at the nursery window and carries Johnathan, Janet Jane, Peter, the dogs, and Grandma (who floats down in her rocking chair) on a headlong ride “backwards” through history. They pass scenes from the past, reach a volcano so the dragon can “eat fire,” and retire to his vast cave home, where they meet the tiny, bossy Crubby. He reveals that the dragon’s enchanted companion, Princess Silver Toes, has been stolen, prompting the dragon to tell her backstory—from silver-dipped toes to a witch’s spell and a storm-swept escape. Learning that the kidnapper is Dallahan, the Irish dragon, the group resolves to rescue her and hurries to an armorer on the king’s highway, where Grandma, the children, and even the dogs are fitted with mail and swords, setting the quest in motion. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

"Marigold : A story by Edith Allonby" by Edith Allonby is a fantastical allegorical novel written in the early 20th century. Set in Lucifram—a contrarian shadow-world near Hell—the tale blends satire of religion and power with a fairy-tale sensibility. It follows Marigold, a spirited princess who disguises herself as a beggar to pursue and test the revered High Priest Alphonso, while the enigmatic St Armand and the coldly brilliant Prince Plucritus weave larger designs. The opening of Marigold introduces Lucifram’s ruler, Prince Plucritus, his glittering web over the world, and his austere consort Vestné, then pauses for a sharp interlude on Eve, obedience, and the making of woman. We see Plucritus and Vestné plot to strengthen their “net,” hinting at Alphonso’s role as a gatekeeper. The story then shifts to Marigold of Ellel, who, bored by luxury, dons rags to seek the High Priest’s attention, boldly begs him after vespers, and later faces his cool scrutiny in the Palace after a humiliating meal among the poor. A chance encounter in the Temple grounds with a small, chillingly charismatic stranger (St Armand) unsettles her, while her tender visit to a dying neighbor boy reveals her compassion. Parallel scenes show Alphonso and St Armand discussing a haunted Marble House and an old friend, and at dawn St Armand slips, catlike, through Friar’s Court to observe the sleeping Marigold, foreshadowing a contest of influence around her. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

"Tenhotar" by Hans von Kahlenberg is an epistolary novel written in the early 20th century. Through a correspondence between a romantic country nobleman and a skeptical city writer, it examines love, purity, and modern moral unrest. The story centers on Achim von Wustrow’s idealized devotion to the young Mathilde and the counterpoint of Herbert Gröndahl’s worldly, often cynical entanglements with fashionable Berlin society. The opening of the novel unfolds as alternating letters: Achim writes rapturously of first love, recounting a chaste mountain encounter with Mathilde, his respectful courtship within her family, and his resolve to be worthy of her innocence, even pressing for an early marriage. In sharp contrast, Herbert narrates how two schoolgirls seek him out, then begins a clandestine affair with one he nicknames “Hempukka,” dissecting her family’s ambitions and his own jaded attitudes while exposing the hypocrisies of urban life. Achim dreams of shared readings, patriotic duty, orderly home life, and fatherhood, guarding Mathilde from dubious influences. Herbert, meanwhile, oscillates between indulgence and moral disgust, turning their liaison into a study of decadence. This early exchange sets up the novel’s central tension between idealism and cynicism, country virtue and city corruption. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

"Evelyn Manwaring: A Tale of Hampton Court Palace" by Greville John Chester is a novel written in the late 19th century. It centers on the grace-and-favour world of Hampton Court and the storied, troubled Manwaring family, where pride of lineage collides with love, loyalty, and scandal. The main figures include gentle, steadfast Evelyn, her proud genealogist father, her soldier-brother Lionel, her brilliant younger brother Wilfred, and kind neighbors like Miss Sarah Strong and the Duchess of Ribblesdale. The opening of the story follows Evelyn’s fog-shrouded arrival at Hampton Court to take over Lady Glengriskin’s rooms, her private collapse of grief, and her rescue by her warm-hearted neighbor, Miss Sarah Strong, who feeds, comforts, and promises to present her to the Duchess. The narrative then turns to Holmcastle Manor in North Lancashire: the Manwarings’ ancient seat, the Squire’s consuming obsession with pedigree, and the children’s upbringing—Evelyn beloved as “the Lily of Arrow Dale,” Lionel a rising officer, and Wilfred a gifted youth. Sent to the tutor Dr. Massenger, Wilfred bonds with the young Duke of Ribblesdale and clashes with the slippery Augustus Cubleigh; after a visit to a local collector, stolen gold coins are “found” in Wilfred’s waistcoat, and he is falsely branded a thief. Cast out by his implacable father despite the Rector’s plea and Evelyn’s love, Wilfred leaves home in despair and disappears under an assumed name. As searches reveal he has sailed abroad, Massenger arrives at Holmcastle to confess that Wilfred’s innocence is proved and Cubleigh was the culprit, leaving the Squire devastated. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

"The way of a man: a story of the new woman" by Thomas Dixon Jr. is a novel written in the early 20th century. It follows Ellen West, a brilliant New York feminist editor whose attacks on marriage and advocacy of female independence collide with the allure of love and power as she attracts the author Randolph Field, the millionaire Edwin Brown, and the young journalist Ralph Manning. The book probes the clash between the New Woman’s ideals—sexual, economic, and spiritual autonomy—and the old order’s claims of romance, marriage, and possession. The opening of the novel finds Ellen hosting a triumphant Fifth Avenue reception after her election as a reform club’s president, where her manifesto against marriage and for “sex freedom” sets the tone. Field, her realist neighbor, confesses love on the roof and is coolly refused. Brown arrives uninvited; in a candid rooftop interview he first offers a lavish “free alliance,” then marriage, and is rejected on both counts. Ellen is then unexpectedly smitten with Manning, her friend’s Southern nephew, whose earnest ambition and freshness disarm her skepticism. As they meet nightly, she falls hard, while he wins a newspaper post and returns with a ring fashioned from his mother’s earrings, proposing ardently on the starlit roof. She reciprocates his love but refuses marriage on principle, arguing for a free, self-directed union, and their debate over love, freedom, and the “home” swells into a tense impasse as the opening section ends. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

"Where the Battle Was Fought" by Charles Egbert Craddock is a novel written in the late 19th century. Set on a haunted Tennessee battlefield during Reconstruction, it follows the proud but ruined General Vayne and his lively daughter Marcia as their isolated, mortgaged household intersects with Captain John Estwicke, a Union officer unsettled by the ground’s grim memories. In parallel, a financier, Maurice Brennett, and his improvident associate Travis scheme around an inheritance tied to Antoinette St. Pierre, stirring legal and moral peril. Expect a blend of Gothic atmosphere, postwar social tension, and intrigue over identity, honor, and property. The opening of the novel lingers on a ghost-rumored battlefield and a shattered mansion where General Vayne, Marcia, and Aunt Kirby receive Estwicke, whose uneasy reaction to “Fort Despair” hints at a hidden past; a ferryman later mistakes him for a dead Confederate officer who once burned the bridge there. In town, Estwicke befriends a young lawyer, Meredith, then catches a card-sharp cheating during a poker game at a hotel; with an unloaded pistol he forces the cheat to disgorge the winnings, only to reject the money in disgust. Meanwhile Brennett, captivated by Estwicke’s fierce presence, turns to urgent business: his partner Travis has been cut out of expected funds by a codicil favoring Antoinette St. Pierre, so they plot to regain value by pressing her to swap her city houses (clouded by a remainder-man’s title, John Doane Fortescue) for Travis’s plantations, or even to marry her, sweetening the approach with a storied family heirloom. These threads set a mood of ruin and calculation, establishing the central characters, tensions, and schemes without yet resolving them. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

"A golden thread by Marian Isabel Hurrell" is a children’s novel written in the early 20th century. It follows a close-knit family and their friends in a seaside village as they try to save their home, weaving themes of courage, kindness, and quiet Christian faith into everyday adventures. Eileen Bannister and her siblings—Teddy, Nora, and Frank—vow to help their father pay off the mortgage on The Gables. They befriend editor Derrick Charlton, who encourages Eileen’s writing, and cross paths with gruff Mr. Grimwood and his troubled nephew, Dick Woodbridge. Frank earns “promotion” after rescuing boys on a cliff; the children do a day’s garden work for Grimwood; Teddy is wrongly accused of a false fire alarm until Dick bravely confesses; and Dick later saves Nora from a train at a level crossing. In London, Eileen and Nora meet Miss Silver and little Cissie Vane, who is revealed to be Charlton’s lost niece. A charity sale prompts Frank to sacrifice his beloved puppy, a gift returned through Dick’s efforts. At a moonlit winter picnic, the children’s father arrives home just in time to pull Dick from broken ice. Dick’s earlier letter about the mortgage inspires a benefactor to clear the debt, and the family celebrate Christmas together, grateful for the “golden thread” of love, faith, and friendship that has guided them. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

"Durchs wilde Kurdistan" by Karl May is an adventure novel written in the late 19th century. Set among Kurdish tribes and the Yazidi community, it follows a European narrator known as the Emir and his loyal companion Hadschi Halef Omar as they navigate religious rites, tribal politics, and looming conflict with Ottoman forces. The story blends travel, intrigue, and tactically clever confrontations in a rugged, mountainous setting. The opening of the novel places the protagonists in the sacred valley of Sheikh Adi during a great Yazidi festival, vividly describing torchlit rites, music, and a symbolic rooster ceremony while tensions rise over an impending Ottoman assault. The Emir scouts mysterious lights, discovers an Ottoman mountain-artillery detachment, and—using deception and swift riders—captures the gunners and their four pieces without bloodshed, then has Yazidi cannoneers don Turkish uniforms to bait the enemy. As Ottoman troops under Miralai Omar Amed enter the valley, they are hit by their own reclaimed guns; the Emir briefly confronts the furious commander, brandishing imperial travel permits to avoid arrest, and narrowly dodges a shot. Parallel threads include Ali Bey’s disciplined preparations, the hidden evacuation to Idiz, Pir Kamek’s ominous talk of sacrifice, and the comic bravado of Buluk Emini Ifra, ending with the battle about to intensify. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

"Ei niin salattua, ettei ilmi tulisi : Tositapahtumiin perustuva kertomus" is a true-event-based novella written in the late 19th century. It appears to be a moral-crime tale set in a small German town, following a generous clockmaker with a hidden past and his devoted foster son as a shocking murder and a fraught investigation test loyalty, justice, and conscience. The opening of the novella introduces Selming, a respected and charitable mechanic–clockmaker living quietly in a South German town, who takes in an orphan, Herman, and trains him; the two form a deep, filial bond. Selming is found murdered, and suspicion falls on Herman after he leaves town early on a secret errand; fragments of a torn letter and a cache of money deepen suspicion. Brought before a conflicted judge, Herman refuses to reveal Selming’s private business, reacts in shock to a knife engraved “Hannu Lobe,” and finally, under torture, falsely confesses, then escapes from a secure cell with mysterious help before being recaptured and condemned. At the scaffold he proclaims his innocence, when an agitated man—Selming’s landlord—bursts in and confesses; he is revealed as Henrik Dorff, also known as Ditlev, an old criminal associate. The judge, now believing Herman, learns Selming’s secret past through papers: Selming was once Hannu Lobe, a repentant former thief whose life turned after a botched burglary, years as a soldier and clockmaker abroad, and a return devoted to restitution. Herman explains his journey and the torn letter were part of Selming’s discreet reparations, and that the prison break was aided by an unknown benefactor. The section closes with the judge disclosing that the landlord and Ditlev are the same man and the true murderer, clarifying the tangled case. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

"The Movie Boys in Peril: or, Strenuous Days Along the Panama Canal" by Victor Appleton is a juvenile adventure novel written in the early 20th century. It follows moving-picture operators Blake Stewart and Joe Duncan as they head to the Panama Canal to capture dramatic scenes—especially the feared Culebra Cut landslides—while a courteous but puzzling Spanish companion, Vigues Alcando, joins them to learn the trade. Expect travel, engineering spectacle, and light intrigue woven into brisk, boyish action. The opening of the book finds Blake and Joe on vacation when they spot a runaway horse and buggy headed for a broken bridge; after a high-speed chase on their new motorcycle, they pull the wrecked carriage back from the brink, saving driver Hank Duryee and a young Spaniard, Vigues Alcando. A delayed special-delivery letter from their employer, Mr. Hadley, reveals plans for the boys to film the Canal and a possibly imminent big slide at Culebra Cut, and Alcando—eager to learn moviemaking—asks to accompany them. In New York the boys get instructions from Hadley and Ringold, while Alcando’s behavior occasionally raises questions (a windblown note mentioning “big guns,” a secretive visitor, and a brass-bound ticking “alarm clock” he won’t explain). The trio sails for Colon; after a voyage marked by small suspicions and Alcando’s insistence on gratitude and helpfulness, they arrive in Panama and prepare to begin their filming. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

The movie boys at Seaside Park : or, The rival photo houses of the boardwalk by Victor Appleton is a juvenile adventure novel written in the early 20th century. It follows three enterprising boys—Frank Durham, Randy Powell, and Pepper “Pep” Smith—who try to launch a first-class motion picture playhouse at a bustling seaside resort, balancing daring rescues, business savvy, and looming rivalry. The opening of the novel finds the boys scouting Seaside Park’s boardwalk, spotting a prime vacant building, and impressing the landlord after Frank leads a swift rescue of passengers from a burning motorboat. Their brave act brings them to the attention of wealthy Mrs. Carrington, whose offered backing—arranged through her attorney—solves their funding hurdle, while her feckless nephew Peter proves a nuisance and potential rival. Old ally Ben Jolly arrives (with ventriloquist Hal Vincent in tow), helps set up frugal living quarters, and the team splits duties: Frank and Vincent go to New York for films and equipment, Jolly to Fairlands for their old gear, and Randy and Pep prepare the venue. A final incident sees Pep heroically saving a runaway baby carriage, injuring his wrist, and being whisked by a millionaire motorist to a Brenton mansion for expert care, while Randy tracks him down—leaving the show’s launch underway but not yet open. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

"Piraths Insel : Roman" by Norbert Jacques is a novel written in the early 20th century. It follows industrialist Peter Pirath as his marriage to the fierce, capricious Ree implodes, drawing him into public scandal and propelling him from a constricting bourgeois world toward an overseas venture linked to his coconut‑oil enterprise. With his pragmatic brother Hermann and the shady Larisch as foils, Peter wrestles with love, pride, and reputation under the gaze of a gossiping city. The story shifts from tense domestic drama to the promise of reinvention through travel and enterprise. The opening of the novel traces Peter’s attempt to rein in household extravagance, only for Ree to shoot her prized horses rather than sell them, after which he lashes out and she leaves. Hermann soon witnesses Ree’s reckless liaison with Larisch on the heath, triggering Peter’s resolve to seek a divorce as the city revels in gossip and the lawyer readies a legal case; Ree alternates between defiance and attempts at reconciliation. Peter grows alienated and unproductive, while Hermann channels him into a purposeful escape: a long journey that doubles as a plan to expand their copra business from Ceylon to the South Seas; Larisch’s suicide hardens this break. The section closes with Peter embarking at Genoa, already turning from scandal to the wider world as shipboard life begins. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

"The silver dial, volume 2 (of 3)" by Mary C. Rowsell is a novel written in the late 19th century. Set around the making of a great cathedral clock, it follows the mathematician Conrad Dasipodius, the gentle Sabina von Steinbach, the brilliant and volatile artist Radegund von Steinbach, and the vain Otto von Steinbach as pride, secrecy, and civic politics collide. The story turns on a concealed blindness, a lost letter, and the pressures of public fame, weaving romance and workshop intrigue into a historical drama. The opening of this volume centers on a single letter and its disastrous consequences. Radegund, handling a message from Sabina to Conrad, leaves it unsealed; Otto snoops, discovers the revelation that Conrad is blind, and engineers a public reading in the Horologe workshop, provoking Conrad’s stumble and head injury and forcing him to confess his blindness to his stunned team. Shaken, Conrad meets Sabina in the street and mistakes her shocked silence for rejection; he later seeks care from his friend Dr. Bruno Wolkenberg, who knows Sabina had privately confirmed the truth but believes she still loves Conrad—yet the letter goes missing, and suspicions deepen. Isaac Habrecht quells a near-riot among the apprentices after Otto tries to turn them against their master, while across the city gossip explodes and the Town Council convenes in indignation, leaving Conrad’s reputation and the great clock project under threat. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

"The silver dial, volume 1 (of 3)" by Mary C. Rowsell is a historical novel written in the late 19th century. Set in old Strassburg, it follows the gifted young mathematician Conrad Dasipodius as he takes on the rebuilding of the cathedral’s famed clock, while navigating class boundaries, civic pride, and a perilous secret. Around him orbit Sabina von Steinbach, the Burgomaster’s gentle daughter he loves; Otto von Steinbach, his vain rival; and Radegund von Steinbach, a brilliant, willful artist. Themes of ambition, love, jealousy, and the cost of genius drive this city tale of craft and conscience. The opening of the novel introduces Conrad’s rise under the mentorship of the Benedictine mechanist Chretei Herlin, the failure of Strassburg’s ancient cathedral clock, and the city’s contest to create a grand replacement. Though Herlin’s design is chosen, he soon appoints Conrad as his successor before dying, leaving the young man to lead the project. Meanwhile Conrad and Sabina fall quietly in love despite her father’s objections and Otto’s thwarted suit; they pledge to wait. Radegund’s celebrated painting hints at her fierce nature and interest in Conrad, and through the surgeon Bruno the reader learns of Conrad’s failing sight—a secret Radegund confronts him with at Herlin’s grave, driving him to despair as she vows to keep it hidden. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

The Master Craftsman by Walter Besant is a novel written in the late 19th century. It interweaves a Wapping legend of a lost bag of jewels with a contemporary London story about sudden poverty, temptation, and ambition. The likely focus is on Sir George Burnikel, his politically astute friend Lady Frances, and his determined cousin Robert, as money, class, and duty pull them toward an old mystery and new careers. The opening of the novel sets the hook with a prologue in 1804 Wapping: the tavern-haunting sailor John Burnikel flaunts a bag of gems he claims came from an Indian monarch, shows it to his grand-nephews, then dies; the nephews tear his cottage apart, can’t find the treasure, quarrel, and part in bitterness. Shifting to the present day, young Sir George learns his father has squandered the family fortune; a solicitor urges him to “marry money” or find a career, while Lady Frances presses him toward politics and even offers funds—offers he refuses. George is then visited by a strikingly similar-looking cousin, Robert, a Wapping boat-builder who believes in the family jewel-legend and seeks practical help to enter Parliament as an Independent; George agrees to find out how, and goes down to Wapping, where the river’s history and Execution Dock frame the path back to the family’s origins and the dormant mystery. (This is an automatically generated summary.)