With an Introduction and Notes by Dr Nicola Bradbury, University of Reading. This simple and haunting story captures the transcience of life and its surrounding emotions. To the Lighthouse is the most autobiographical of Virginia Woolf's novels. It is based on her own early experiences, and while it touches on childhood and children's perceptions and desires, it is at its most trenchant when exploring adult relationships, marriage and the changing class-structure in the period spanning the Great War.
Sam Gilpin Book order (chronological)




Walden
- 464 pages
- 17 hours of reading
This handsome, affordable paperback edition is based on the original 1854 edition with emendations taken from Thoreau's draft manuscripts, his own markings on page proofs, and notes in his personal copy of the book.
Jane Eyre
- 447 pages
- 16 hours of reading
Orphaned Jane Eyre grows up in the home of her heartless aunt and later attends a charity school with a harsh regime, enduring loneliness and cruelty. This troubled childhood strengthens Jane's natural independence and spirit - which prove necessary when she finds a position as governess at Thornfield Hall.However, when she finds love with her sardonic employer, Rochester, the discovery of his terrible secret forces her to make a choice. Should she stay with him and live with the consequences, or follow her convictions, even if it means leaving the man she loves? A novel of intense power and intrigue, Jane Eyre (1847) dazzled and shocked readers with its passionate depiction of a woman's search for equality and freedom.
A Tale of Two Cities
- 90 pages
- 4 hours of reading
Set during the French Revolution, the two cities in question are Paris and London and the tale is one of the tragedies that take place therein.