First published in 1903 and hugely popular at the time, ‘The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft’ by George Gissing is structured as a series of diary entries. The diary keeper...

‘A Mother of Monsters’ is a dark and disturbing story. The narrator is visiting his friend, and they walk along the seafront. As their conversation continues, the friend tells...

Stories of her arrogance and extravagance fanned the flames of revolution. But did Marie Antoinette really deserve her reputation?Alexandre Dumas seeks to find an answer in “The...

Buried treasure. An abandoned cemetery. An inexperienced gravedigger. What could go wrong? When Jefferson Doman learns of a generous treasure left by an old friend, he locates the...

‘The Stolen White Elephant’ is a funny and satirical short story, following the investigations of Inspector Blunt when a pale pachyderm is stolen. Gifted from a king to a...

Teeming with dark humour, supernatural elements, and hard-to-believe situations, Nikolai Gogol’s “Collected Stories” is a highest form of short story fiction. With stories...

“With all my soul I longed to be in a position to join with the people in performing the rites of their faith, but I could not do it. I felt that I would be lying to myself,...

What would you give for a conversation with Socrates? Vladimir Korolenko’s short story ‘The Shades’ is as close as it gets. It follows a conversation between Socrates and...

John Sands desperately needs a bribe. Fast. When an escaped convict turns up on his sofa one morning, John thinks he has found his luck. But will one criminal mind to another be...

The earliest collection of short stories from Edith Wharton, ‘The Greater Inclination’ documents the beginning of an outstanding literary career. The book contains seven short...