Fiction

O. Henry’s classic 1905 Christmas story in an elegant gift hardback with illustrations. A treasure for readers of any age.

This sentimental holiday classic follows a young married couple and the sacrifices made to purchase cherished gifts for each other only to discover the true gift of Christmas is not found in objects but in their own devoted love. 

The Applewood Holiday Classics series presents some of the most beloved holiday short stories in a warm, elegant hardback edition with attractive illustrations. Perfect as a cherished seasonal book or a holiday gift for any occasion.

William Faulkner’s short story “The Bear” was first published in the May 9, 1942 issue of The Saturday Evening Post.  The piece—considered one of the best short stories of the twentieth century—is a coming-of-age tale that weaves together themes of family, race, and the taming of the wilderness, as the young main character learns to hunt and track the huge bear known as Old Ben. 

This short work in an elegant hardback gift edition is part of Applewood’s “American Roots,” series, tactile mementos of American passions by some of America’s most famous writers and thinkers.

From the best-selling author of Giant and So Big, a sweeping look at the lives of three generations of women on Chicago's South Side. Part of Belt's Revivals series and with a new introduction by Kathleen Rooney (Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk).First published in 1921, Edna Ferber's The Girls revolves around the three Charlottes of the Thrift family--Great-Aunt Charlotte, her niece Lottie, and Lottie's niece Charley. All single old maids, as the narrator describes them, their lives weave together as they deal with issues involving money, work, friendship, family, and love as they strive to join Chicago's growing middle class in the early twentieth century. With a historic span that travels from the Civil War to World War I, Ferber highlights how the three generations of Charlottes lead very different lives. But we also see the ways their experiences rhyme with one another and how, despite the social advances in America, as Kathleen Rooney writes in her introduction, all three have to confront a sexist and claustrophobic societal atmosphere in which any little act of self-assertion can feel like a leap from a precipice. Told through Ferber's assured and generous style, and full of her signature strong female characters, this rediscovered American classic deserves a spot on the shelf next to other great Chicago novels like Sister Carrie and The Adventures of Augie March.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's The House of the Seven Gables is a classic of American literature, written by one of the country's greatest writers. First published in 1851, the book is set in a mansion not unlike his cousin's many-gabled home in Salem, Massachusetts, which Hawthorne visited regularly.  Caroline O. Emmerton's introductory note to this 1913 edition details the history of the house, from its construction circa 1668 to its purchase and restoration by Emmerton in the early 1900s. Emmerton founded the House of the Seven Gables Settlement Association in 1910, to serve the growing population of immigrant factory workers flocking to Salem. To help fund the Settlement House, the mansion opened its doors to the public as a museum, also in 1910.  This edition is illustrated with 16 photographs of interior and exterior views of the house.

From W.E.B. Dubois’ 1903 The Souls of Black Folk, this excerpt is a moving account of the short life and tragic death of his first-born son. In it is the wonder of creation, the bond between mother and child, the awakening love of a parent for his offspring, and the reality of a father of color seeing freedom in the loss. “Well sped, my boy, before the world had dubbed your ambition insolence, had held your ideals unattainable, and taught you to cringe and bow. Better far this nameless void that stops my life than a sea of sorrow for you.” This short work is part of Applewood’s “American Roots,” series, tactile mementos of American passions by some of America’s most famous writers and thinkers.