Ocean State Libraries

The captain of the HMS Bounty, William Bligh, was a competent seaman, but a harsh disciplinarian. This prompts his crew to mutiny, setting him adrift in the South Pacific. The crew returns to the tropical paradise of Tahiti, while Bligh survives an astounding journey back to England. This novel is based on the incredible true story.

Jane Eyre ranks as one of the greatest and most perennially popular works of English fiction. Although the poor but plucky heroine is outwardly of plain appearance, she possesses an indomitable spirit, a sharp wit and great courage. She is forced to battle against the exigencies of a cruel guardian, a harsh employer and a rigid social order. All of which circumscribe her life and position when she becomes governess to the daughter of the mysterious,...

"One of the best mysteries of all time" (The New York Times)—Josephine Tey recreates one of history's most famous—and vicious—crimes in her classic bestselling novel, a must read for connoisseurs of fiction, now with a new introduction by Robert Barnard.
Inspector Alan Grant of Scotland Yard, recuperating from a broken leg, becomes fascinated with a contemporary portrait of Richard III that bears no resemblance to...

Anderson was an African-American contralto and one of the most celebrated singers of the 20th century. She became an important figure in the struggle for black artists to overcome racial prejudice in the United States during the mid-twentieth century. In 1939, she was refused permission to sing to an integrated audience in Constitution Hall. With the aid of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and her husband Franklin D. Roosevelt, Anderson performed an open-air...

This vintage book contains Rudyard Kipling's 1897 novel, "Captains Courageous". A fifteen-year-old boy called Harvey Cheyne Jr. is rescued by a Portuguese sailor in the North Atlantic. After refusing to deliver Harvey to the nearest port, the captain of the boat suggests that the boy join the crew on their fishing trip, which turns out to be full of adventures and travails. This book is highly recommended for those who have read and enjoyed other...

A gloomy New England mansion provides the setting for this classic exploration of ancestral guilt and its expiation through the love and goodwill of succeeding generations. Nathaniel Hawthorne drew inspiration for this story of an immorally obtained property from the role his forebears played in the 17th-century Salem witch trials. Built over an unquiet grave, the House of the Seven Gables carries a dying man's curse that blights the lives of its...