Books like The Californians by Gertrude Atherton

Taggish the famed canine hero of Jack London’s classic adventure, The Call of the Wild, is uprooted from a comfortable home in California and forced into brutal sled work in the Yukon, where he must confront survival, the call of wilderness, and the pull of his wolf ancestry.

Craig of the Mohicans, a frontier scout turns away from civilization, forming a bond with a Mohican warrior as they escort two sisters across the perilous wilderness of America's frontier.

Mark Twain’s 1891 autobiography, first published in 1872, chronicles his travels through the American West, mining towns, and California, offering humor and keen observations of frontier life.

Set in 1905 England, The Edwardians follows the contrasting lives of brother Sebastian and sister Viola as they navigate the glittering highs and looming decline of aristocratic society, exploring tradition, love, and rebellion.

In 1910, the Melville sisters—Jessica, eager for London society, and Phyllis, longing for university—discover that the Great War and a mysterious visitor, Oskar Grunewald, will reshape their lives and the world they once knew.

A 19th‑century historical romance that follows a love story set against the backdrop of Native American struggles in the early American West.

Edwin Bryant made the journey from Independence, Missouri to California in the years 1846-47, through the southern pass of the Rocky Mountains and across the desert. As a medical student, he became an unofficial doctor along the way, and witnessed some gruesome scenes, like the amputation of a little boy’s gangrenous leg, which he describes in painful scientific detail. He is equally explicit when portraying the daily life of the wagon trip, and his prose illuminates the trials of the traveler: *"During the process of cooking supper, it commenced raining and blowing with great violence. Our fire was nearly extinguished by the deluge of water from the clouds, and our dough was almost turned to batter..."* Bryant intended his work to function as both entertainment to the general reader and instruction for those planning to follow his path, and the book is a repository of useful information, like distances, weather, water source locations, and descriptions of plant life. As such, it is invaluable to enthusiasts of Western history. It is also a really good story, with entertaining sketches of camp life, Indians, and animals. Bryant’s descriptions of the landscapes are particularly compelling: *"The vast prairie itself soon opened before us in all its grandeur and beauty...The view of the illimitable succession of green undulations and flowery slopes, of every gentle and graceful configuration, stretching away and away, until they fade from the sight in the dim distance, creates a wild and scarcely controllable ecstasy of admiration."* The variety of Bryant’s adventures is striking – in one day he is present at a death, a wedding, a funeral, and a birth. He is often nearly overwhelmed by the functions of nature going on around him, and is particularly moved by the continuous presence of death: *"One of our party who left the train to hunt through the valley, brought into camp this evening a human skull. He stated that the place where he found it was whitened with human bones. Doubtless this spot was the scene of some Indian massacre, or a battle-field where hostile tribes had met and destroyed each other. I could learn no explanatory tradition; but the tragedy, whatever its occasion, occurred many years ago."* **What I Saw in California** is the classic yet remarkable adventure of a young man heading west, well-written and full of historically useful information.

After a stay in Italy, Lady Julia returns to her Sussex estate, only to discover a murder at a nearby abbey. With private investigator Nicholas Brisbane, she navigates intrigue, family secrets and a snowbound conspiracy to uncover the killer before another tragedy.

In December 1925, a winter circus takes over Benachally Castle in Perthshire, and when the show turns lethal, a mysterious investigation unfolds amid acrobatics, juggling and the looming threat of death.

A first‑hand memoir of Isabella L. Bird’s travels through the Rocky Mountains, conveyed in personal letters to her sister.

Available for the first time in enriched e-book format, this edition offers visual and historical insights into Susanna Moodie's writing via electronic weblinks. Like a full-colour footnote, select words and phrases throughout the book are links to websites that contain a wealth of additional information, pictures, definitions and historical information that gives context to the text. Now, with the click of a mouse, you can investigate the world of Moodie's Upper Canada without having to leave your screen.Roughing It in the Bush, first published in 1852, helped to destroy British illusions about life in Upper Canada. Susanna Moodie described a life of backbreaking labour, poverty, and hardship on a pioneer farm in the colonial wilderness. Her sharp observations, satirical character sketches, and moments of despair and terror were a startling contrast to the widely circulated optimistic accounts of life in British North America, written to entice readers across the Atlantic.The spontaneity, wit, and candour of Moodie's account of life on a backwoods farm give Roughing It in the Bush enduring appeal."Roughing It in the Bush" is an extraordinarily detailed record of pioneer life. It is also a journey of exploration and revelation into Moodie's own character, as we watch her grow from ill-prepared immigrant to spirited survivor."—Charlotte Gray

Nancy Mitford’s witty debut, *The Pursuit of Love*, follows the eccentric Radlett family of Alconleigh as they navigate marriage, romance, and the looming shadows of World War II, offering a sharp satire of 20th-century English aristocracy.

Barbara Comford, a sixteen‑year‑old noblewoman, is wed to Marcus, Viscount Reyne, under her father's command. Her husband absconds to fight Napoleon and returns eight years later, confronting questions of marriage and duty.

A tale of revenge and passion on the opulent Fifth Avenue of New York City, featuring the captivating Nina De Bonnard and the dashing rogue Jordan Windsor, where a woman's true love and her pursuit of revenge collide with the world of opulence and decadence.

Last Hours follows an upper-class English family as they confront the Black Death and a strict quarantine in the midst of a devastating epidemic that threatens to upend their livelihood and social ties.

An English tourist impersonates a new king in a fictitious European Kingdom of Ruritania, leading to political intrigue and a thrilling adventure set in 1894.

In eighteenth‑century England, under‑cook Biddy Leigh accompanies her new mistress to Italy, uncovering recipes, secrets and a murderous conspiracy inside Mawton Hall’s kitchens.