Upper School Extended Reading

Widen your reading…

Upper School Extended Reading

Persuasion Jane Austen

FIC AUS

Austen’s last completed novel marries witty social realism to a 'Cinderella' love story. Anne Elliot, 27 and still single, seems destined for spinsterhood. In her youth, she broke off an engagement to Captain Wentworth. But when he returns from the Napoleonic wars rich and famous, Anne finds her affection rekindled...

Rebecca Daphne du Maurier

FIC DUM

Working as a lady's companion, the orphaned heroine of Rebecca learns her place. Life begins to look very bleak until she meets Maxim de Winter. Whisked away to his estate on the Cornish Coast, the new Mrs de Winter finds Max a changed man. And the memory of his dead wife Rebecca is forever kept alive by the forbidding Mrs Danvers . . .

Middlemarch George Eliot

FIC ELI

George Eliot’s writing explores nearly every subject of concern to modern life: art, religion, science, politics, self, society, human relationships. Middlemarch is the quintessential Victorian novel and among her characters are some of the most remarkable portraits in English literature.

The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald

FIC GAT

Through the narration of Nick Carraway, the reader is taken into the superficially glittering world of the mansions which lined the Long Island shore in the 1920s. Here, the reader encounters Nick's cousin Daisy, her brash but wealthy husband Tom Buchanan and the mysterious Jay Gatsby.

A Passage to India E. M. Forster

FIC FOR

Adela and Mrs Moore feel trapped in the Anglo-Indian society of Chandrapore. Determined to explore the 'real India', they seek the guidance of the charming Dr Aziz, a cultivated Indian Muslim.

But a mysterious incident occurs and the doctor soon finds himself at the centre of a scandal that rouses violent passions among the British and their Indian subjects.

Catch 22 Joseph Heller

FIC HEL

Set in the closing months of World War II, Yossarian is furious. His real problem is not the enemy; it’s his own army which demands more and more of its soldiers. If Yossarian makes any attempts to excuse himself from the perilous missions then he is caught in Catch22: if he flies he is crazy, and doesn't have to; but if he doesn't want to he must be sane and has to. That's some catch...

Ted Hughes Poems selected by Simon Armitage

Poetry

821 HUG

Right from the beginning, Ted Hughes wrote in a way that set him apart from his contemporaries, as Simon Armitage puts it in his introduction. By the time he published his final collection he had become a colossus on the literary landscape.

Brave New World Aldous Huxley

FIC HUX

Far in the future, the World Controllers have created the ideal society. Through clever use of genetic engineering and brainwashing all its members are happy consumers. Bernard Marx seems alone harbouring an illdefined longing to break free. A visit to one of the few remaining Savage Reservations where the old, imperfect life still continues, may be the cure for his distress...

Metamorphosis and Other Stories Franz Kafka This collection includes: Metamorphosis, an exploration of horrific transformation and alienation; Meditation, a collection of Kafka’s earlier studies; The Judgement, written in a single night of frenzied creativity and other works. Together, these stories reveal the breadth of Kafka's literary vision and the extraordinary imaginative depth of his thought.

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, John le CarrĂŠ

FIC LEC

Alec Leamas is tired. It's the 1960s, he's been out in the cold for years, spying in the shadow of the Berlin Wall. He has seen too many good agents murdered for their troubles.

Now, Control wants to bring him in but only after one final assignment.

He must travel deep into the heart of Communist Germany and betray his country...

Suite Française Irène Némirovsky

FIC NEM

Set during the year that France fell to the Nazis, Suite Française falls into two parts. The first centres around a group of Parisians as they flee the Nazi invasion; the second follows the inhabitants of a small rural community under occupation.

However, amidst the mess of defeat, and all the hypocrisy, there is hope.

Nineteen Eighty-Four George Orwell

FIC ORW

Hidden away in the Record Department, Winston Smith rewrites the past for the Party. Yet he inwardly rebels against his totalitarian world, which controls him through the all-seeing telescreens and the watchful eye of Big Brother. In his longing for truth and liberty, Smith begins a secret love affair with a fellow-worker, but discovers the price of freedom in his world is betrayal.

All Quiet on the Western Front Erich Maria Remarque

FIC REM

In 1914 a room full of German schoolboys, fresh-faced and idealistic, are goaded by their schoolmaster to troop off to the 'glorious war'. With the fire and patriotism of youth, they sign up.

What follows is the moving story of a young 'unknown soldier' experiencing the horror and disillusionment of life in the trenches.

Christina Rossetti Selected Poems

Poetry

821 ROS

Christina Rossetti is widely regarded as one of the most considerable poets in England before the 20th century. Rossetti’s inner life dominates her poetry, exploring loss and unattainable hope. No reading of 19th century poetry can be complete without attention to this prolific and popular poet.

The Catcher in the Rye J. D. Salinger

FIC SAL

A 16-year-old American boy relates in his own words the experiences he goes through at school and after, and reveals with unusual candour the workings of his own mind. What does a boy in his teens think and feel about his teachers, parents, friends and acquaintances?

The Eagle (previously The Eagle of the Ninth) Rosemary Sutcliff

FIC SUT

In 117AD, the Ninth Legion marched into the mists of northern Britain... and were never seen again. Marcus Aquila, son of the legion's commander sets out to solve this strange mystery and clear his father's name. But his quest will take him deep into British territory in disguise, through territory so dangerous that no one expects he will return.

Frankenstein Mary Shelley

FIC SHE

Shelley's suspenseful and intellectually rich gothic tale confronts some of the most important and enduring themes in all of literature. Shelley draws attention to: the power of human imagination, the potential hubris of science, the gulf between appearance and essence, the effects of human cruelty, the desire for revenge and the need for forgiveness and much more.

The Fellowship of the Ring J. R. R. Tolkien

FIC TOL

In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as his elderly cousin Bilbo entrusts the Ring to his care. Frodo must leave his home and make a perilous journey across Middle Earth to destroy the Ring and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose.

The War of the Worlds H. G. Wells

FIC WEL

When a strange, meteor-like object lands in England, the inhabitants of Earth find themselves victims of a terrible attack. A ruthless race of Martians, armed with heat rays and poisonous smoke, is intent on destroying everything that stands in its way. As the unnamed hero struggles to find his way across decimated wastelands, the fate of the planet hangs in the balance . . .

The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde

Play

FIC WIL

Wilde's “trivial play for serious people� is a sparkling comedy of manners. This satire pits sincerity against style, barbed witticisms against ostentatious elegance.

Wilde's brilliantly constructed plot and famous dialogue enrich the appeal of his celebrated characters, as he turns accepted ideas inside out and situations upside down.

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Book descriptions taken from The Book Trust, Amazon and Waterstones websites. .