19th century -- fiction

First published in 1854 by a Trinidadian jurist of mixed race, this swashbuckling story follows a creole pirate as he seeks revenge against his white, rich, sugar plantation owner father for dishonoring his black mother. An eBook.

As commander-in-chief of His Majesty's ships and vessels in the West Indies, Admiral Hornblower faces pirates, revolutionaries, and a blistering hurricane in the chaotic aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars.

1896 Manhattan is awash in grotesquely mutilated corpses. An alienist (19th century term for psychologist) and a New York Times reporter join forces with chief of police Theodore Roosevelt to put pay to the monster against a backdrop of decadence and corruption. Angel of Darkness is the sequel.

To Sherlock Holmes, she was always "the woman," and truly she was the only woman he ever believed his equal, having smartly outwitted him in "A Scandal in Bohemia." Accompanied by her faithful chronicler, Penelope Huxleigh, this bold American actress mends a broken heart after solving the most regal of crimes.
First of the Irene Adler series.

It was the time of the Great Game of European powers. Spies and soldiers traded information, risking betrayal and death. Into this unsettled territory trips Amelia Peabody, intrepid heiress and would-be Egyptologist.
First of the Amelia Peabody series.
Also available as an audiobook.

Captain Ahab's obsessive quest to destroy the great white whale that tore off his leg leads the Pequod and its crew to disaster.

In an exciting novel set in the age of sail, one of the first Scotsmen to command a ship in Nelson's navy battles Spanish and French enemies, as well dangerous seas and his volatile crew, to establish a reputation for himself.

In this epic, the Chesapeake Bay region gets Michener's novel treatment. From Indians to religious pilgrims, from pirates to slave holders, from Quakers to desperate Irish immigrants, the people come in and make their mark on the windy marshes and tidal basins of the Chesapeake Bay.

Fifteen-year-old Miss Penelope Lumley, a recent graduate of the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, is hired as governess to three young children who have been raised by wolves and must teach them to behave in a civilized manner quickly, in preparation for a Christmas ball.
First of a series.