Authors
Authors
Short, checked lives of the writers behind our books in short, with their main works and the best place to start.
Jane Austen1775 to 1817. Jane Austen wrote six novels about love, money and manners among English country families. Two hundred years later they still feel sharp, funny and true.
Mary Shelley1797 to 1851. Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein before she turned 20, and with it helped invent science fiction. Her own life was as dramatic as her books.
Herman Melville1819 to 1891. Herman Melville went to sea as a young man and turned what he saw into Moby-Dick. The book puzzled readers at first. Today it is one of the most famous novels in the world.
F. Scott Fitzgerald1896 to 1940. F. Scott Fitzgerald became famous at 23 and wrote The Great Gatsby at 28. His stories of parties, money and lost dreams defined the 1920s, a time he called the Jazz Age.Frequently asked questions
Which authors are covered?
Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, Herman Melville and F. Scott Fitzgerald so far. More will follow as we add books.
Where can I read these authors for free?
Their public-domain books are free on Project Gutenberg. Some later works, such as Fitzgerald's Tender Is the Night (1934), are still under US copyright.
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Published 2026-10-27. Last checked 2026-10-27.