Oxford world's classics

First published in 1778, this novel of manners tells the story of Evelina, a young woman raised in rural obscurity who is thrust into London’s fashionable society at the age of eighteen. There, she experiences a sequence of humorous events that teach her how quickly she must learn to navigate social snobbery and veiled aggression. As an innocent young woman, she deals with embarrassing relations, being beautiful in an image-conscious world, and falling in love with the wonderfully eligible Lord Orville.

This tale of capitalist exploitation and rebellion is set amid the exotic scenery of South America and uses flashback and glimpses of the future to depict the lure of silver and its effects on man.

Billee is an English artist living in Paris, where he meets and falls in love with Trilby, a half-Irish model. Differences in class come between them but Trilby is taught to sing by the mysterious Svengali and becomes a famous entertainer.