Hard Times
Charles Dickens, 1854.
In the smoky factory town of Coketown, Mr. Gradgrind raises his children on nothing but facts, with no room for imagination or feelings. Dickens shows what happens to them, and to the town's workers, and contrasts it all with the warm-hearted circus folk.
Public-domain text. First published in 1854; Charles Dickens died in 1870, so this text is in the public domain in the US, Canada, the EU and India. Summary and notes written by ViralScopeHub.