A Woman of Substance

With her unforgettable heroine Emma Harte, Bradford popularized the rags-to-riches family saga. More

The Other Boleyn Girl

The Tudor court seen as never before; this take on the Boleyn sisters reinvented the historical novel. More

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1943), a story about growing up poor in turn-of-the-century Brooklyn, was originally an entry for a Harper & Brothers memoir contest. More

Social Change: Civil Rights

Beginning with This Is My Story (1937), Harper & Brothers published many works by Eleanor Roosevelt that promoted civil rights and the need for government action, including This I Remember (1949), On My Own (1958), and Tomorrow Is Now (1963). More

Rosemary Sullivan

I write out of compulsion. “The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner,” as Alan Sillitoe remarked—the exhilaration and discipline of the run; the finish line unknown until you get there. More

The Hours

Winner of the 1999 Pulitzer Prize and PEN/Faulkner Award; made into an Oscar-winning film. More

Ariel

Plath’s landmark poetry collection; includes “Ariel,” “Daddy,” and “Lady Lazarus.” More

Agatha Christie

The house of Collins acquired “Queen of Crime” Agatha Christie after she disagreed with her former publisher over the spelling of “coco”/”cocoa” in her first book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. More

Just Kids

Legendary artist Patti Smith’s critically acclaimed memoir; winner of the National Book Award. More