The Essential Reads

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë chapter 5, narrated by Isaac Birchall Subscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :D https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads https://www.patreon.com/theessentialreads https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/join SUMMARY: Time goes on and Mr Earnshaw becomes ill and weak. Disgusted at his son's treatment of Heathcliff, Earnshaw sends Hindley away to college. Joseph starts to take advantage of his master's frailness, and his religious views allow him to exert some power over him. Soon, Mr Earnshaw passes away and Catherine and Earnshaw turn to religious for comfort. They discuss heaven, and await the return of Hindley, the new master of the house.

The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle chapter 4 The Story of the Bald-Headed man, narrated by Isaac Birchall Subscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :D https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads https://www.patreon.com/theessentialreads https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/join SUMMARY: After being led down the hall and into a wonderfully furnished room, the Holmes, Watson, and miss Morstan meet Thaddeus Sholto, a odd, twitching 30 year old man. Thaddeus lets slip that Captain Morstan is indeed dead which agitates Miss Morstan and angers Watson. Thaddeus then goes on to explain that he and his twin brother had a disagreement, and that they will all go visit him later. Thaddeus then tells the story of his father's return to England from India with a small fortune, but adds that Major Sholto had a fear of men with wooden legs. In early 1882, Major Sholto received a letter from India that shocked his nerves, and rattled his health. By the end of April, he was dying, and he told his sons about Miss Morstan, and the guilt that he felt for never including her in the fortune that was rightfully half hers. He asked his children to give Morstan her fair share of the treasure, and to send her some pearls too. Just as he was about to tell his sons where the treasure was hidden, a face at the window caused Sholto to die on the spot from the shock of it. He and his brother searched all over for the treasure and only found it the day before, and he and his brother argued over what should be done with it. As he finished his tale, the 4 of them got up, and made their way to Pondicherry Lodge, the home of Thaddeus' brother Bartholomew.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë chapter 4, narrated by Isaac Birchall Subscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :D https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.patreon.com/theessentialreads https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/join SUMMARY: After spending a day in Solitude, Lockwood becomes lonely. When the house keeper Nelly Dean brings him supper, he wonders if she is a gossip, and tries to get her to talk about Wuthering Heights and its owner. She clarifies the relations between the tennants, explaining that the Catherine that Lockwood met, is the daughter of the Catherine who was Nelly's first mistress at Wuthering Heights, and that Hareton Earnshaw is her cousin, and the nephew of the deceased Catherine. Cathy is the last of the Linton's and Earnshaw, the last of his line too.Nelly continues her story of her early years at Wuthering Heights. When Catherine and Hindley were young, their father went on a trip to Liverpool, and came back with Heathcliff, bundled in his coat. Mr Earnshaw declared that Heathcliff would be raised as a member of their family. Both Catherine and Hindley resent Heathcliff at first, but Catherine very quickly grows to love him. Catherine and Heathcliff become inseparable, and Hindley's hate only grows, and he himself becomes unfavorable in his father's eyes. Mrs Earnshaw dies two years after Heathcliff's arrival at Wuthering Heights, and Hindley now alone in his dislike of the new family member.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë chapter 3, narrated by Isaac Birchall Subscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :D https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads https://www.patreon.com/theessentialreads https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/join SUMMARY: Zillah takes Lockwood to an out-of-the-way room which Heathcliff has forbidden from visitors. Lockwood notices that someone has scratched the name "Catherine Earnshaw, Catherine Linton, and Catherine Heathcliff" into the paint on the ledge of the bed. He also finds a diary, dated some 25 years ago written in the margins of several books. The Diary seems to have belonged to Catherine Earnshaw, and Lockwood reads about a day at Wuthering Heights soon after her father died, on which her older brother Hindley forced her and Heathcliff to listen to Joseph give a sermon. Catherine and Heathcliff, it seems, were very close, and Hindley seems to have Hated Heathcliff. Lockwood falls asleep and has a pair of nightmares. He awakes from the second when a cone from a branch begins tapping on his window. Still half asleep he tried to break the branch by forcing his hand through the glass of the window, but his hand is grabbed by a phantom one. A voice sobbing the name Catherine Linton asks to be let it. Linton, scared out of his wits, rakes the ghostly hands through the broken glass and tries to barricade the window with books. The books fall however, causing Lockwood to scream, rousing Heathcliff, who charges into the room. Lockwood leaves the room, but hears Heathcliff call out to Catherine, asking her to come home. Heathcliff, once the sun has risen, escorts Lockwood back to the threshold of Thrushcross Grange, where Lockwood retreats to his room to be alone.

The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle chapter 3 In Quest of a Solution, narrated by Isaac Birchall Subscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :D https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads https://www.patreon.com/theessentialreads https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/join SUMMARY: Holmes comes back to 221b Baker Street in good spirits. He tells Watson that he has figured out that the pearls have something to do with Major Sholto, who, he discovered died the same week that Miss Morstan started receiving them. He figures that Sholto's heir knows something, and wants to compensate for it. When Miss Morstan arrives, the trio get into the cab, Holmes making sure to take his revolver with him. In the cab, miss Morstan provides Holmes with some additional papers full of allusions to her father and Major Sholto's time together. On one of the papers is a strange symbol, a small red cross, the words "the sign of the four," and the names Jonathan Small, Mahomet Singh, Abdullah Khan, Dost Akbar. When they arrive at the theatre, they are approached by a man who asks for Miss Morstan, and he asks her to confirm that Holmes and Watson are not police. He then takes them to another cab, and on mounting, takes them on a winding, twisting journey across London. When they finally arrive at their destination, they are greeted by a man at the door, and a young child-like voice from within.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë chapter 1, narrated by Isaac Birchall Subscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :D https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads https://www.patreon.com/theessentialreads https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/join SUMMARY: On a cold afternoon not long after his arrival, Lockwood makes his way towards Wuthing Heights, arriving just as a small snow starts to fall. He knocks on the door but no one lets him in, and Joseph, the old grounds keeper, calls out in a heavy accent that Heathcliff isn't in the house. After a while, a rough looking man lets him in the house, and Lockwood goes into the sitting room where he sees a gorgeous girl sitting besides the fire. Lockwood assumes that she is Heathcliff's wife. He tries to talk to her, but the girl responds very dryly. When Heathcliff arrives, he informs Lockwood that the girl is his daughter in law. Lockwood then assumes that the man that let him in must be Heathcliff's son; Heathcliff immediately corrects this also. The young man is Hareton Earnshaw, and the girl is the widow of Heathcliff's dead son. The snow becomes a Blizzard, and when Lockwood is ready to leave, he is forced to ask for a guild back to Thrushcross Grange. No one offers to help him. He takes a lantern, and says that he will try and find his way home without them. Joseph sees Lockwood and assumes that he is stealing the lantern, raising his voice, and setting the dogs on him. Lockwood becomes furious and curses the people of Wuthering Heights, causing him to have a nosebleed. The house keeper Zillah, ends the commotion, and leads Lockwood inside to bed.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë chapter 1, narrated by Isaac Birchall Subscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :D https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads https://www.patreon.com/theessentialreads https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/join SUMMARY: Writing in his Diary, Mr Lockwood describes his first days at Thrushcross Grange, a small manor house in Yorkshire. Soon after his arrival he goes to visit his landlord, Mr Heathcliff, a dark man living in a manor called Wuthering Heights. During the visit, Heathcliff shows a lot of distrust towards Lockwood, and leaves him alone in a small dark room with a group of snarling dogs. Lockwood is only saved from the dogs' attacks by the old house keeper. When Heathcliff returns, Lockwood is furious, but he soon calms as his host laughs the situation away. Though he still feels not fully welcome at Wuthering Heights, he volunteers to visit again the following day.

The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle chapter 2 The Statement of the Case, narrated by Isaac Birchall Subscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :D https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads https://www.patreon.com/theessentialreads https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/join SUMMARY: Miss Morstan comes into the room and tells Holmes and Watson about her father, Captain Arthur Morstan's, disappearance. He had been given 12 months leave from his Indian regiment in the British army. He sent a letter to her to come and join him in London, but when she arrived at his hotel, he was gone. After a day, her father had still not come back, and the hotel staff advised her to go to the police. This produced no results. A Major Sholto was Morstan's only friend in the country, but he apparently had no idea that his friend was back in England. A few years after her father's disappearance, an ad in the paper asked for Morstan to reveal her address. She sent a reply to the poster, and from that day onward she has received a pearl once a year for the last 6 years. Miss Morstan has now received a new letter asking for her to meet with the sender that night, stating that she can bring 2 friends, but no police. Holmes and Watson agree to accompany her to the rendezvous. Miss Morstan leaves, and Holmes goes to make some inquiries in the interim. At 6, the three of them go to the address given, and on alighting their cab, they are approached by a man who, on finding out that her friends are not police, leads them to another cab which takes them down winding streets to the outside of London. When they arrive, they are greeted by a man at the door, and a high pitched voice from within the house.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde chapter 20, narrated by Isaac Birchall Subscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :D https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads https://www.patreon.com/theessentialreads https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/join SUMMARY: That night, Dorian goes to the locked schoolroom where he keeps his portrait. He hopes that his decision to change his life for good will have changed the portrait and considers that his choice to leave the girl’s reputation intact will show on the portrait’s face. Dorian notices no positive change in the picture but sees that “in the eyes there was a look of cunning, and in the mouth the curved wrinkle of the hypocrite.” He realises that his any attempt of his to be good will be the attempt of a hypocrite, and any attempt to minimise his crimes will not redeem him. Furious at himself and the picture, he seizes a knife, the same one he used on Basil, and drives it into the portrait, in a hope to destroy it. From downstairs, his servants hear a cry and a bang. When they break into the room, they seem the beautiful portrait of Dorian that Basil painted all those years ago, and on the floor, the body of an old man, horribly disfigured, with a knife plunged deep into his heart. The servants are shocked and confused, and only realise that the man is their master Dorian Gray, by looking at the rings on his hands.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde chapter 19, narrated by Isaac Birchall Subscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :D https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads https://www.patreon.com/theessentialreads https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/join SUMMARY: Several weeks have passed and Dorian goes to visit Lord Henry. Dorian claims that he has changes and that he wants to reform himself and be virtuous. As if providing evidence of his new ways, Dorian tells Lord Henry of his most recent love affair, and claims that he spared the poor girl, from a relationship with him, by leaving her unblemished. Lord Henry dismisses Dorian’s reformations, and turns the conversation to other subjects, namely, Alan Campbell’s death and the mystery of Basil’s disappearance. Dorian asks if he has considered that Basil could have been murdered. Lord Henry dismisses the idea, and when Dorian asks what he would think if Dorian said that he killed him, Lord Henry laughs away the notion of it, saying that murder is too vulgar a thing for Dorian to have done.