A draper's assistant inherits a fortune, tries to climb into genteel society, and finds happiness only by returning to his own class. Wells's comedy of English snobbery.
Books mentioned in Kipps (12)
Sesame and Lilies by John Ruskin: “he opened Sesame and Lilies and read it with ruthless determination for some time.”
Sir George Tressady by Humphry Ward: “bearing in his arm (1) Sesame and Lilies, (2) Sir George Tressady, (3) an anonymous book on "Vitality"”
The Scottish Chiefs by Jane Porter: “an early edition of Kirke's Human Physiology, The Scottish Chiefs and a little volume on the Language of Flowers”
Kirkes' Handbook of Physiology by William Senhouse Kirkes: “Spinal Curvature, an early edition of Kirke's Human Physiology, The Scottish Chiefs”
Reflections on the Works of God by Christoph Christian Sturm: “a copy of Punch's Pocket Book for 1875, Sturm's Reflections, an early version of Gill's Geography (slightly torn)”
The Advancement of Learning by Francis Bacon: “bought (and even thought of reading) a Shakespeare and a Bacon's "Advancement of Learning" and the poems of Herrick”
As You Like It by William Shakespeare: “Then she introduced the topic of a forthcoming open-air performance of "As You Like It,"”
Ten Thousand a Year by Samuel Warren: “the Hundred Best Books (including Samuel Warren's "Ten Thousand a Year")”
Sartor Resartus by Thomas Carlyle: “There's some of the serious books I've been reading lately--on that table; Sartor Resartus--Mrs. Twaddletome's Pond Life”
The Art of Conversing: “The second was that admirable classic, "The Art of Conversing."”
Enquire Within Upon Everything: “looked up the name Euphemia and learnt what it meant in the "Enquire Within About Everything" that constituted Buggins' reference library”