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The Road Through Mill Lane C1 Travel and adventure ≈590 words
A road closure takes estranged siblings through a place they would rather avoid.
Read story → Travel and adventure
A road closure takes two estranged siblings through a district they remember differently.
Original short story written for this approximate editorial level.
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Source and license LingoReader. The Road Through Mill Lane. Original short fiction, title cover, reading layout and navigation prepared for LingoReader.
An Inventory of the Kitchen C1 Friendship and family ≈610 words
Sorting a parent's possessions exposes very different family memories.
Read story → Friendship and family
Two siblings try to divide their mother’s possessions before the house sale can proceed.
Original short story written for this approximate editorial level.
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Source and license LingoReader. An Inventory of the Kitchen. Original short fiction, title cover, reading layout and navigation prepared for LingoReader.
A Voice for One Conversation C1 Fantasy ≈600 words
An unusual service offers help with a difficult conversation, at a price.
Read story → Fantasy
Before making a difficult request, a man tries the service offered by a discreet repair shop.
Original short story written for this approximate editorial level.
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Source and license LingoReader. A Voice for One Conversation. Original short fiction, title cover, reading layout and navigation prepared for LingoReader.
The Second Chair C1 Romance ≈600 words
A musician returns to a small venue and an unfinished conversation.
Read story → Romance
A violinist returns to a small venue where an old musical partnership still has a place on the stage.
Original short story written for this approximate editorial level.
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Source and license LingoReader. The Second Chair. Original short fiction, title cover, reading layout and navigation prepared for LingoReader.
The Name Beneath the Name C1 Mystery ≈590 words
A second signature complicates the accepted history of a painting.
Read story → Mystery
A conservator finds evidence that a painting’s familiar signature tells only part of its history.
Original short story written for this approximate editorial level.
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Source and license LingoReader. The Name Beneath the Name. Original short fiction, title cover, reading layout and navigation prepared for LingoReader.
A Suggestion in Confidence C1 Comedy ≈590 words
An anonymous suggestion proves easier to recognise than its author expected.
Read story → Comedy
An anonymous office suggestion becomes unusually easy to recognise.
Original short story written for this approximate editorial level.
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Source and license LingoReader. A Suggestion in Confidence. Original short fiction, title cover, reading layout and navigation prepared for LingoReader.
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See all books → The Monk: A Romance M. G. Lewis
B2–C1 Fantasy
Ambrosio, a celebrated monk in Madrid, enjoys a reputation for extraordinary holiness.
Read book → Fantasy · Mystery
Ambrosio, a celebrated monk in Madrid, enjoys a reputation for extraordinary holiness. Temptation and concealed identities draw him into a Gothic world of forbidden desire, supernatural danger and increasingly destructive choices, while other lovers struggle against cruelty and confinement.
Formal exclamations, historical religious terms, and elaborate emotional dialogue require sustained attention.
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Source and license Lewis, M. G. (Matthew Gregory) — The Monk: A Romance. Source: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/601. Original edition notices retained.
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you’ll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
Full license: https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html Cover: Project Gutenberg source edition; original source cover retained unchanged.
Lady Audley's Secret M. E. Braddon
B2–C1 Mystery
The charming Lady Audley appears to have found security through marriage to a wealthy older man.
Read book → Mystery
The charming Lady Audley appears to have found security through marriage to a wealthy older man. When Robert Audley's friend disappears, his investigation begins to uncover unsettling connections between her carefully presented life and a concealed past.
Suspense is accessible through dialogue, with older expressions and elaborate descriptions between exchanges.
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Source and license Braddon, M. E. (Mary Elizabeth) — Lady Audley's Secret. Source: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/8954. Original edition notices retained.
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you’ll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
Full license: https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html
Lorna Doone R. D. Blackmore
C1–C2 Travel and adventure
Farmer John Ridd falls in love with Lorna, a young woman living among the feared Doone outlaws on Exmoor.
Read book → Travel and adventure · Romance · History
Farmer John Ridd falls in love with Lorna, a young woman living among the feared Doone outlaws on Exmoor. Family loyalties, violence and political upheaval threaten their relationship as John tries to protect his home and understand Lorna's past.
Dialect, archaic address, extended landscape imagery, and historical narration complicate the familiar action.
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Source and license Blackmore, R. D. (Richard Doddridge) — Lorna Doone. Original LingoReader package, typography, navigation and title cover. Literary source acknowledgement: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17460. Retain Blackmore’s original March 1869 preface and his sixth-edition preface plus all 75 chapters. Omit publishers’ preface, Katharine Hillard’s added preface and illustrations/captions. Cover: LingoReader source edition; original source cover retained unchanged.
Catriona Robert Louis Stevenson
C1–C2 Travel and adventure
After the adventures of Kidnapped, David Balfour tries to secure justice for men caught up in the Appin murder case.
Read book → Travel and adventure · History
After the adventures of Kidnapped, David Balfour tries to secure justice for men caught up in the Appin murder case. Political intrigue complicates his efforts, while his attachment to Catriona takes him from Scotland to the Netherlands.
Scots expressions, historical references, and dense first-person phrasing demand more than basic plot comprehension.
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Source and license Stevenson, Robert Louis — Catriona. Source: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/589. Original edition notices retained.
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you’ll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
Full license: https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html
The String of Pearls; Or, The Barber of Fleet Street. A Domestic Romance. James Malcolm Rymer · Thomas Peckett Prest
B2–C1 Mystery
A sailor's disappearance draws attention to Sweeney Todd's sinister barber shop on London's Fleet Street.
Read book → Mystery
A sailor's disappearance draws attention to Sweeney Todd's sinister barber shop on London's Fleet Street. As friends search for answers, a string of pearls connects their investigation to a web of deception, danger and unsettling secrets.
Extended suspense narration mixes older idioms with practical dialogue and detailed descriptions.
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Source and license Rymer, James Malcolm; Prest, Thomas Peckett — The String of Pearls; Or, The Barber of Fleet Street. A Domestic Romance.. Source: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/59828. Original edition notices retained.
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you’ll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
Full license: https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html Cover: Project Gutenberg source edition; original source cover retained unchanged.
Manon Lescaut abbé Prévost
B2–C1 Romance
The young Des Grieux abandons the respectable future planned for him after falling in love with Manon Lescaut.
Read book → Romance
The young Des Grieux abandons the respectable future planned for him after falling in love with Manon Lescaut. Their relationship is tested by poverty, luxury and betrayal as devotion carries him deeper into a life of risky decisions.
Reflective first-person narration uses long subordinate clauses and older expressions of feeling.
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Source and license Prévost, abbé — Manon Lescaut. Source: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/468. Original edition notices retained.
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you’ll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
Full license: https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html
A level is a starting point. These are approximate editorial reading guides, not certified CEFR assessments or a test of your proficiency. A classic’s range reflects this edition’s language; a short story’s label is its writing target. Familiarity with the subject and the help you use can change how a text feels.
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