"The Professor's House" by Willa Cather is a novel published in 1925. Professor Godfrey St. Peter clings to his dusty old study while his family moves forward, struggling with middle age and the haunting memory of Tom Outland, his brilliant former student who died in the Great War. As his daughters' marriages bring unwelcome change and material wealth derived from Outland's invention transforms those around him, the Professor confronts a deepening crisis about whether life still holds meaning worth living for. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
These books are free to read. Each is in the public domain in the United States; check your own country's rules before you copy or share one.