“The sea was calm, but beneath its surface lurked the unseen currents that would decide their fate.” Chapter 1: The Village by the Sea The story opens in […]
Japanese literature
Murder in the Crooked House
“A house built on lies will always collapse under the weight of truth.” Chapter 1: The Crooked House The story opens with the introduction of the bizarre architectural […]
German literature
Nadirs
“The village is a mouth that chews and swallows.” Nadirs (originally Niederungen) is a collection of short stories and vignettes by Herta Müller, depicting life in a rural, […]
American literature
The House of the Spirits
“Barrabás came to us by sea…” — Isabel Allende, The House of the Spirits Part One: The Early Years The novel begins with the eccentric Trueba family in […]
American literature
The Color Purple
“You better not never tell nobody but God. It’d kill your mammy.” The novel opens with Celie, a poor Black girl in early 20th-century rural Georgia, writing letters […]
English literature
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾
“I am an intellectual, but at the same time I am very interested in clothes and pop music.” — Adrian Mole January Adrian Mole, a self-proclaimed intellectual, begins […]