Japanese literature

After Dark

“The clock hands move, but time does not.” Chapter 1: Midnight in Tokyo The novel opens in the late-night hours of Tokyo, where Mari Asai sits alone in […]

French literature

Hunting and Gathering

“Sometimes, happiness is just a matter of putting the right people together in the same place.” Chapter 1: The Unlikely Roommates The novel introduces four misfits living in […]

English literature

Case Histories

“The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.” Chapter 1: The Cold Case of Olivia Land The novel opens with the disappearance of three-year-old Olivia […]

English literature

Small Island

“You know, Queenie, there are some words that once spoken can split the world in two.” Part One: Before The novel opens in 1948, introducing four main characters […]

English literature

Cloud Atlas

“My life amounts to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean. Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops?” — Cloud Atlas The Pacific […]

English literature

The Line of Beauty

“It was a summer of strangers, a summer of departures.” Chapter 1: 1983 The novel opens in the summer of 1983, introducing Nick Guest, a young gay man […]