“There are moments in life, in love, when…” Chapter 1 The novel opens in the summer of 1853 at a country estate near Moscow. Elena Nikolaevna Stakhova, a […]
Russian literature
The Eternal Husband
“There are meetings which seem predestined from the very beginning of time.” Chapter 1: Velchaninov’s Unexpected Visitor Alexei Ivanovich Velchaninov, a middle-aged man with a troubled past, is […]
American literature
Daisy Jones & The Six
“I had absolutely no interest in being somebody else’s muse. I am not a muse. I am the somebody.” The novel unfolds as an oral history of the […]
English literature
Far from the Madding Crowd
“It is difficult for a woman to define her feelings in language which is chiefly made by men to express theirs.” Chapter 1: The Shepherd Meets a Stranger […]