“A woman’s heart is a deep well of secrets.” Chapter 1: The Mysterious Widow The novel opens with Yasuko, a young widow, visiting her mother-in-law, Mieko Toganō, a […]
Japanese literature
Quicksand
“The deeper the quicksand, the more one struggles—only to sink further.” Chapter 1: The Meeting The novel opens with Sonoko Kakiuchi, a married woman from Osaka, recounting her […]
Russian literature
The Defense
“The chessboard is the world, the pieces are the phenomena of the universe, the rules of the game are what we call the laws of Nature.” Chapter 1: […]
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 […]
French literature
Bonjour Tristesse
“This strange new feeling of mine, obsessing me by its sweet languor, is such that I am reluctant to name it. Could it be sadness?” Chapter 1 Cécile, […]
French literature
Moderato Cantabile
“She was there, in the café, waiting for him, as she had been every day for the past week.” Chapter 1 The novel opens with Anne Desbaresdes, a […]
English literature
The Legacy
“The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” — William Faulkner (Epigraph in The Legacy) Chapter 1: The Arrival Erica Calcott returns to her childhood home, Storton […]
English literature
The Sea, The Sea
“The sea which is everywhere the same and everywhere different.” — Iris Murdoch, The Sea, The Sea Part One: Arrival at Shruff End Charles Arrowby, a retired theater […]