Loyalty & Betrayal

Khaled Hosseini’s debut novel, The Kite Runner, was published in 2003, two years after the events of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the US invasion of Afghanistan. Hosseini, the son of a diplomat for the Afghan Foreign Ministry, was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and relocated to France as a child. When Afghanistan was thrown into turmoil by the Soviet occupation at the height of the Cold... Read The Kite Runner Summary

First published in 1899, “The Lady with the Dog” is one of Anton Chekhov’s most well-known stories. The short story examines the conflict between conformity to marital and gender conventions and faithfulness to one’s inner principles. Focusing on an adulterous relationship, the story challenges the patriarchal mindset, criticizes the arbitrariness of prescribed gender roles and marriage conventions, and explores the meaning of genuine relationships. Chekhov’s protagonists expose the crippling effect of societal gender roles on... Read The Lady With The Dog Summary

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The Lies of Locke Lamora, written by Scott Lynch and published in 2006, is the first entry in the Gentleman Bastards series. These novels mix caper stories and fantasy stories and include adventure, violence, dark humor, and intimate friendships. The Lies of Locke Lamora is an international best seller and was nominated for multiple awards. The other entries in the series are Red Seas Under Red Skies, The Republic of Thieves, and The Thorn of... Read The Lies of Locke Lamora Summary

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Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes (1939) is often considered a classic American 20th-century drama. Set in Alabama in 1900, the play explores themes of greed, passive violence, and female agency in the deep south, not yet 50 years removed from the end of the Civil War. The Little Foxes premiered at The National Theatre on Broadway in New York City in 1939 starring Tallulah Bankhead as Regina, before touring for two seasons across the United... Read The Little Foxes Summary

The Long Way Home (2014) is the 10th novel in the Inspector Gamache series written by the Canadian author Louise Penny. Like the other books in the series, the novel revolves around the village of Three Pines, Quebec, although it also encompasses events in other places. In addition to a central mystery focused on a wife’s attempt to find her estranged husband, the novel explores themes of art, creativity, ambition, and loss. This guide references... Read The Long Way Home Summary

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Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon (1930) is a detective novel that was first serialized in the magazine Black Mask. As Hammett’s third novel, The Maltese Falcon includes the introduction of Sam Spade as the protagonist, a departure from the nameless Continental Op who narrated his previous stories. Spade’s hard exterior, cool detachment, and reliance on his own moral code would become staples of the hardboiled genre, and The Maltese Falcon has since been named one... Read The Maltese Falcon Summary

“The Management of Grief” is a short story by Bharati Mukherjee. It was published in 1988 as a part of her collection entitled The Middleman and Other Stories. It also appeared in The Best American Short Stories of 1989 and in The Best American Short Stories of the Eighties.“The Management of Grief” is narrated from the perspective of Shaila Bhave, a middle-aged Indian widow and an immigrant to Canada. She has recently lost her husband... Read The Management of Grief Summary

Among the most widely read and translated of all French authors, Alexandre Dumas lived and worked in the 19th century. A playwright, journalist, and travel writer, Dumas is likely best known for his historical fiction, much of which was initially published in serialized form. Along with The Count of Monte Cristo, his most enduring works are the three books that make up his D’Artagnan Romances: The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, and The Vicomte de... Read The Man In The Iron Mask Summary

British author Rudyard Kipling is perhaps best known for his children’s works like The Jungle Book and the Just So Stories and for his adventure writing, like the short story “Gunga Din” and the novel Captains Courageous. Kipling’s short story “The Mark of the Beast” can be classified within the horror genre as well as a representative work of colonial literature. When first published in 1890, critics found “The Mark of the Beast” both fascinating... Read The Mark Of The Beast Summary

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The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood is a much-beloved adventure novel by Howard Pyle (1853-1911), published in 1883. Pyle, an American illustrator and children’s author, wove together several of the early ballads about the famed medieval outlaw Robin Hood and his companions, the Merry Men, in an episodic and entertaining plot aimed at young readers of the late nineteenth century. Written in a pseudo-archaic English actually modeled on Elizabethan-era English, the book reflects a colorful... Read The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood Summary

The Minds of Billy Milligan (1981) is a nonfiction work by Daniel Keyes, documenting the life and experiences of William Stanley “Billy” Milligan, the first defendant found not guilty by reason of insanity because of dissociative identity disorder (DID). The book follows Milligan’s early life experiences that led to his illness, arrest, and trial after the rapes of three women on the Ohio State University campus, as well as the years he spent in different... Read The Minds of Billy Milligan Summary