Sula Peace returns to her hometown of Medallion, Ohio, in 1937 after a decade away, bringing danger and controversy into the life of her childhood friend Nel--now a conventional housewife--with whom she shares a dark secret.
Evelyn Couch, a woman caught in the slump of middle age, gains a new outlook on life when she befriends eighty-year-old Ninny Threadgoode who tells her the story of the Whistle Stop Cafe and the two women who ran it in the 1930s, best friends Idgie and Ruth.
Penny Alistair dies and her twin brother Hobby is left in a coma from a terrible car crash on the evening of Nantucket High's traditional graduation bonfire on the beach, and Zoe, the twins' mother, is forced to face the truth about what happened to them and her role in the accident.
Three brothers return home to their small town of Little Wing, Wisconsin, for a wedding and to reunite with another brother who stayed to farm their land, and, while there, they learn about the true meaning of adult friendship and love.
Collects Edith Wharton's "Ethan Frome," and "Summer," depicting a New England farmer who falls in love with his hypochondriac wife's cousin and the love affair between humble New England woman and an aristocratic man; and includes writings on the historical context of the work and critical essays.
In early nineteenth-century England, a spirited young woman copes with the courtship of a snobbish gentleman as well as the romantic entanglements of her four sisters. Includes commentary on literary and historical context as well as allusion and language.
Embittered by a false accusation and disappointed in friendship and love, the weaver Silas Marner retreats into a life alone with his loom and his gold. Fate steals his gold and replaces it with a golden-haired foundling child.
