Class

The titles in the Social Class Collection explore the historical and contemporary implications of social class and class division in cultures around the world. Representing a diverse range of perspectives, cultures, and societies, the selections in this Collection span a broad range of genres and forms, including essays, biographies, and fiction.

The Life She Was Given

by Ellen Marie Wiseman

Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Fear, Hate & Anger, Loneliness, Love, Memory, Disability, Coming of Age, Animals, Place, Mothers, Self Discovery, Social Class, Beauty, Fame, Loyalty & Betrayal, Power & Greed

Tags Historical Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Drama, Animals, World History, Dramatic Literature

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The Lincoln Lawyer

by Michael Connelly

Publication year 2005

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Social Class, Justice, Hate & Anger, Music, Good & Evil

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Crime & Law, Social Class, Social Justice, Incarceration

Michael Connelly is a prolific New York Times bestselling author. His legal thriller, The Lincoln Lawyer, won the Shamus Award and Macavity Award in 2006. The book was then successfully adapted to film. Connelly is widely regarded as one of the best American mystery writers. Other works by this author include The Black Echo, The Drop, and The Fifth Witness.This guide refers to the 2005 Hieronymus, Inc. edition.Plot SummaryMichael “Mick” Haller is a criminal defense... Read The Lincoln Lawyer Summary

The Living

by Matt de la Peña

Publication year 2013

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Social Class, Space, Guilt

Tags Action & Adventure, Science Fiction, Race & Racism, Social Class, Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction

The Living by Matt de la Peña is a young adult novel that is in equal parts thriller, adventure, coming-of-age story, and commentary on the social divides of race and class in American culture. The Living was published in 2013 and received the Pura Belpré Award, a US literary prize for young people’s literature that represents the Latino cultural experience. A sequel to The Living, called The Hunted, was published in 2015. Other works by... Read The Living Summary

The Long Walk

by Stephen King

Publication year 1979

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Friendship, Coming of Age, Politics & Government, Justice, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Social Class

Tags Horror & Suspense, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Coming of Age, Survival Fiction, Social Justice, Politics & Government, Social Class, Love & Sexuality

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The Luminaries

by Eleanor Catton

Publication year 2013

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Power & Greed, Gender Identity, Social Class, Fate

Tags Historical Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, World History

The Luminaries (2013) by Eleanor Catton is historical fiction written in the style of a 19th-century serial novel. It is set during the gold rush on the South Island of New Zealand in the 1860s. A whodunit told using two overlapping timelines and extensive flashbacks, it deploys motifs of astrology to paint a detailed portrait of class, gender, and conflict on the colonial frontier. The novel won the Man Booker Prize in 2013; at the... Read The Luminaries Summary

The Magician

by Colm Tóibín

Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Literature, Conflict, Sexual Identity, Family, Marriage, Siblings, Self Discovery, Social Class, Community, Education, Nation, Politics & Government, War, Art, Justice, Music, Order & Chaos, Truth & Lies

Tags Historical Fiction, Life-Inspired Fiction, LGBTQ+, Military & War

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The Maids

by Jean Genet

Publication year 1947

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Love, Siblings, Social Class

Tags Drama, Absurdism, French Literature, Dramatic Literature, LGBTQ+, Classic Fiction

Jean Genet’s play The Maids (or Les Bonnes) premiered in Paris at the Théâtre de l’Athénée in 1947. By this time, Genet was already an established novelist and playwright, but this one-act play was his first foray into the conventions and aesthetics of the movement now known as the Theatre of the Absurd. The Maids is based on the true story of the Papin sisters, two maids who shocked France in 1933 by murdering their... Read The Maids Summary

The Maltese Falcon

by Dashiell Hammett

Publication year 1930

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Apathy, Perseverance, Fear, Hate & Anger, Love, Memory, Revenge, Shame & Pride, Death, The Past, Beauty, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Truth & Lies, Trust & Doubt, Order & Chaos, Art, Good & Evil, Femininity, Gender Identity, Masculinity, Appearance & Reality, Politics & Government, Social Class, Community, Immigration

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Classic Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Roaring Twenties, Great Depression

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 Managed Heart

by Arlie Russell Hochschild

Publication year 1983

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Conflict, Hate & Anger, Joy, Mental Health, Social Class, Community, Economics, Education, Politics & Government, Justice, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Truth & Lies

Tags Education, Education, Anthropology, Anthropology, Gender & Feminism, Social Science, Business & Economics, Sociology, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy, Philosophy

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The Man He Killed

by Thomas Hardy

Publication year 1902

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Social Class, War, Colonialism

Tags Poetry: Dramatic Poem, Victorian Period, Military & War, Social Class, History: African , European History, Psychology, Grief & Death, Trauma & Abuse, Classic Fiction, British Literature

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The Man Who Was Almost a Man

by Richard Wright

Publication year 1940

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Masculinity, Race, Social Class, Power & Greed

Tags Coming of Age, American Literature, Education, Education, African American Literature, Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction

“The Man Who Was Almost a Man” is a short story by African American author Richard Wright, first published in 1940 by Harper’s Bazaar magazine and again in the posthumous 1961 short story collection Eight Men. The story engages with issues of racial discrimination, oppression, and African American identity in a naturalistic writing style. It follows the struggles of Dave Saunders, a young African American man who works at a plantation in the rural South... Read The Man Who Was Almost a Man Summary

The Man Who Was Poe

by Avi

Publication year 1989

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Social Class, Coming of Age, Guilt

Tags Historical Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Addiction & Substance Abuse, Social Class, Romanticism, Children`s Literature, Education, Education, Horror & Suspense, World History

The Man Who Was Poe is a young adult historical fiction novel published in 1989 by Edward Irving Wortis, an award-winning American author who writes under the pen name “Avi.” Set in Providence, Rhode Island in 1848, the story is about the unlikely partnership between Edgar Allan Poe and an 11-year-old London boy named Edmund. The book sources many facts from Poe’s life and works and emulates Poe’s own Gothic style of literature. Edmund turns... Read The Man Who Was Poe Summary