Class

This thematic collection covers texts that investigate the particularly fraught dynamics and divisions of class, including Upton Sinclair's The Jungle and Ernesto Galarza's Barrio Boy.

Warlight

by Michael Ondaatje

Publication year 2018

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Memory, Fear, Grief, Loneliness, Gender Identity, Family, Mothers, Self Discovery, Social Class, Nation, War, Loyalty & Betrayal, Safety & Danger, Truth & Lies

Tags Historical Fiction, World War II, Coming of Age, Post-War Era

Warlight (2018) is a historical fiction novel by Sri Lankan-born Canadian writer Michael Ondaatje. Ondaatje is best known for his Booker Prize winning novel, The English Patient (1992). Part spy thriller and coming-of-age story, Warlight follows 14-year-old Nathaniel Williams and his older sister, Rachel, in post-World War II London. When their parents depart for a year-long work assignment in Singapore, the siblings are left in the care of an enigmatic guardian named The Moth. Nathaniel... Read Warlight Summary

Water for Elephants

by Sara Gruen

Publication year 2006

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Memory, Love, Perseverance, Loneliness, Hope, Aging, Disability, Animals, Social Class, Friendship, Fathers, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Loyalty & Betrayal

Tags Historical Fiction, Romance, Great Depression, Mental Illness, Trauma & Abuse, Modern Classic Fiction, World History

Water for Elephants, a New York Times bestseller and author Sara Gruen’s third novel, was published in 2006 by Algonquin. The novel was adapted into a full-length film in 2011 starring Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattison.Gruen often features animals in her novels, and Water for Elephants is no exception, as she follows two lovers in a forbidden relationship set against the backdrop of a circus and its eclectic mix of characters and exotic animals. The... Read Water for Elephants Summary

Wellness

by Nathan Hill

Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Guilt, Loneliness, Love, Midlife, Nature Versus Nurture, Marriage, Social Class, Art, Science & Technology, Truth & Lies, Family

Tags Modern Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance

... Read Wellness Summary

We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families

by Philip Gourevitch

Publication year 1998

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Loyalty & Betrayal, Colonialism, Social Class, Hate & Anger, Fear, Politics & Government

Tags History: African , Journalism, Military & War, Politics & Government, Trauma & Abuse, World History, Biography

We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families: Stories from Rwanda (1998) describes the Hutu majority’s slaughter of at least 800,000 Tutsis in 100 days in 1994—with author and journalist Philip Gourevitch documenting the meticulous planning behind the genocide. Gourevitch chastises the international community, especially the United States and France, for failing to stop the genocide in accordance with obligations under the Genocide Convention. Visiting Rwanda one year after... Read We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families Summary

What Moves the Dead

by T. Kingfisher

Publication year 2022

Genre Novella, Fiction

Themes Femininity, Gender Identity, Death, Plants, Place, Social Class, War, Science & Technology, Trust & Doubt

Tags Fantasy, Horror & Suspense, Historical Fiction, Gothic Literature, Mystery & Crime Fiction

... Read What Moves the Dead Summary

Where Angels Fear to Tread

by E. M. Forster

Publication year 1905

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Social Class, Justice, Love

Tags British Literature, Historical Fiction, Romance, Classic Fiction

E. M. Forster’s debut novel, Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905), is a tragicomedy that explores the collision of two vastly different cultures. The story follows the Herritons, a respectable upper-middle-class English family whose carefully ordered world is thrown into chaos when their widowed sister-in-law, Lilia, impulsively marries a handsome and much younger Italian man from a provincial town. Philip Herriton, Lilia’s former brother-in-law, is dispatched from the repressive suburb of Sawston to the passionate... Read Where Angels Fear to Tread Summary

Where the Heart Is

by Billie Letts

Publication year 1995

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Coming of Age, Social Class, Perseverance, Mothers, Family, Community

Tags Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Dramatic Literature, Romance

Where the Heart Is was published in 1995 and is the first novel by award winning American novelist Billie Letts. The novel is set in Letts’s home state of Oklahoma and follows the story of teenager Novalee Nation and her ne’er-do-well boyfriend, Willy Jack Pickens. The novel was chosen as a selection for Oprah’s Book Club in December of 1998. It also won the Walker Percy Award in 1994. The novel was made into a... Read Where the Heart Is Summary

Where We Stand

by bell hooks

Publication year 2000

Genre Essay Collection, Nonfiction

Themes Gender Identity, Race, Social Class, Community, Economics, Justice

Tags Gender & Feminism, Race & Racism, Social Class, Social Justice, Politics & Government

... Read Where We Stand Summary