In this heartbreaking story by Liliana Heker, a nine-year-old girl learns the hard way about social class. Her mother is a maid, and every day after school she does homework with Luciana, the daughter of her employer, while her mother finishes work. The girls become friends, but her mother is uneasy when she is invited to Luciana’s birthday party. Contrary to her mother’s concerns, the girl is the star of the party and feels on top of the world … until the party favors are handed out. Themes include social class, friendship, childhood innocence, manipulation, shame. More…
The Challenge
Set in 1950s Peru, the major theme of Mario Vargas Llosa’s The Challenge is the Latin American concept of Machismo (being seen as a man among men). When a powerful street thug challenges a man from a rival group to a knife fight, the other accepts. He and his friends put on a brave face, even though they know he has little chance. The thug offers clemency as he begins to dominate the fight but the other refuses, preferring to die rather than admit defeat. Other themes include lawlessness, violence, rivalry, loyalty, honor. More…
Titanic Survivors Found in Bermuda Triangle
Robert Olen Butler’s Titanic survivor is an early 1900s women’s suffrage campaigner. After “waking up” in a lifeboat off the Miami coast in the 1990s, she realizes there is no place for her in the modern world. Women have been emancipated, and her family and friends are all dead. The only man she has ever had strong feelings for (other than her father) went down with the ship. Having lacked the courage to express her feelings at the time, she decides to find him again. Themes: change, father-daughter relationships, women’s rights, finding purpose and meaning in life, sexuality, misandry, love. More…
Saint Manuel Bueno, Martyr
This Miguel de Unamuno story (aka Saint Emmanuel the Good, Martyr) is a memoir by a Spanish woman reflecting on her close connection with a Catholic priest about to be beatified. The outwardly pious man, who was credited with several miracles and spent his life ministering to the people of her remote mountain village, harbored an astonishing secret… he did not believe in God! His life had been a charade for the supposed good of the villagers. Themes include existentialism, self-sacrifice, community, the nature and role of religion, New vs. Old World values, identity, truth vs. ignorance and bliss. More…
The Canterville Ghost
Oscar Wilde is known for his comedic, usually satirical stories that focus on the shallowness and hypocrisy of the Victorian upper class. He goes several steps further in this playful ghost story, also mocking the brash practicality of wealthy Americans and some of the common devices used in horror and romantic literature. A fascinating aspect of the plot is the way Wilde builds sympathy for his spectral protagonist before revealing the petty reason the cruel man murdered his unfortunate wife. Themes: (general) British vs American culture, tradition, compassion; (the ghost) duty, artistry, suffering, atonement, redemption, peace. More…