Short Story by Edwidge Danticat. A woman dies after 25 years in prison for murdering her baby son. Her daughter must take her place in a bizarre sisterhood of descendants of Haitian slaves and, if she ever has a male child, face having to sacrifice it to the gods.
Short Story by Anton Chekhov. A philandering misogynist meets a much younger woman while on vacation. Both have unhappy marriages; both are looking for holiday romance. After parting, each is obsessed with the memory of the other. He tracks her down and soon they are planning a future together.
Short story by Washington Irving. A poverty-stricken man meets “Old Scratch” (the Devil). He initially declines an offer of riches for his soul, but later agrees after the Devil unknowingly does him a favor by disposing of his shrew-like wife. Upon becoming extremely wealthy, he tries to change his fate.
Novella by George Eliot. When an illness leaves a man with psychic powers able to see into the future and read the selfish thoughts of others, his life becomes a misery. Things get worse after he foolishly marries a woman he knew to be a narcissistic, manipulator.
Short Story by Sherwood Anderson. A young boy narrates a tale about the sad life of an exploited, hard-working woman whose frozen body in the woods radiates a mystical beauty. An unsettling aspect is that the boy seems to have way too much information to make his backstory convincing.