Featured Stories

Caroline’s Wedding

Caroline's Wedding: Short story by Edwidge DanticatIn this moving story from Edwidge Danticat, the Haitian-American narrator helps bridge differences between her widowed mother, who still embraces their traditional culture, and younger Americanized sister (Caroline). The mother is uneasy about Caroline’s coming marriage to a non-Haitian. She finds all sorts of problems with the man, the courtship, and the wedding preparations. However, after her traditional magic fails to separate them, she reluctantly accepts the inevitable. Themes: family bonds (mother-daughter, sister-sister, daughter-father), cultural identity (observing and handing down cultural values, traditions and beliefs), cultural differences, the price of freedom (suffering, loss, death).

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The Shadow in the Rose Garden

The Shadow in the Rose Garden: Short story by D. H. Lawrence This story by D. H. Lawrence is about a couple in a loveless marriage. Upon learning that her ex-lover had died, the woman married “below her station”. She convinces her husband to holiday in the village where she met the lover. While visiting a rose garden, she finds him still alive. However, he has suffered brain damage and doesn’t remember her. During an argument, the woman tells her husband about the relationship. His responses range from disbelief to jealousy, anger, rage and finally, grudging acceptance. The big question: What drove the ex-lover to “chuck” the woman and go away?

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A Girl Like Phyl

A Girl Like Phyl: Short story by Patricia HighsmithThe major themes of this story by Patricia Highsmith are shattered dreams, hypocrisy, betrayal and the fragile nature of identity. A chance meeting with an eighteen-year-old girl at an airport revives bittersweet memories for a successful, seemingly happily married businessman. The girl, who bears a striking resemblance to his long obsessed over ex-girlfriend Phyl, later ends up in his hotel room and tries to seduce him. When he learns the next day that she is Phyl’s daughter and observes Phyl berating her for spending the night in a stranger’s room, his self-esteem and outlook on life are destroyed.

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A Mild Attack of Locusts

A Mild Attack of Locusts: Short story by Doris LessingDoris Lessing’s story about a British farming family in post-World War 2 Africa contrasts the richness and beauty of the land with the destructive power of nature. The threat this time is a swarm of locusts. They have already leveled the crops and moved on, but an even greater threat lies ahead. The major theme is survival… for the locust swarm, through instinct and sheer weight of numbers; for the farmers, through planning, preparation, manpower and, when these fail, being prepared to start over. Other themes include helplessness, devastation, the ongoing cycles of struggle against nature, perseverance.

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Double Birthday

Double Birthday: Short story by Willa CatherThe major theme of this story from Willa Cather is daring to be different. The protagonist and his aging uncle have the same birthday. Both have suffered major losses: the protagonist, his share of his father’s fortune, frittered away on travel and entertainment; the uncle, a young musical protégée he undoubtedly loved. They share a house, living in the past among sentimental relics and resisting cultural aspects of “modern” (1920s) America. An unexpected visitor on their mutual birthday signals that things may soon change for the better. Themes include nonconformity, cultural dissent, judgmentalism, the price of “success”, and revitalization.

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The Mystery of the Missing Cap

The Mystery of the Missing Cap: Short story by Manoj DasIt is evident from Babu Virkishore’s absurd ministerial title that this Manoj Das story is a political satire. The comment about the cap’s disappearance being a deep-rooted conspiracy with possible devastating political effects suggests that it is a “Nehru topi” (pictured above). The main themes, comically highlighted when Jhandoo the monkey tries on the cap and then hands it back to the bemused Minister are: 1) many officials of the day weren’t ready to govern; and 2) the general population was too poorly educated and reverent towards those in power to see this. Other themes: innocence, elitism, hubris, honesty, disillusionment.

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The Golden Windows

Golden Windows: Short story by Laura E. RichardsThis story by Laura E. Richards is about a poor farm boy who, at the end of most working days, would sit on top of a hill and look at a far-away house that appeared to have golden windows. As he did so, he wished that he could live in a wonderful house like that. One day he sets out to find the house. When he gets there, he is disappointed to learn that the house doesn’t have golden windows. A little girl takes him to the top of her hill and shows him the real house with golden windows.

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Cinderella

Cinderella: European folktale from Charles PerraultCinderella, perhaps the world’s best-known children’s story, has its origins in folklore. The version immortalized by Disney was first published in Charles Perrault’s 1697 book Stories or Tales from Times Past, with Morals, also known as Tales of Mother Goose. (Yes, Mother Goose was a man!) There are said to be over 1,000 variants of the story across the world. Perrault took the original framework, which has been around since the days of the pharaohs, and added the three elements for which his version is famous today: a fairy godmother, a pumpkin-carriage, and glass slippers.

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