IntroductionWhat if the people who know us best each know a completely different version of us?Virginia Evans's The Correspondent introduces us to Sybil Van Antwerp, a woman in her seventies whose life unfolds through the letters she writes and receives. Intelligent, independent, direct, and sometimes difficult, Sybil appears to understand herself remarkably … [Read more...] about The Correspondent Explained: Grief, Love & Sybil’s Letters
Grief
Theo of Golden Book Club Questions: Expert Discussion
Introduction What does it really mean to see another person?In Part 1, Theo of Golden gave us a beautiful answer through Theo's relationships with Asher, Ellen, Kendrick, Mateo, and the people of Golden. But some of the novel's most powerful ideas become more complicated when we examine them closely.Is Theo's ability to see people something psychology … [Read more...] about Theo of Golden Book Club Questions: Expert Discussion
Theo of Golden Inspired Stories: 5 Modern Tales
Introduction What if the person you think you understand is much larger than the story you have created about them?That question sits beneath these five modern stories inspired by the deeper themes we explored in Allen Levi's Theo of Golden.These stories do not retell Theo's story.There is no Golden, no fountain, no portraits, and no mysterious stranger … [Read more...] about Theo of Golden Inspired Stories: 5 Modern Tales
Theo of Golden Analysis: What It Means to Truly See Someone
Introduction What if the greatest gift we can give another human being is not money, advice, protection, or even forgiveness?What if it is the experience of being truly seen?Allen Levi's Theo of Golden begins with an almost whimsical idea.An elderly stranger named Theo enters a coffee shop in Golden and discovers dozens of portraits hanging on the walls. … [Read more...] about Theo of Golden Analysis: What It Means to Truly See Someone
Martyr Kaveh Akbar Inspired Stories: 5 Emotional Tales
Introduction What happens after we stop asking why suffering happened and begin asking what to do with the life that remains?That is the central movement of these five modern stories inspired by Kaveh Akbar's Martyr!.Parts 1 and 2 explored grief, martyrdom, addiction, faith, identity, art, forgiveness, sacrifice, and the human desire to make suffering … [Read more...] about Martyr Kaveh Akbar Inspired Stories: 5 Emotional Tales
Martyr Kaveh Akbar Book Club Questions: 25 Big Questions
Introduction What if the biggest questions in Martyr! cannot be answered by the characters alone?Cyrus Shams spends much of the novel trying to understand death, suffering, faith, addiction, identity, art, and the possibility that a life must somehow justify itself.Part 1 let Cyrus, Roya, Ali, Zee, Arash, Leila, and Sang speak from inside those … [Read more...] about Martyr Kaveh Akbar Book Club Questions: 25 Big Questions
Martyr Kaveh Akbar Analysis: Meaning, Death & Suffering
Introduction What if the hardest question in Martyr! is not whether death can have meaning, but why human beings feel such a powerful need to make suffering mean something?Cyrus Shams has spent much of his life searching for an answer.His mother was supposedly killed when Iran Air Flight 655 was shot down. His father lived a difficult immigrant life raising … [Read more...] about Martyr Kaveh Akbar Analysis: Meaning, Death & Suffering
Little Wonder Analysis: Love, Loss & Gifted Children
Introduction What do children owe the parents who sacrificed for them?Who should decide the future of a gifted child?Can someone keep living when a loved one is missing, without feeling that moving forward means betrayal?Why do wealth, class, migration status, and social connections affect whose suffering receives attention?And after years of separation, can … [Read more...] about Little Wonder Analysis: Love, Loss & Gifted Children
Sense and Sensibility Lessons: 5 Modern Love Stories
Introduction More than two centuries after Jane Austen wrote Sense and Sensibility, the world around love has changed almost beyond recognition.We meet through dating apps instead of country visits.Messages arrive instantly instead of by letter.Women have freedoms Elinor and Marianne could scarcely have imagined.Marriage is no longer the only path to … [Read more...] about Sense and Sensibility Lessons: 5 Modern Love Stories
Empty Nest Syndrome Story: 5 Modern Stories for Parents
Introduction Empty nest syndrome is often described as loneliness after children leave home, but the deeper transition can touch nearly every part of a parent's life.How much should you call?What happens to a marriage after decades of parenting?What if being needed has become part of your identity?How do holidays change when adult children build families of … [Read more...] about Empty Nest Syndrome Story: 5 Modern Stories for Parents