776 Results in the "Literary Fiction" category


    • Chapter III – The Witchand Other Stories Cover
      by LovelyMay Chapter III begins with the quiet stir of morning settling over the village, where golden sunlight softens the outlines of hardship. Marya, wrapped in her usual silence, walks to church alongside others, their heavy steps and heavy thoughts barely stirred by the soft rustle of dew-laced grass. As the service unfolds, their poverty remains invisible to the finely dressed newcomers from the grand house, whose presence only sharpens the line between privilege and necessity. Marya watches them without…
    • Chapter III – The witch and other Stories Cover
      by LovelyMay Chapter III opens with an atmosphere of barely contained chaos, where the lack of leadership leads to unbridled disorder. Guests, unsure of how to carry themselves or what should happen next, instinctively turn to food, drink, and noise. In this village, celebration rarely unfolds with grace—it erupts with clashing voices, heavy steps, and overflowing cups. The wedding of Anisim and Lipa reflects more than festivity; it becomes a stage for custom-bound obligation. Anisim’s presence is hollow, his eyes…
    • Chapter III – In the Matter of the Hanging of Duncan Jopp Cover
      by LovelyMay Chapter III – In the Matter of the Hanging of Duncan Jopp begins with a courtroom scene that shakes young Archie Weir to the core. Watching the proceedings unfold under the command of his father, Lord Hermiston, Archie is confronted by the sheer finality of justice rendered without mercy. Duncan Jopp’s guilt may be established, but it is the spectacle of his punishment—and the cold, almost theatrical authority behind it—that unsettles Archie most. He sees not only the law at work but a system that…
    • Chapter II – The Witchand Other Stories Cover
      by LovelyMay Chapter II opens as the evening quiet settles over the humble home, where each member of the family finds a place to rest. Nikolay, frail and bound by illness, lies atop the warm stove with his aging father beside him, seeking comfort in the heat radiating from the bricks. Sasha, younger and still filled with energy despite the day’s fatigue, stretches out on the floor without complaint. In a separate space, Olga and the women retreat to the barn, the soft rustle of hay beneath them offering a cushion…
    • Chapter II – The witch and other Stories Cover
      by LovelyMay Chapter II reveals how the village of Ukleevo thrives not only on labor but on the drama born from its tightly woven community. The Tsybukin family's internal disputes ripple through the town like waves, their arguments and reconciliations watched and discussed by villagers like a recurring play. These spectacles—though sometimes causing temporary business halts—breathe life into a place where routine can easily lull the spirit into apathy. Whenever the family’s disagreements escalate, the factory…
    • Chapter II – Father and Son Cover
      by LovelyMay Chapter II – Father and Son unfolds within the silent walls of Hermiston, where distance defines the relationship more than any shared blood. Adam Weir, Lord Justice-Clerk, governs not only the court but also his household with the same sternness and absence of warmth. His role as a judge has consumed whatever gentleness may once have lived in him, leaving behind a man whose affection is buried beneath command. His son Archie, bright and perceptive, senses this void from early childhood. Though provided…
    • Chapter I Hiram’s Hospital Cover
      by LovelyMay Chapter I begins by introducing Reverend Septimus Harding as a figure whose life moves in harmony with the steady rhythms of Barchester’s cathedral and community. He is not just a clergyman; he is also the warden of Hiram’s Hospital, a charitable home originally established to support elderly working men. Over the years, the foundation’s landholdings have appreciated greatly, transforming a once modest endowment into a sizeable income, the benefits of which flow chiefly to Mr. Harding. This financial…
    • Chapter I – The Witchand Other Stories Cover
      by LovelyMay Chapter I begins with a quiet but heavy journey as Nikolay Tchikildyeev returns to his childhood village of Zhukovo, no longer the man full of ambition he once was. Once a waiter in Moscow, he is now frail and financially defeated, clinging to a thin hope that the village may offer healing or, at least, shelter. With his wife, Olga, and their daughter, Sasha, beside him, the scene they encounter is bleak—crumbling buildings, barefoot children, and a home stripped of dignity. The interior is dark,…
    • Chapter I – The witch and other Stories Cover
      by LovelyMay Chapter I presents the village of Ukleevo as both humble and harsh, shaped by its environment and the quiet decline of rural traditions. The land is drained by fever and the smoke of small industries that barely lift the people above subsistence. Local legends revolve not around greatness, but around oddities, such as the tale of a deacon who once overindulged in caviare at a funeral—humorous yet symbolic of how even minor events mark the town’s memory. This story, passed around in whispers, becomes…
    • Chapter I – Life and Death of Mrs. Weir Cover
      by LovelyMay Chapter I – Life and Death of Mrs. Weir begins not with grand drama, but with a quiet imbalance that defines the Weir household. Adam Weir, cold and commanding, operates with a sense of order that leaves little room for affection. His wife, Jean Rutherford, gentle and devout, struggles silently beneath the weight of her husband's unyielding expectations. She comes from a lineage known for boldness, but in her, that fire has softened into meekness. Her piety is sincere, but it isolates her rather than…
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