615 Results with the "Historical Fiction" genre


    • Chapter 14: Differing Weights and Measures Cover
      by testsuphomeAdmin Chapter 14: Differing Weights and Measures begins at the edge of Pigs Alley, where Fatty, seated on a pile of scrap wood outside his jook joint, quietly surveys the night while wrestling with a growing concern. Inside, the laughter and lively tunes can't mask the unease he feels about Nate Timblin’s presence, a man whose silence speaks volumes. Nate’s quiet drinking masks a history few know in full—but Fatty remembers enough to sense the weight of danger simmering in that silence, especially with a…
    • Chapter 13: Cowboy Cover
      by testsuphomeAdmin Chapter 13: Cowboy begins with Moshe leaning against the railing of the outdoor pavilion overlooking the Ringing Rocks skating rink, his mind lost in thought. Despite the laughter of teenage skaters and the soft snowfall around him, he feels distant and detached, clutching an unlit cigar. The cold bite of the winter air seems to match the bitterness in his heart, as he reflects on the series of events that have led him here. The natural beauty of the landscape, the sound of the rocks ringing when struck by…
    • Chapter 12: Monkey Pants Cover
      by testsuphomeAdmin Chapter 12: Monkey Pants was the first individual Dodo encountered in Ward C-1. Positioned in the adjacent steel crib, only a few inches separated them. This boy, perhaps around eleven or twelve years old, was contorted in a manner that Dodo had never seen before, appearing as if he had been twisted into an impossible knot. His body, thin and frail, was curled in a grotesque configuration: one leg reaching nearly to his face, the other lost among a tangle of arms and legs, his hand stretched out to cover…
    • Chapter 11: War Surplus … Cover
      by testsuphomeAdmin Chapter 11 opens with the narrator reflecting on the deaths of his parents, who passed away at the relatively young age of sixty. Their deaths, he speculates, may have been caused by broken hearts, having lived through difficult years, yet they did not disinherit him. Instead, they left him an estate worth forty-eight thousand dollars in 1945, a sum that has since quadrupled in value. This inheritance provides him with an annual income of seven thousand dollars, which, in many cases, would allow for a…
    • Chapter 11: Gone Cover
      by testsuphomeAdmin Chapter 11: Gone was a moment that forever changed Dodo’s life. The faint flicker of the bulb in the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store marked the entrance of someone unexpected. Though the store typically had few visitors in the afternoon, this time was different. As Dodo stood on the trapdoor ladder leading to the basement, hidden behind the butcher’s case, he witnessed an unsettling scene. The moment Miss Chona moved to greet the visitor, her face betrayed fear, unlike anything Dodo had ever seen…
    • Chapter 10: The Skrup Shoe Cover
      by testsuphomeAdmin Chapter 10: The Skrup Shoe begins with Doc, whose knowledge of the Jewess hiding a Negro child had been passed on through family gossip. This particular rumor came from his cousin, Carl Boydkins, who worked for the state welfare office. The two families, the Robertses and Boydkins, had long-standing ties to the local community, with roots that, as they claimed, stretched back to the Mayflower. However, this lineage was nothing more than a fabricated story. In reality, their ancestors hailed from an…
    • Chapter 1: The Hurricane Cover
      by testsuphomeAdmin Chapter 1: The Hurricane begins with the unease that swept through Pottstown, Pennsylvania, just before something unexplainable happened. A discovery at the bottom of an old well off Hayes Street brought a chilling reminder of the past—a skeleton tangled with fragments of life long gone. All eyes turned toward the elderly Jewish man who resided by the deserted synagogue on Chicken Hill, the same man locals remembered simply as Malachi. Police officers visited him not just out of suspicion but because he…
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      Cellar

      Cellar Cover
      by testsuphomeAdmin The chapter opens with a vivid description of the cellar beneath the Hotel of Bees, a rugged space carved from bedrock and supported by ancient wooden beams. A single lightbulb casts wavering shadows, creating an atmosphere of tension and isolation. Werner Pfennig, the protagonist, is seated at a workbench with a radio transceiver, which connects him to military units across the city. The cellar is filled with confiscated treasures, including tapestries, clocks, and enigmatic plaster heads, adding to the…
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      Cease-fire

      Cease-fire Cover
      by testsuphomeAdmin The chapter "Cease-fire" opens with Werner and Marie-Laure in a cellar, surrounded by an eerie silence after the guns have stopped firing. Werner, dressed in a mix of his uniform and civilian clothes, prepares to guide Marie-Laure through the war-torn streets of Saint-Malo. He gives her a white pillowcase to use as a surrender flag, hoping it will protect her if they encounter soldiers. Their tension is palpable as they hesitate at the door, uncertain of what lies outside in the devastated city, where…
    • Captain Nemo’s Last Words Cover
      by testsuphomeAdmin Marie-Laure nears the end of her radio broadcast of Jules Verne's *Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea*, having read seven of the final nine chapters. Captain Nemo's harrowing adventures—escaping a giant squid, confronting a hurricane, and sinking a warship—culminate in a somber organ dirge as the *Nautilus* rests in the ocean's depths. Though uncertain if her readings have brought solace to listeners, including her great-uncle or Allied soldiers, Marie-Laure finds purpose in completing the story.…
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