141 Results with the "Literary Fiction" genre


    • Chapter VIII – A Nocturnal Visit Cover
      by LovelyMay Chapter VIII – A Nocturnal Visit unfolds under a sky wrapped in stillness, where footsteps carry weight and whispered words feel louder than daylit truths. Kirstie’s approach to Archie is not tentative—it comes from a place long held back by patience, now released by worry and unresolved love. Her questions, though calmly spoken, arise from sleepless nights and silent suffering. She has sensed the growing closeness between Archie and the younger Kirstie, and what once seemed innocent now feels…
    • Chapter IX – At the Weaver’s Stone Cover
      by LovelyMay Chapter IX – At the Weaver's Stone opens in the quiet hush of late afternoon, where the landscape reflects the weight between two hearts meeting under strain. Archie arrives with a heavy purpose, already braced by prior warnings from his family, knowing that the encounter with Kirstie must shift from tenderness to reason. The looming shadow of local gossip has reached him, and it now shapes the language of his approach. Though the location holds past memories of warmth and shared secrets, today it…
    • CHAPTER VII – ENTER MEPHISTOPHELES Cover
      by LovelyMay Frank Innes arrives at Hermiston with an undefined invitation from Archie, who is surprised but welcoming. Despite their history as schoolmates and friends, Archie and Frank's relationship becomes strained due to Frank's careless and intrusive nature, contrasting sharply with Archie's reserved personality and secretive behavior. Frank's attempts to fit in at Hermiston are met with general dislike from the household and locals, aside from minor successes at neighboring social gatherings, where he subtly…
    • by LovelyMay Chapter XI – Dawn O’Hara, The Girl Who Laughed Trashed opens with the tension that lingers in Dawn's mind following her last emotional exchange with Dr. Von Gerhard. He has kept a respectful distance, but his silence is broken by the delivery of red roses on Christmas, a gesture that strikes Dawn more deeply than he might have guessed. Her days are busy, filled with work and acts of kindness toward the neighborhood children, but under the surface lies a quiet loneliness, magnified by the festive…
    • by LovelyMay Chapter I – Dawn O’Hara, The Girl Who Laughed Trashed opens not with joy, but in the haze of exhaustion. Dawn lies in a boarding house bed in New York, her mind fogged by fever and her spirit dulled by the city’s indifference. Still, in true Dawn fashion, she finds a spark of humor in the bleakness. Carnations perched beside her nod in silent agreement with her delirious observations. A nurse, too brisk to be cruel, becomes an unlikely character in her private theater of recovery. Though her strength…
    • by LovelyMay Chapter II – Dawn O’Hara, The Girl Who Laughed Trashed begins not with drama, but with eggs. Dawn finds herself removed from the frenzied chaos of New York and placed into the gentle rhythm of life at her sister Norah’s serene home. There, in a quiet room that smells of lavender and fresh linens, she confronts the peculiar monotony of convalescence. Meals revolve around eggs—soft-boiled, scrambled, in custards and in puddings—each bite a reminder of how far she’s come from the caffeine-fueled…
    • by LovelyMay Chapter III – Dawn O’Hara, The Girl Who Laughed Trashed opens with Dawn gradually emerging from the physical and emotional strain that once confined her to a sickbed. Her steps into the open air feel like small rebellions—lounging on benches, watching people and nature with the detached curiosity of someone learning to breathe again. She finds a quiet joy in doing nothing, a luxury previously reserved for others while she had once chased news headlines with feverish intensity. These idle hours, spent…
    • by LovelyMay Chapter IV – Dawn O’Hara, The Girl Who Laughed Trashed begins with a comically frantic scene where domestic life clashes with the quiet demands of creativity. Dawn, eager to write, is constantly pulled from her typewriter by household emergencies, including a kitchen crisis involving a roast, a threatened jar of pickles, and two relentless children in pursuit of pre-dinner cookies. Each interruption chips away at her concentration, turning the writing process into a battleground where inspiration must…
    • by LovelyMay Chapter V – Dawn O’Hara, The Girl Who Laughed Trashed opens with a sense of emotional heaviness cloaking Dawn’s thoughts, mirroring the overcast New York winter pressing on her spirit. Her days feel repetitive, drained of purpose, and even writing—a solace in past storms—feels more like an obligation than joy. With Norah’s gentle insistence and Dr. von Gerhard’s practical proposal, the chance to start anew emerges, though at first Dawn treats it as a punchline rather than a plan. A move to…
    • by LovelyMay Chapter VI – Dawn O’Hara, The Girl Who Laughed Trashed begins with a decisive change in Dawn’s environment, immersing her in a world both foreign and fascinating. Milwaukee’s courthouse square now overlooks her new residence, a hotel brimming with Teutonic charm and governed by Herr and Frau Knapf. Recommended by the ever-watchful Dr. von Gerhard, the place is both affordable and uncompromisingly clean. It lacks the frills of an American inn, replacing them with firm pillows, punctual mealtimes,…
    Note