tragedy

Jay Gatsby, a figure etched in opulence, eternally yearned for a piece of time that had slipped from his hands like sand. Daisy, his one and only love, echoed in the hollows of his extravagant mansion, her laughter resonating through the silence of his solitude. This tale reaches beyond the sheen of Gatsby's life, to the fragility of his heart that loved, lost and aspired.

Tess had always been a symbol of purity and innocence in her idyllic village of Marlott. Her life, however, was destined to be anything but such. A naive innocent in a complex world, Tess was forced to confront the harsh realities that lay beyond the boundaries of her rustic hometown.

The Italian front in the throes of World War I was a terrain baptized by downpours and scarlet splatters of war. Lieutenant Frederic Henry, an American serving as an ambulance driver in the Italian Army, found himself back in this chaos after a brief, uneventful leave. He drowned the atrocities of war in bottles of grappa, clinging to camaraderie with his friend, Rinaldi, an Italian surgeon with a penchant for women and jesting. Amid wines and war tales, Rinaldi introduced Frederic to the captivating Catherine Barkley, a British nurse working in Italy.

On a sweltering day in the valley, George Milton sat under the shade of a dried sycamore tree, reminiscing about past events and ruminating about a future that could have been. A future that was once gleamed with hope but now seemed to fade into oblivion. Driven by the dream of owning their piece of land, George and his companion, Lennie Small, a man-child with Herculean strength yet the intellect of a child, had worked day in and out with a relentless spirit that was unmatchable.

Once upon a time in the fertile Salinas Valley, nestled amidst the grandeur of the Santa Lucia Mountains, lay the Hamilton family farm. Despite the harshness of poverty, the family was content with their modest living and the simple pleasures life offered them.

The humble village of La Paz was entrenched in a stillness that echoed the calm of the ocean. Kino, a dignified pearl diver, along with his wife Juana and their infant son Coyotito lived a life of meagre simplicity. A harmonious rhythm of the sea and the day-to-day struggle with the natural elements drove their existence, until one day, Kino's dive into the ocean revealed a treasure, the 'Pearl of the World'. Precious and iridescent, the pearl radiated an opportunity for Kino and his family, a key to dreams they had never dared to envision.

In the remote and snowy landscapes of Starkfield, Massachusetts, the desolate Frome farm stood brooding. Ethan Frome, the tragic protagonist of Wharton’s tale, had lived a life of emotional desolation and unfulfilled desires. But in this story, we explore a time when Ethan’s heart had not yet become as cold as the Starkfield winter.

In the quiet, quaint streets of Holcomb, Kansas, life seemed untouched by the unforgiving hands of change. The Clutter family, Herbert, Bonnie and their four children, were the epitome of the American Dream; successful, wholesome and utterly loved by their community. But behind the facade of tranquillity, the Clutters could not escape a gruelling fate that would leave a haunting scar - a calamity etched in the annals of American criminal history.

Beneath the starry sky of a cold winter evening in the city of Kansas, Miles Dover, a young man with boyish charm, sat in a decaying tenement reminiscing about the tragic tale of Clyde Griffiths.

It was a bitter winter in Lorain, Ohio, the kind that made your bones feel as fragile as a moth's wings. Claudia and Frieda's home was a sanctuary, at least it was supposed to be. But no amount of plastered newspaper insulation could keep out the biting chill. Lately, another form of cold had seeped in; one that came with Pecola Breedlove's arrival.

The tale of the Sutpen bloodline, a web of sorrow and mysteries, is as captivating as it is haunting. In 'Echoes from the Sutpen Dynasty', we revisit the life of Thomas Sutpen, his rise, fall, and the ghostly remnants he left behind.

In the wake of the grand operatic catastrophe, the Paris Opera House was nothing more than a realm of shadows and phantoms. Hidden beneath these shadows was a melancholic figure, the Phantom himself, Erik. The once resonating voices of awe and laughter had turned into echoes of fear and whispers about the 'Opera Ghost'. The spectral dwellings were now shadowed by a curtain of dread and despair, a phenomenon fuelled by the mysterious Phantom.

Laila lived under the wings of her parents in Kabul, taking pleasure in the simple joys of life, but little did she know that her life was about to take a tumultuous turn. One fateful day, her house was bombed killing both her parents and leaving her alone in the ruins of her childhood home. Severely injured, she found herself nursed back to health by a neighbour, Rasheed, and his wife, Mariam. As days passed, Rasheed's intentions became evident. In the war-torn patriarchal society, Laila was coerced into a marriage she never wanted, and thus, began her life of hardship in a loveless marriage.

In the opulent city of Isfahan, during the golden era of the Safavid Dynasty, two Persian noblemen, Usbek and Rica, decided to explore the world beyond their kingdom's borders. They wanted to understand the underpinnings of society, and what better way to do it than to live as nomads in a foreign land?

In the dimly lit corner of a Soho pub, Verloc sat, feeling a sense of unease. His recent encounter with Mr Vladimir had not gone as planned. A demand was placed on Verloc, an anarchist, to provoke a response from the British government. The Russian ambassador wanted him to orchestrate a bombing, aimed specifically at the Greenwich Observatory.

Living amidst the Congo's cacophony, Rachel Price had always dreamed to escape, to leave the haunting traces of misery behind her. She was the eldest daughter of the Price family, a clan of Baptists, shipped to the harsh darkness and heat of the African bushland, an uninvited presence among the Congolese.

In the heart of the bustling city of London, an aura of wealth, status, and high society prevailed. Kate Croy, a woman of innate grace and beauty, lived under her aunt Maud Lowder's watchful eye. Maud, the epitome of high society, pinned hopes on Kate to marry well, elevating their family's social standing. However, Kate's heart belonged to a journalist, Merton Densher, whose social standing was starkly different from her own.

In the glittering aristocratic world of late 18th-century France, a dangerous and captivating web of seduction, deceit, and manipulation was spun by the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont. Their game started when the Marquise desired revenge on her ex-lover, Comte de Bastide, who was about to marry the innocent and virtuous Cecile de Volanges. She enlisted the Vicomte, a notorious womanizer, to deflower Cecile before her wedding night in a debilitating blow to Comte’s pride.

In the quaint town of Ayemenem, Kerala, Rahel and Estha, fraternal twins, grew up under the watchful eyes of their ammu, their mother. In the heat of the moment, Estha, a charming young lad, and Rahel, a sprightly girl with wide eyes, unraveled the unusual world of small things.