Henry, a man in his early 30s, recounts his thirteenth year. As Labor Day weekend approaches, 13-year-old Henry sees no reason why this weekend should be any different. He expects it to be as lonely as the rest of the summer, only watching television, playing with his pet hamster and fantasizing about his female classmates. Henry shares his life in New Hampshire with his wounded divorcee mother, Adele. Adele''s agoraphobia means that the family survive on unedifying tinned foods and frozen meals. However, on the Thursday before Labor Day weekend, Henry persuades his mother to go on a shopping trip. It is there that they meet an unkempt man who is bleeding from his forehead and agree to his request for a ride in their car. This mysterious man, Frank, admits that he is a convicted murderer that has escaped prison. Despite his past, Frank makes the claim that the mother and son have "never been in better hands". Indeed, Frank teaches Henry how to throw a baseball, change a flat tire and to bake. Meanwhile Adele and Frank, long love-starved, become infatuated with each other, and Adele emerges from her depression.

Labor Day

Martin, the narrator, a rich South African businessman, recalls the events of a weekend which settled the future of his family farm: he wants to sell it although he has promised his father on his death-bed that he will never do so, and although his brother wants to take it over. So he visits the farm for a weekend to tell his mother she will be "evicted". For the trip, he calls off a meeting with his lover Bea, who leaves him for that because she wanted to tell him that she is pregnant. It is a long drive to the farm and he does not often go there. He takes his son Louis along to get closer to him. Since Louis has come back from the Angolan War of Independence, he is traumatized and silent. The imagined good talk between them makes matters worse, though - the father begins by asking his son casually about his "trip to Angola", and when Louis finally opens up and talks about the atrocities of the war, they end up arguing about politics. The farm is extremely drought-stricken, and Martin''s mother has invited a water diviner to look for an underground stream. Martin thinks this is ridiculous. When he then visits the family graveyard for one last time, loses his glasses, so that from then on the egocentric man is in every sense of the word "blind” to the events happening around him. At night, a black worker murders his wife and is taken to prison, leaving a baby and older children behind. This is regarded by the whites as "typical” tribal behavior and helps Martin to underline his opinion that his mother should not run the farm on her own because it is too dangerous - although the real reason is that he will get a good price for the farm. The visit of a few neighbours, who are also farmers, shows that most people in the area are selling their land, which is regarded by those who stay on their family farms as treason. When Martin – still almost blind without his glasses – gets lost in the jungle on a short walk, almost not making it back to the farm where he was born and raised, it is obvious that he does not belong here. Father and son drive home. The farm will be sold and Martin''s mother will live with their family although she and Martin''s wife do not get along. Louis gets an ultimatum to find a job, after which he disappears and never comes back.

Rumours of Rain

The play takes place in London. Morose, a wealthy old man with an obsessive hatred of noise, has made plans to disinherit his nephew Dauphine by marrying. His bride Epicœne is, he thinks, an exceptionally quiet woman; he does not know that Dauphine has arranged the whole match for purposes of his own. The couple are married despite the well-meaning interference of Dauphine''s friend True-wit. Morose soon regrets his wedding day, as his house is invaded by a charivari that comprises Dauphine, True-wit, and Clerimont; a bear warden named Otter and his wife; two stupid knights, La Foole and Daw; and an assortment of "collegiates," vain and scheming women with intellectual pretensions. Worst for Morose, Epicœne quickly reveals herself as a loud, nagging mate. Desperate for a divorce, Morose consults two lawyers (actually Dauphine''s men in disguise), but they can find no grounds for ending the match. Finally, Dauphine promises to reveal grounds to end the marriage (in exchange, Morose must come to financial terms with him). The agreement made, Dauphine strips the female costume from Epicœne, revealing that the wife is, in fact, a boy. Morose is dismissed harshly, and the other ludicrous characters are discomfited by this revelation; Daw and Foole, for instance, had claimed to have slept with Epicœne.

Epicoene, or the Silent Woman

The story, set in the fictional Rhode Island town of Eastwick in the late 1960s, follows the witches Alexandra Spofford, Jane Smart, and Sukie Rougemont, who acquired their powers after leaving or being left by their husbands. Their coven is upset by the arrival of a devil-like character, Darryl Van Horne. The mysterious Darryl seduces each of the women, encouraging them to play with their powers and creating a scandal in the town. The three women share Darryl in relative peace until he unexpectedly marries their young, innocent friend, Jenny, on whom they resolve to have revenge by giving her cancer through their magic. The witches doubt their judgement after Jenny''s death when Darryl flees town with her younger brother, Chris, apparently his lover. In his wake he leaves their relationships strained and their sense of self in doubt. Eventually they each summon their ideal men and leave town. The Widows of Eastwick, John Updike''s sequel to The Witches of Eastwick, was published by Alfred A. Knopf in October 2008.

The Witches of Eastwick

Part 1 opens in Persepolis. The Persian emperor, Mycetes, dispatches troops to dispose of Tamburlaine, a Scythian shepherd and at that point a nomadic bandit. In the same scene, Mycetes'' brother Cosroe plots to overthrow Mycetes and assume the throne. The scene shifts to Scythia, where Tamburlaine is shown wooing, capturing, and winning Zenocrate, the daughter of the Egyptian king. Confronted by Mycetes'' soldiers, he persuades first the soldiers and then Cosroe to join him in a fight against Mycetes. Although he promises Cosroe the Persian throne, Tamburlaine reneges on this promise and, after defeating Mycetes, takes personal control of the Persian Empire. Now a powerful figure, Tamburlaine now turns his attention to Bajazeth, Emperor of the Turks. He defeats Bajazeth and his tributary kings, capturing the Emperor and his wife Zabina. The victorious Tamburlaine keeps the defeated ruler in a cage and feeds him scraps from his table, releasing Bajazeth only to use him as a footstool. Bajazeth later kills himself onstage by bashing his head against the bars upon hearing of Tamburlaine''s next victory, and upon finding his body Zabina does likewise. After conquering Africa and naming himself emperor of that continent, Tamburlaine sets his eyes on Damascus; this target places the Egyptian Sultan, his father-in-law, directly in his path. Zenocrate pleads with her husband to spare her father. He complies, instead making the Sultan a tributary king. The play ends with the wedding of Zenocrate and Tamburlaine, and the crowning of the former as Empress of Persia. In Part 2, Tamburlaine grooms his sons to be conquerors in his wake as he continues to conquer his neighbouring kingdoms. His oldest son, Calyphas, preferring to stay by his mother''s side and not risk death, incurs Tamburlaine''s wrath. Meanwhile, the son of Bajazeth, Callapine, escapes from Tamburlaine''s jail and gathers a group of tributary kings to his side, planning to avenge his father. Callapine and Tamburlaine meet in battle, where Tamburlaine is victorious. But finding Calyphas remained in his tent during the battle, Tamburlaine kills him in anger. Tamburlaine then forces the defeated kings to pull his chariot to his next battlefield, declaring, : Holla ye pampered jades of Asia! : What, can ye draw but twenty miles a day? Upon reaching Babylon, which holds out against him, Tamburlaine displays further acts of extravagant savagery. When the Governor of the city attempts to save his life in return for revealing the city treasury, Tamburlaine has him hung from the city walls and orders his men to shoot him to death. He orders the inhabitants -- men, women, and children -- bound and thrown into a nearby lake. Lastly, Tamburlaine scornfully burns a copy of the Qur''an and claims to be greater than God. In the final act, he is struck ill but manages to defeat one more foe before he dies. He bids his remaining sons to conquer the remainder of the earth as he departs life.

Tamburlaine

Three Junes follows the McLeods, a Scottish family, throughout their lives and relationships. Its members are Paul and Maureen, and their sons: Fenno, and twins David and Dennis. At the opening of the book, Paul is on a tour of Greece, Maureen has died from lung cancer, and Fenno is running a bookstore in New York City. Other important characters include Malachy, Fenno''s friend who is a music critic and suffering from AIDS, and Fern, an unwed pregnant woman, who Paul formerly met on his trip to Greece, trying to recover from his wife''s death. Finally, another important character of the book is Tony, a photographer, who is a house-sitter, never living in the same house for more than a few months. He is a catalyst in the narative development of Fern and Fenno. He is an old friend with Fern and he develops a tumultuous relationship with Fenno. The novel is written in three parts, using the flashback technique. The first takes place in 1989 and is told from Paul''s perspective; the second, in 1995 and from Fenno''s point of view; the third, in 1999 and from Fern''s perspective. As Julia Glass has said herself, the book should be viewed not as a trilogy but rather a triptych - elements that may seem small in one section play a large role in another, like a triptych, rather than a consecutive series of novels in a trilogy.

Three Junes

Mr. Stanley forbids his adult daughter, a biology student at Tredgold Women''s College and the youngest of his five children, to attend a fancy dress ball in London, causing a crisis. Ann Veronica is planning to attend the dance with friends of a down-at-the-heels artistic family living nearby and has been chafing at other restrictions imposed for no apparent reason on her. After her father resorts to force to stop her from attending the ball, she leaves her home in the fictional south London suburb of Morningside Park in order to live independently in an apartment "in a street near the Hampstead Road" in North London. Unable to find appropriate employment, she borrows forty pounds from Mr. Ramage, an older man, without realizing she is compromising herself. With this money, Ann Veronica is able to devote herself to study in the biological laboratory of the Central Imperial College (a constituent college of London University) where she meets and falls in love with Capes, the laboratory''s "demonstrator." But Mr. Ramage loses little time in trying to take advantage of the situation, precipitating a crisis. Distraught after Ramage tries to force himself on her, Ann Veronica temporarily abandons her studies and devotes herself to the cause of women''s suffrage; she is arrested storming Parliament and spends a month in prison. Sobered by the experience, Ann Veronica convinces herself of the necessity of compromise. She returns to her father''s home and engages herself to marry an admirer she does not love, Hubert Manning. But she soon changes her mind, renounces the engagement, and boldly tells Capes she loves him. Though he returns Ann Veronica''s love, at first the thirty-year-old Capes insists on the impossibility of the situation: he is a married (albeit separated) man with a sullied reputation because of an affair that became public. They can only be friends, he declares. But Ann Veronica is undeterred by his confession and his prudence, and finally Capes''s resistance buckles: "She stood up and held her arms toward him. ''I want you to kiss me,'' she said. .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. ''I want you. I want you to be my lover. I want to give myself to you. I want to be whatever I can to you.'' She paused for a moment. ''Is that plain?'' she asked." Capes decides to throw over his employment at the college in order to live with Ann Veronica, and they enjoy a glorious "honeymoon" in the Alps. A final chapter shows the happy couple four years and four months later living in London. Capes has become a successful playwright, and Ann Veronica is pregnant and has reconciled with her family.

Ann Veronica

Portrait in Sepia is the sequel to Daughter of Fortune and follows the story of Aurora del Valle, the granddaughter of Eliza Sommers (Hija de la fortuna). The daughter of Lynn Sommers (the daughter of Eliza and Tao Chi''en) and Matías Rodríguez de Santa Cruz (son of Paulina del Valle and Feliciano Rodríguez de Santa Cruz) has no memory of her first 5 years of life. She has recurring nightmares of men in black pyjamas looming around her, and losing the grip on the hand of someone beloved. Lynn died giving birth to Aurora, known also by her Chinese name Lai Ming, in Chinatown, San Francisco, while Aurora''s biological father never acknowledged that he had a child until the end of his life; he died a slow and agonizing death of syphilis. After Lynn''s death, Aurora''s maternal grandparents raised her until the death of Tao Chi''en. After these events, Eliza approaches Paulina to raise Aurora while Eliza goes to China to bury Tao''s body. Paulina makes Eliza agree to cut all contact with Aurora so she will not get too attached to the girl and have her taken away later on in life. So, Paulina del Valle tries to hide Aurora''s true origins. Nevertheless, when Aurora talks to her real father, Matías, he tells the truth about her past. In this first part the writer also describes the War of the Pacific in which Severo del Valle is involved as a soldier. The descriptions of the war is very cruel; that can be seen in the scene where Severo del Valle loses his leg to gangrene. The second part is about the transition of Aurora''s childhood to adulthood. She learns to be a photographer and she becomes an expert artist in that field. The family moves from San Francisco to Chile and Frederick Williams becomes Paulina''s husband, so he will be accepted in Chilean society. Everyone there see him as a true English lord, but no one knows his origins are not noble. Allende also describes a civil war which affects them directly and the way Paulina del Valle endlessly creates new businesses such as growing French wine and selling cheese, in Chile. The Del Valle family then travels to Europe because Paulina has a tumor and needs an operation. The operation is successful and Paulina becomes healthy and strong once more. She is more than 70 years old, but does not show signs of being tired, ill or soft; she imposes her will on her body and thus she continues to rule the family as a matriarch. Thus, the novel is divided into three parts and an epilogue. The first part describes Aurora''s infancy and family members, and the second is where Aurora''s life comes more into play. The third part is where Aurora grows up, becoming a photographer, marrying Diego Domínguez and eventually leaving him. She takes a lover, Dr. Ivan Radovic, and their relationship is explained more fully in the epilogue. In the end, the mystery of Tao Chi''en''s death is revealed and it plays an important role.

Portrait in Sepia

The action takes place several centuries after the events of Le Silence de la Cité. Large areas have been drowned by the rising sea and most of Europe is now a poisoned wasteland. Due to a genetic mutation, women now outnumber men by 70 to 1. The collapsed society described in Le Silence de la Cité has been slowly rebuilt. Post-collapse warlord states have evolved into patriarchal kingdoms - the Harems - before being overthrown by the hives, female-run city-states, every bit as warlike and tyrannical as their male-run predecessors. Those have in turn been replaced by a more peaceful female dominated society organized as a loose federation of local communities. The novel follows the life of Lisbeï, the daughter of the "mother" of the Betely community, in the province of Litale. Destined to succeed her she grows up with her sister and friend, Tula, her being barren prevents her from doing so. While exploring ruined tunnels she discovers documents which question everything her society thought it knew about its past.

Chroniques du Pays des Mères

Yorick''s journey starts in Calais, where he meets a monk who begs for donations to his convent. Yorick initially refuses to give him anything, but later regrets his decision. He and the monk exchange their snuff-boxes. He buys a chaise to continue his journey. The next town he visits is Montreuil, where he hires a servant to accompany him on his journey, a young man named La Fleur. During his stay in Paris, Yorick is informed that the police inquired for his passport at his hotel. Without a passport at a time when England is at war with France (Sterne traveled to Paris in January 1762, before the Seven Years'' War ended), he risks imprisonment in the Bastille. Yorick decides to travel to Versailles where he visits the Count de B**** to acquire a passport. When Yorick notices the count reads Hamlet, he points with his finger at Yorick''s name, mentioning that he is Yorick. The count mistakes him for the king''s jester and quickly procures him a passport. Yorick fails in his attempt to correct the count, and remains satisfied with receiving his passport so quickly. Yorick returns to Paris, and continues his voyage to Italy after staying in Paris for a few more days. Along the way he decides to visit Maria – who was introduced in Sterne''s previous novel, Tristram Shandy – in Moulins. Maria''s mother tells Yorick that Maria has been struck with grief since her husband died. Yorick consoles Maria, and then leaves. After having passed Lyon during his journey, Yorick spends the night in a roadside inn. Because there is only one bedroom, he is forced to share the room with a lady and her chamber-maid ("fille de chambre"). When Yorick can''t sleep and accidentally breaks his promise to remain silent during the night, an altercation with the lady ensues. During the confusion, Yorick accidentally grabs hold of something belonging to the chamber-maid. The last line is: "when I stretch''d out my hand I caught hold of the fille de chambre''s...End of vol II". The sentence is open to interpretation. You can say the last word is omitted, or that he stretched out his hand, and caught hers (this would be grammatically correct). Another interpretation is to incorporate ''End of Vol. II'' into the sentence, so that he grabs the Fille de Chambre''s ''End''.

A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy

Luik is the young son of Lair, one of the minor kings of Dionia, a world where no sin, pain, or problems exist. At least, that''s how it has been for centuries. When this story begins, strange occurrences are starting to befall Dionia. Malice, jealousy, greed and physical injury are beginning to mar this perfect world. The wise kings know that this is the work of Morgui, traitorous former servant of Dionia''s ultimate ruler, the Most High. In response to this growing evil, war measures are taken, the chief of which is the selection of the sons of Dionia''s kings to train as elite warriors. While Luik, along with the other Kings'' sons, is brought by Gorn, a powerful man with experience from a past war, to island of Kirstell, his childhood friends are also experiencing changes in their lives. His talented princess friend Anorra is learning, under a separate trainer, how to physically as well as mentally fight against the coming evils. Another of his old comrades, Hadrian, is trying to cope with the loss of his father, who seems to have reverted to Morgui and has disappeared from Dionia. Lastly, young Fane is now being trained by Li-Saide, dwarf servant of one of Dionia''s kings, learning to hear messages in the water and wind and being trained in wisdom. On Kirstell, a place mainly free from the spreading effects of evil, Gorn trains the eighteen boys for four years into men, warriors, the Dibor. When they are at last ready to defend their people, Gorn brings the fighters back to the heart of Dionia, its capitol, Adriel Palace. On the route they experience a skirmish in the city of Jahdan. The Dibor fight and overcome a massive army of Dairne-Reih, also known as Dairneags, demons working for Morgui. At Adriel itself, Luik and a portion of the Dibor engage in a devastating battle against the demons, while the rest, headed by Gorn, attempt to find Morgui himself. King Ragnar, the leader of Dionia''s human kings, is assassinated, both Luik''s father and another king perish in the battle, nearly all Dionia''s soldiers present are killed, and Luik himself is badly wounded. Fane and Li-Saide, who had attended King Ragnar in his last hours - during which he named "his son" heir, much to the disbelief and curiosity of Fane, who thought the king had none - take King Ragnar''s body through a secret passage and down an underwater tunnel to a secret place. While this is going on, Gorn and about half of the Dibor find Morgui''s second in command, Velon. The younger warriors first break the arch from which the Dairne-Reih have been entering Dionia and then kill as many of the demons as they can. Meanwhile, Gorn kills Velon after a furious battle and the Dibor escape with their teacher back towards Adriel. As the story ends Luik, semi-conscious, is being borne on a stretcher by the straggling line of soldier and Dibor survivors headed for Mt. Dakka, the last standing greatest stronghold against Morgui.

Rise of the Dibor

The novel takes place in a fictional location called the Isles of Bresal which are protected by a bank of mist called The Veil. On Bresal there are stables that train dragons. Cara, the protagonist, cleans dragons for the stable Dragonsdale. Many children attend Dragonsdale to learn to train dragons and take them to competitions, but Cara is forbidden to ride any dragon even though her father is the head of Dragonsdale. This is because her mother had died in an accident during a flight with dragons, and her father, Huw, couldn''t afford to lose Cara as well. However, Cara is allowed to help clean the dragons, and she has a favorite one called Skydancer. She ends up having to train a young farm boy called Drane to muck out the stables and do all the things she does. But all is not what it seems about him as Cara and Drane slowly become better friends. Now, many children at Dragonsdale are preparing for the dragon riding competitions. Although Cara cannot participate in it, she supports her friends Breena and Wony. Cara is still determined to convince her father to let her ride dragons and one day go to the competitions with Skydancer. Dragonsdale follows Cara as she goes through obstacles, such as an arrogant child called Hortense, who is constantly making Cara mad, and finally achieves her goal when she buys Skydancer, but she loses control and declares he must be destroyed. Cara runs away with Skydancer to the mountains. In the mountains, Cara loses way and follows a path leading in the wrong direction. The path leads Cara off a cliff and she nearly falls off of it, but Skydancer takes the back of Cara''s shirt and pulls her to safety, it is after that that Cara and Sky Hear the Firedogs and Howlers for the first time. When they hear the Firedogs and Howlers for a second time Cara finds out that Drane was following her. When they''re being circled in by the Firedogs and Howlers Sky dancer runs out of flame and Drane encourages Cara to ride Skydancer. While Drane is trying to make Cara ride Skydancer Cara is encouraging Drane to ride Sky (Skydancer) and be saved from death as well. But Drane refuses. While all this is happening, back in Dragonsdale Huw, Cara''s father, is worried. Back in the mountains, Drane finally gets Cara to ride Skydancer... only to be picked up in Sky''s talons! Together, Sky, Cara and Drane fly back to Dragonsdale after promising that they won''t say that Cara rode Sky. She secretly trains Skydancer to fly through obstacles. Hortense and Huw discover this and Huw banishes Cara from riding Skydancer ever again. A competition comes up and Hortense is to ride Skydancer. Skydancer makes mistakes based on Hortenses confusing signals and they lose the competition. When Cara goes to the ring she sees Hortense yelling at Sky, then Hortense rewards him with a whip on the muzzle. Skydancer gets mad and gets ready to flame Hortense. Just on time, Cara stops Skydancer, and they decide to do the obstacle course together. Cara does an excellent job, but she knows her father is mad. Surprisingly, Huw lets Cara ride again and banishes Hortense from riding Skydancer ever again. The dragon and dragonrider live happily ever after and fly off into the noon sun, at least until the novel''s sequel. That is called Riding the Storm.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

Labor Day

By Joyce Maynard

Rumours of Rain

No Author Listed

Epicoene, or the Silent Woman

By Ben Jonson

The Witches of Eastwick

By John Updike

Tamburlaine

By Christopher Marlowe

Three Junes

By Julia Glass

Ann Veronica

By H. G. Wells

Portrait in Sepia

By Isabel Allende

Chroniques du Pays des Mères

By Élisabeth Vonarburg

A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy

By Laurence Sterne

Rise of the Dibor

No Author Listed

Dragonsdale

By Steve Barlow