The main character in the book is a Lithuanian man called Jurgis Rudkus, an immigrant to the United States trying to make ends meet. The book begins describing the wedding feast beginning at four o''clock after the marriage in Chicago of Jurgis to a fifteen year old Lithuanian girl named Ona Lukoszaite whom he had known from his Lithuanian days. The second chapter goes back to when Jurgis and Ona were in Lithuania before they married and Jurgis''s courtship of her, the death of her father, and their decision to start dating and eventually immigrate to the United States along with her stepmother Teta Elzbieta, and their extended family after hearing how their relative Jokubas Szedvilas is making money there. In the second and third chapters Jurgis and Ona settle in Chicago''s infamous Packingtown district, where from the start, Jurgis takes a job at Brown''s slaughterhouse. (Brown was a pseudonym for Armour and Company.) Jurgis believes when he immigrates to the United States that it will be a land of more freedom, but soon his employer''s treatment of him disappoints him. Alas, they have to make compromises and concessions to survive. Due partly to illiteracy in English, they quickly make a series of bad decisions that cause them to go deep into debt and fall prey to con men. The most devastating decision comes when, in hopes of owning their own home, the family falls victim to a predatory lending scheme that exhausts all their remaining savings on the down-payment for a sub-standard slum house that (by design) they cannot possibly afford. The family is evicted and their money taken, leaving them truly devastated. The family had formerly envisioned that Jurgis alone would be able to support them in the United States, but one by one, all of them&mdash;the women, the young children, and Jurgis'' sick father&mdash;have to find jobs in order to contribute to the meager family income. As the novel progresses, the jobs and means the family uses to stay alive slowly and inevitably lead to their physical and moral decay. A series of unfortunate events&mdash;accidents at work, along with a number of deaths in the family that under normal circumstances could have been prevented&mdash;leads the family further toward catastrophe. One injury results in Jurgis being fired; he later takes a job at Durham''s fertilizer plant. (Durham was a pseudonym for Swift and Company.) The family''s tragedies cumulate when Ona confesses to Jurgis, who is suspicious of her frequent absences from home, that her boss, Phil Connor, had raped her, and made her job dependent on her giving him sexual favors. In revenge, Jurgis later attacks Connor, leading to his arrest and imprisonment by the corrupt judge Pat Callahan, who sides with Connor against Jurgis. After his stint in jail, Jurgis returns home, only to find out that his family has been evicted. He finds his family at a relative''s house; Jurgis also discovers Ona in labor with her second child. Ona dies in childbirth from blood loss at the age of eighteen. Jurgis lacked money to pay for a doctor; so Ona has to rely on the greedy and incompetent Madame Haupt, whose carelessness leads to Ona''s death. Soon after their first child drowns in the muddy street, causing Jurgis to flee the city in utter despair and turn to drinking. At first the mere presence of fresh air is balm to his soul, but his brief sojourn as a hobo in rural United States shows him that there is really no escape&mdash;even farmers turn their workers away when the harvest is finished. Jurgis returns to Chicago and holds down a succession of jobs outside the meat packing industry&mdash;digging tunnels, as a political hack, and as a con-man&mdash;but injuries on the job, his past and his innate sense of personal integrity continue to haunt him, and he drifts without direction. One night, while looking for a warm and dry refuge, he wanders into a lecture being given by a charismatic Socialist orator, and finds a sense of community and purpose. Socialism and strong labor unions are the answer to the evils that he, his family and their fellow sufferers have had to endure. A fellow socialist employs him, and he resumes his support of his wife''s family, although some of them are damaged beyond repair. The book ends with another socialist rally, which comes on the heels of several recent political victories. The speaker encourages his comrades to keep fighting for victories, chanting "Chicago will be ours!"

The Jungle

The book starts with Dan and Amy in a Venice airport. There, Ian and Natalie Kabra steal their plane tickets and board a plane with their au pair, Nellie Gomez, who is already on the plane. Amy and Dan are then forced to team up with Alistair Oh, their uncle, and fly with him on his private plane to Tokyo, Japan. Together they learn about Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the greatest warrior in the history of Japan, and the son of the first Tomas. The Holts kidnap Amy, Dan, and Alistair and threatened them into helping them find the next clue. They are pulled into a room by Alistair after nearly being killed by the train. In this room, they find a haiku, which tells them to use geometry to find Hideyoshi''s treasure. Later, they find some geometric shapes, but are chased by the Yakuza and are once again nearly killed. They are rescued by Nellie, who has struck a deal, and is accompanied by, the Kabras. When the Kabras give Amy and Dan a small coin of importance to the search, the two Cahills agree to join forces with the Kabras. They decode another message in the shapes. The message tells them to go to Korea. In other parts of the story after they meet the Kabras once again, Amy falling for Ian is introduced in this book. The author''s writing also gives a little hint away: Ian may admire Amy, and Dan suspects it as well. In Korea, everyone goes to Alistair''s house. There, they look at old books about the Cahill family in Alistair''s secret library. By reading one of them, Amy and Dan figure out that the secret of the 39 Clues is the ability to make gold out of lead. They also figure out that they should go to a mountain called Pukhansan. On the mountain, they find an entrance, and open it with the coin they have. Inside, they find all of Hideyoshi''s treasure, and the third clue, gold. The Kabras have a plan, but little do they know that Dan also has a plan. He discovers an anagram and says the next location is Lake Tash, Kyrgyzstan. The Kabras then betray them and block them inside the cave. Dan then tells Amy that he tricked the Kabras into thinking that Lake Tash was the next location, and the two figure out that it''s actually an anagram for the words, Al Sakhet and Alkahest, the alchemical word for the philosopher''s stone. Dan and Amy make it out but Alistair appears to be crushed under falling rocks. They also see Bae Oh talking about this with The Man in Black. Upon returning to Alistair''s estate, Dan sees Alistair''s gloves (which he was wearing before the cave in), and realizes that he isn''t dead. They also figure out that the next clue is in Egypt. The adventure continues in Beyond the Grave. This is where they will find the fourth clue. The book ends with Bae Oh, sitting his office. He pages his secretary but Alistair answers instead. Alistair threatens his uncle, and when Bae looks in his receiving room, no one is there.

The Sword Thief

The Hardy boys learn a case of counterfeit money is somehow intertwined with a national security case their dad is working on. Frank and Joe help prevent 14-year-old cyclist Ken Blake from getting killed in an accident. As they help the boy up they see he is delivering an envelope to Victor Peters, a name that means something to the Hardys later on in the book. The Hardys learn that their friend Chet Morton has been tricked when asked to make change for what turned out to be a counterfeit twenty dollar bill, something that the police later confirm is becoming more common in their town of Bayport. Later, Joe is awakened by a clattering sound and sees a mysterious figure bicycling away from the Hardys'' home. While investigating the disturbance a note is found that reads, "Drop case or else danger for you and your family." The Hardy boys are not sure if this threat refers to the counterfeiting case that Frank and Joe are investigating or another case their detective dad, Fenton Hardy, is trying to solve. The Hardys go with Chet, who wants to apply for a job at Elekton Controls, a missile-development company, but are told by Mr. Markel, one of Elekton''s security guards, that there are no openings. Before leaving, they notice a bike that looks similar to the one ridden by Ken Blake and that is likely to have been used by the person who left the threatening note. Mr. Docker, an Elekton maintenance man, tells them that Ken does odd jobs for the company, but that he is not there at that time, even though Joe is certain he saw Ken looking out an adjacent old watermill''s window at them. The Hardys, their girlfriends, Iola Morton and Callie Shaw and Chet go nearby to have a picnic but an arrow is shot at them with an attached note reading, "Danger. Hardys beware." The Hardy brothers receive a gift of a motorboat they call The Sleuth, and show it to their friend, Tony Prito. Tony says the construction supply yard he is working at for the summer has become the latest to receive counterfeit money used to pay for lumber by a boy matching the description of Ken Blake. The Hardys take The Sleuth to the mill to investigate and find the mill wheel starting and stopping. Soon, they are attacked and left without gas in their new boat. They recover and get back to investigating by finding Ken who says he thinks someone has used his bike the same night that Joe saw someone bicycling from the Hardy''s home. Markel and Docker pull Ken away and then a suspicious vehicle leaves Elekton. Later, the same suspicious vehicle gets away before an explosion at Elekton. Frank and Joe are terrified that their dad is inside the burning building. He was in the building but survived the explosion revealing that he was there to stop the attack after realizing there is a pattern to similar type attacks going on around similar companies in the United States. Eager to learn more from Ken, the Hardys soon find that Ken has been released from Elekton. The Hardys find him at a boarding house and he explains that the bricks and lumber bought with the counterfeit money were being used for a project at the mill. Frank and Joe return to the old mill and realize that the wheel mill is set up to act as a signaling device for the people living inside; an electric-eye stops the flow of electricity to the wheel. It acts as a warning to those inside that someone is approaching the mill. Going inside the mill at a time when they know no one else is there, they discover a secret room hidden by the lumber bought with counterfeit money. In the secret room, they find the tools used to make the fake money, but before they can get away the villains return to the mill. Frank and Joe escape through a tunnel but are captured by Docker and Markel. Victor Peters arrives and these three villains reveal that Docker shot the arrow at the girlfriends and Markel used the bike to deliver the note to the Hardys'' home. Docker and Markel also explain that, without the knowledge of Victor Peters, they allowed another villain, Paul Blum, into Elekton to attack the place, which is the case that Fenton Hardy was investigating. Blum reveals that he is working for other countries who wish to stop United States missile development. Frank and Joe take advantage of an opportunity and overtake the villains. The book ends with the police arresting all the villains and the expectation of the Hardys'' next case when "they were called upon to solve the mystery of The Missing Chums."

The Secret of the Old Mill

Sarah Zoltanne is an extra ordinary girl. Her widowed mother, Rosemary, decides to move to Pinecrest because of Ted Thompson. When Sarah starts school as the new pupil, she makes no friends. Eric Garrett convinces Sarah to play a fortune teller at the fortune telling booth. He says it is to benefit the prom and she would be perfect because she is new and almost no one knows her. Sarah accidentally agrees while having a strange vision at home. At the carnival, Kyra feeds her information on the customers coming in. Sarah uses an old paperweight that belonged to her departed parternal grandmother as her crystal ball. The night is going well until Sarah does a reading for an abundantly contoured but likeable boy named Charlie Gorman. When reading for him, she sees a vision in the paperweight of Charlie falling down a flight of stairs. Sarah quickly closes down the booth and leaves. She becomes friends with Charlie, and discovers that he believes in reincarnation and past lives. Sarah starts writing a history paper about the Salem Witch Trials, and begins having dreams and visions in which she is participating in the trials. Charlie tells her he thinks that everyone in the town participated in the trials, and they are back together to finish something. Meanwhile, Eric convinces her to start doing readings as a business, but things start going down hill when Sarah makes the popular cheerleaders angry and keeps seeing visions about people. The cheerleaders become convinced that Sarah is a witch. Sarah receives threats, such as a sketch of a gallows and a dead crow in her locker. In desperation, she goes to the principal, and then Ted and her mother. Neither party does anything to help her. Later, Ted forces Sarah to go to a party with Kyra. Eric comes by to pick up Sarah for the party, but she has changed her mind about it. Eric persuades her to come out and apologize to Kyra, but she is forced into the car and brought to the party. Eric and the others take Sarah to Garrote Hill, in the middle of Pine Crest, where many drunk students are waiting. The students begin acting strangely and calling the place Gallows Hill, the place in Salem, Massachusetts where the witches of the trials were hanged. They try to hang Sarah, but Charlie intervenes, and the students suddenly relive their past lives in Salem before attacking Charlie. Sarah almost ends up getting hanged until Ted saves her. Sarah and Rosemary decide to move back to California, and Sarah realizes that in a past life, she was Betty Parris, the young girl who brought about the Salem Witch Trials. She leaves Charlie with a night of passion, and gives him the paperweight. It was once cloudy, but now it is ''clear and transparent as window glass''.

Gallows Hill

The book is written in the present tense. It''s 1978, New Jersey: Saturday Night Fever and Grease are big. 13-year-old Robin MacKenzie is caught in a triangular relationship with next-door neighbor Todd Spicer and classmate Scott Schatz. Robin develops a fascination for 17-year-old neighbor Todd who, despite often teasing him, initiates a sexual relationship with the younger boy, whom Todd invites to a party after which they go swimming on a golf course. Robin further forms a close bond with fellow freshman Scott Schatz, whose father is physically abusive. Robin learns that, two years earlier, Todd and Scott were involved in a sexual relationship. Robin is troubled by this, but his relationship with Scott is ultimately unaffected. During the novel, Robin''s younger brother Jackson dies some time after falling from a slide and breaking his neck, an incident Robin blames himself for although it isn''t anyone''s fault. As a result Robin''s family begins to break down: his father becomes violent towards Robin, and Robin''s longstanding bond with his mother begins to be affected. His younger sister Ruby becomes religious and also closer to Robin.

The World of Normal Boys

In order to help Ken become accustomed to the world outside of the Lost City of the Jedi, Luke brings him to Tatooine to experience the "Droidfest." Although they are attacked by Tusken Raiders and bounty hunters hoping to get the reward Trioculus set for Ken, they manage to escape to Bespin with Han''s housewarming gift, a housekeeping droid named Kate. Meanwhile, Zorba the Hutt, the father of Jabba, upon learning of his son''s death, flies to Cloud City in order to claim Jabba''s casino. Although the governor, Lando Calrissian, who has taken over the casino, refuses the claim, he agrees to bet the city and the casino on a game of sabacc. With Zorba marking the cards in an ultraviolet paint that only Hutts can see, Lando lost the city and left after warning Han and Leia. After a series of mishaps, Leia is captured by Trioculus'' guards and brought to his factory on the planet and Ken is captured by Zorba. When Zorba learns that his son''s murderer is in the custody of Trioculus he proposes a trade. Trioculus, however, won''t give up his queen, and although has his stormtroopers ready to aid him, is defeated by Zorba''s police force. Ken, however, is able to escape his jailers through a use of a Jedi mind trick and is reunited with Han. Luke is also able to rescue Leia and all are taken aboard the Millennium Falcon before Zorba destroys Trioculus'' factory. Thinking that Leia was killed, he taunts Trioculus before freezing him in carbonite. The rebels leave the planet with Han wondering if he''ll ever be able to ask Leia to marry him.

Zorba the Hutt''s Revenge

The novel opens in a Confederate military hospital where the protagonist, Inman, is recovering from a recent battle wound. Tired of fighting for a cause he never believed in and longing for his home at Cold Mountain, North Carolina, he decides to desert from the Confederate Army and sets out on an epic journey home. The narrative alternates between the story of Inman and that of Ada Monroe, a minister''s daughter recently relocated from Charleston to the rural mountain community of Cold Mountain. Though they only knew each other for a brief time before Inman departed for the war, it is largely the hope of seeing Ada again that drives Inman to desert the army and make the dangerous journey back to Cold Mountain. Details of their brief history together are told at intervals in flashback over the course of the novel. At Cold Mountain, Ada''s father soon dies and the farm where the genteel city-bred Ada lives, named Black Cove, is soon reduced to a state of disrepair. A young woman named Ruby, outspoken and resourceful, soon moves in and begins to help Ada to overcome her circumstances and the two of them form a close friendship as they attempt to survive in this harsh war-torn environment. Inman''s journey to return to Ada is perilous. He faces starvation, extreme weather, the constant harassment of the Home Guard sent to track down deserters, and the treachery of other desperate individuals. He is at times aided in his journey by strangers equally affected by the horrors of war. Frazier''s narrative depicts a bleak landscape of America during the Civil War focusing on the emotional and psychological scars left upon combatants and citizens alike.

Cold Mountain

Kenelm begins his tale by telling of the hardships and misery he suffered during his time at the monastery, and of how he was gifted to the Christians by King Guthlac, his uncle, aged ten. The young Kenelm resents Guthlac and longs to be back at court, to enjoy the bright colours, good food, excellent storytelling and beautiful women there. He hates the life of boring prayers, bad food and degrading menial chores as a monk, and despite years of being taught the Christian ways, he still believes fervently in his own Norse gods, and in his ancestor Woden. He prays to Woden desperately to be allowed to return there without disgracing himself or his family, as he cannot leave the monastery without doing so. As he finishes his prayer, a monk summons him to the dining hall, where he notices a trio of house-carls, kept warriors, that serve his uncle King Guthlac. Under the direction of his Abbot, he bathes and changes, and visits his Abbess, who informs him that it has been requested that he leave the monastery to do his uncle''s business. Kenelm, overjoyed, realises that his ancestor Woden has granted his prayers. Despite the Abbess''s disapproval, she allows him a month''s leave, and makes him promise to pray three times a day. Kenelm agrees, but privately swears to himself that he will pray to Woden. He then leaves with the house-carls, who tell him about the deadly plague that has swept through the court, laying low almost everybody, including the king and queen. Fortunately, the monastery is so excluded that Kenelm has never heard of the plague they are talking about, and is fit and healthy. Upon arriving at the court, Old Egwin tells him of the murderous Foreigners that are invading the country, and that nobody is strong enough to stand against them. He commands Kenelm to go to find help, revealing that the only creatures capable of helping him are the Wood Women, powerful spirits related to Woden and the Norse gods that are famed for singing to men and leading them until they are lost in the woods. Kenelm journeys into the woods and breaks a twig, as instructed by Egwin. At this, three young, beautiful, naked women emerge from the trees, dark-haired and with big dark eyes, blood-red lips and sharp white teeth. Kenelm, though very afraid, begs them in Egwin''s name to drive off the Foreigners, and they, after some persuasion, agree, because they knew Old Egwin when he was a young man.

The Wolf-Sisters

In the book, environment, famine, overpopulation, climate changes, floods, tornadoes, hothouse effect (now commonly referred to as greenhouse effect), etc. are generally predicted to worsen and become acute by the end of the 20th century. Berlitz lists of doomsday years is long. He starts with the year 999, December 31 when many expected Jesus to return, and goes through a great many doomsday prophecies by scientists, prophets, astrologers and others. In chapter 8, he asks whether the world has ended before, mentioning Atlantis, an idea which he revisits later in his books The Mystery of Atlantis and Atlantis: The Lost Continent Revealed. Berlitz suggests that there may have been a flood, an idea which he explores further in his book The Lost Ship of Noah: In Search of the Ark at Ararat (1987) and in chapter 9 where he cites the tales of a great flood from the Bible and the Torah, Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Greek, Indian, Persian, Welsh, Norse, Lithuanian, Irish, Chinese, Aztec-Toltec, Maya records and Chibcha tales.

Doomsday 1999 A.D.

Whilst browsing in a market in Brussels, Tintin purchases an old model ship which he wishes to give to his friend Captain Haddock as a gift. Two strangers, the model ship collector Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine and a mysterious figure known as Barnaby, then unsuccessfully try to independently convince Tintin to sell the model to them. Returning with the model to his flat, Snowy knocks it over and its mainmast is broken. Repairing it, and showing the ship to Haddock, the latter is amazed that it is actually a model of the Unicorn, a 17th-century warship captained by his ancestor, Sir Francis Haddock. The model ship is subsequently stolen, and it is revealed that Sakharine owns an identical model of the Unicorn, although this was soon stolen. Returning to his flat, Tintin discovers a rolled-up parchment hidden under furniture, on which is a part of a riddle that points to the location of treasure, and he realises that this must have been hidden in the mast of the model which Snowy had broken. Informing Haddock about the riddle, the captain tells him of how Sir Francis Haddock battled with the pirate Red Rackham somewhere in the West Indies, before killing him in single combat and blowing up his ship. Haddock gets somewhat carried away in his telling of the story: destroying his flat while re-enacting the battle scenes. He also reveals that three models exist in total. Barnaby then turns up at Tintin''s doorstep but is shot down by unknown assailants. Later Tintin is kidnapped by the perpetrators of the shooting. They are revealed to be the Bird brothers, two unscrupulous antique dealers who own a third model of the Unicorn. They are behind the theft of Tintin''s model and Sakharine''s parchment, knowing that only with all three parchments can the location of the treasure be found for the following book Red Rackham''s treasure. Tintin escapes from the Bird brothers'' country estate, Marlinspike Hall, whilst the Captain arrives with the police officers Thompson and Thomson to arrest them. However, it is found that they do not have two of the parchments. These are found to have been stolen by Aristides Silk, a kleptomaniac specialising in wallet-snatching. As the pickpocket is cornered, his cache of stolen wallets is found, amongst which are the Bird Brothers'' wallets containing the missing two parchments. By combining the three parchments, Tintin and Haddock discover the coordinates of the hidden treasure, and begin to plan for an expedition to find it. The story ends where it started, leading Tintin to the rest of the treasure.

The Secret of the Unicorn

Story of the Eye consists of several vignettes, centered around the sexual passion existing between the unnamed late adolescent male narrator and Simone, his primary female partner. Within this episodic narrative two secondary figures emerge: Marcelle, a mentally ill sixteen-year-old girl who comes to a sad end, and Lord Edmund, a voyeuristic, English émigré aristocrat. Simone and the narrator first consummate their lust on a beach near their home, and involve Marcelle within their activity. The couple are exhibitionists, copulating within Simone''s house in full view of her mother. During this second episode, Simone derives pleasure from inserting hard and soft boiled eggs for her vaginal and anal stimulation; she also experiences considerable enjoyment from the viscosity of various liquids. The pair undertake an orgy with other adolescents, which involves some broken glass and involuntary bloodletting, and ends with Marcelle''s psychological breakdown. The narrator flees his own parents'' home taking a pistol from the office of his bedridden, senile, and violent father. They view Marcelle within a sanatorium, but fail to break her out. Naked, they flee during night back to Simone''s home, and more displays of exhibitionist sex ensue before Simone''s widowed mother. Later, they finally break Marcelle out of the institution, but unfortunately, Marcelle is totally insane. Deprived of her therapeutic environment, she hangs herself. The pair have sex next to her corpse. After Marcelle''s suicide, the two flee to Spain, where they meet Sir Edmund. They witness a Madrid bullfight, which involves the prowess of handsome twenty-year-old matador, El Granero. Initially, El Granero kills the first bull that he encounters and the animal is consequently castrated. Simone then pleasures herself by vaginally inserting these taurine testicles. Unfortunately, El Granero is killed by the next bull that he fights, and his face is mutilated. As the corpse of El Granero is removed from the stadium, his right eye has worked loose from its socket, and is hanging, bloody and distended. Simone, Sir Edmund, and the narrator visit the Catholic Church of San Seville after the day''s events. Simone aggressively seduces Don Aminado, a handsome, young, Catholic priest, fellating him while Simone and the narrator have sex. Sir Edmund undertakes a blasphemous parody of the Catholic Eucharist involving desecration of the bread and wine using Don Aminado''s urine and semen before Simone strangles Don Aminado to death during his final orgasm. Sir Edmund enucleates one of the dead priests'' eyes, and Simone inserts it within her vagina, while she and the narrator have sex. The trio successfully elude apprehension for the murder of Don Aminado, and make their way down Andalusia. Sir Edmund purchases an African-staffed yacht so that they can continue their debaucheries, whereupon the story ends. In a postscript, Bataille reveals that the character of Marcelle may have been partially inspired by his own mother, who suffered from bipolar disorder, while the narrator''s father is also a transcription of his own unhappy paternal relationship. In an English language edition, Roland Barthes and Susan Sontag provide critical comment on the events.

Histoire de l''oeil

The novel deals with the relationships of all the three characters, and how life brings them together. Adam Coopersmith, an Obstetrician and Immunologist, helps in saving the life of Thomas Hartnell, known as the "Boss" in Washington, who is one of the advisors to the President of the United States, and arguably, a man holding more personal power than the President himself. Adam''s mentor, Dr.Max Rudolph, takes a slight detour from his ethical conduct and gives an FDA unapproved life saving cancer treatment whose efficacy is proved in his laboratory, to Hartnell. Adam serves as the attending doctor and ends up falling in love with Hartnell''s daughter Antonia, who is the Assistant Attorney General in Washington. After the demise of Max Rudolph, who is more of a father figure to Adam than a professional colleague, Adam is broken and finds solace in Antonia''s arms. They get married and have a daughter, Heather. However things soon start changing as Adam and his daughter slowly start realising that Antonia is married to her career, and in her list of priorities family figures quite below her work and her father. This slowly leads to a rift between Adam and Antonia, and he is drawn to Anya Avilov, the childless and abandoned wife of a Russian émigré Dr.Dmitri Avilov. Dmitri abandons Anya when he realises she is incapable of conceiving, and Adam, the attending obstetrician, rushes to fill in the gap in both his and her life. Eventually, Adam divorces Antonia and marries Anya. Antonia wins custody of Heather, but Heather always remains more attached to Adam rather than Antonia. Adam commits suicide unable to bear the crushing burden of Alzheimers Disease, a few days after he hears that he has won the Nobel Prize. Sandy Raven is the son of Sidney Raven, a Hollywood producer. Sandy has an inferiority complex about his looks, which gets reinforced over time as he faces the conspicuous lack of a social life throughout his teenage years. He joins MIT to study Genetics. His teenage love, Rochelle Taubman, uses him to get to his father and thereby gain entry into Hollywood. She very conveniently forgets Sandy after she gains contacts in Hollywood. She ends up doing seedy bit parts, and eventually, on the centerspread of Playboy. Sandy is unable to get over this betrayal and turns into a repressed person who is desperate for female company. He falls in love with his lab director''s daughter, Judy Morgenstern. His mentor and Laboratory director Gregory Morgenstern, cheats him out the Nobel Prize by not mentioning his contribution on a project. This leads to Judy and Sandy''s divorce, but Sandy finds solace in the love of his daughter Olivia, who, in turn studies physics under Isabel later in the book. Sandy finds love in a Japanese woman, Kimiko, and becomes a reputed scientist in Genetics. Isabel Da Costa is the daughter of Raymond Da Costa, and is a genius with an IQ far above average. Raymond recognizes this early on in her childhood and begins to run her life with an iron hand, thereby causing his marriage with Isabel''s mother Muriel to go into ruins. They also have a son Peter who is very close to Isabel, and who thinks that Raymond is ruining Isabel''s youth. Muriel wants Isabel to have a normal life, and Raymond is stubbornly intent on making Isabel win a nobel prize for physics, to vindicate his own failure in having a good academic career. Isabel is denied all pleasures of a normal teenage life with a punishing schedule in academics, and becomes a post graduate student at Berkeley before she has completed eighteen years of age, owing to her extraordinary powers of comprehension. She falls in love with Jerry Pracht, the son of her Thesis advisor Karl Pracht, in spite of her father''s repeated efforts to keep them apart. Jerry is a genius himself, who has quit the pressure of academics and is an ace tennis player. Isabel also longs to rebel against the pressure of being a genius and encourages this relationship on the sly. Her father realises that his hold on her life is detrimental, and gracefully moves out of her life. Isabel goes on to win the Nobel in Physics and strengthens her relationship with Jerry to a commitment.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

The Jungle

By Upton Sinclair, Jr.

The Sword Thief

By Peter Lerangis

The Secret of the Old Mill

By Franklin W. Dixon

Gallows Hill

By Lois Duncan

The World of Normal Boys

By K.M. Soehnlein

Zorba the Hutt's Revenge

By Paul Davids

Cold Mountain

By Charles Frazier

The Wolf-Sisters

By Susan Price

Doomsday 1999 A.D.

By Charles Berlitz

The Secret of the Unicorn

By Hergé

Histoire de l'oeil

No Author Listed

Prizes

By Erich Segal