Cry, the Beloved Country

by Alan Paton
Year Published:1948

"Cry the Beloved Country is the deeply moving story of the Zulu pastor Stephen Kumalo and his son Absalom, set against the background of a land and a people riven by racial injustice. “

To learn more about the book:

• Interview Discussing the Impact of the Novel
• NPR This Week's Must Read

A Doll's House
by Henrik Ibsen
Year Published:1879
“A Doll's House is a three-act play in prose by Henrik Ibsen.The play is significant for its critical attitude toward 19th century marriage norms. Ibsen was inspired by the belief that ‘a woman cannot be herself in modern society,’ since it is ‘an exclusively male society, with laws made by men and with prosecutors and judges who assess feminine conduct from a masculine standpoint.’” 

To learn more about the book:

• Rethinking Life Inside the Doll's House

Ethan Frome
by Edith Wharton
Year Published: 1911

When is it necessary to reinvent one’s self? How can one person change society? What is the responsibility of the individual toward society? Set against the frozen waste of a harsh New England winter, Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome is a tale of despair and forbidden emotions.

To learn more about the book:

• Podcast about the novel

The Poisonwood Bible
by Barbara Kingsolver
Year Published:1998“

The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it—from garden seeds to Scripture—is calamitously transformed on African soil.”

To learn more about the book:

• 1998 New York Times Book Review
• 2013 Book Review from The Guardian

The Scarlet Letter
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Year Published: 1850

“Hawthorne’s ‘The Scarlet Letter’ is arguably the first classic of American literature. While the language Hawthorne uses is often archaic, this is in fact an astonishingly modern novel in its treatment of its subject matter, and in its construction. While the plot is quite straightforward, and the cast of characters limited, behind this relative simplicity is a novel of huge complexity and subtlety.”