Here On Earth by Alice Hoffman

"For all they know, this dog has been following the body of its mistress from the time she was first taken from the house. It may have been waiting in the alley beside the funeral parlor, pursuing the hearse down Route 22. This small creature is not at all confused about what it wants, unlike men and women, who have the ability to conceal their deepest desires. Men and women, after all, can hide their love away. Men don’t chase after cars. Women don’t throw themselves upon cement doorsteps, curled up in a heap, until somebody opens the door and finally lets them inside.

"Among men and women, those in love do not always announce themselves, with declarations and vows. But they are the ones who weep when you’re gone. Who miss you every single night, especially when the sky is so deep and beautiful and the ground so very cold. On this night, the Judge cries more quietly than it would ever seem possible for a man of his size. He keeps his face averted, buried against the dog’s fur. March doesn’t even realize he’s weeping, until a sob escapes. And that is how she finally knows that Bill Justice loved Judith. He loved her for thirty-five years, which for some people is as good as a lifetime. He loved her the way that no one else ever has, and yet, in spite of that, he’s only entitled to grieve privately, in the dark. At least he has a right to that, and March wouldn’t think of intruding…"
(p. 80-81)

"You build your world around someone, and then what happens when he disappears? Where do you go - into pieces, into atoms, into the arms of another man? You go shopping, you cook dinner, you work odd hours, you make love to someone else on June nights. But you’re not really there, you’re someplace else where there is blue sky and a road you don’t recognize. If you squint your eyes, you think you see him, in the shadows, beyond the trees. It’s only his spirit, that’s what’s there beneath the bed when you kiss your husband, when you send your daughter off to school. It’s in your coffee cup, your bathwater, your tears. Unfinished business always comes back to haunt you…"
(p. 133)

The Emperor's Babe by Bernardine Evaristo

"To form an attachment is to risk its loss...I have been looking for a simplex, quiet, fidelis girl..."
(p.16)

"Sometimes he curls his arms around me
at night as if I am the most precious
thing in his world, as if I am his soul
and without me he would be empty..."
(p.65)

"What would it be like to see him on top of me?
To have someone respect the Handle with Care
signs written all over my body, to look
into a sweating face that sought my pleasure
as much as it expressed its own."
(p.102)

"...my mind wandered inside itself, where it was happiest.
Was this the highlight of my day?
My week? My month? Was this my life?"
(p.114)

"'Who are you, Severus?'
'I am what I have to be.'"
(p.140)

"Always you ask who I am.
'What do you dream, carissima?'
your head heavy upon my breast.
'To be with you,' I quietly reply.
'To leave a whisper of myself in the world,
my ghost, a magna opera of words.'"
(p.159)

"'For ever is a myth.'
'I believe in for ever. I believe in dreams.
I believe in finding my soul partner,
a life of domestic bliss, then sailing off to Tranny Hades together.'"
(p.190)

"'Why did you like me?'...'I knew you would make my world larger.
It was small, inside and out,
I would discover more of myself through you'"
(p.220)

This novel is the story of a Sudanese daughter whose father sells her to her husband, Felix, a man three times her age and four times her size. At the time (circa 211 AD), Zuleika is only 11 years old. The novel is about her growing up...rather it raises the question of whether she does indeed develop. Even though Felix sends her to classes to become a proper Roman 'lady,' he only spends 3 months a year with her. He has a family of five sons with his mistress the rest of the year. While all her friends around her indulge in extramarital affairs, Zuleika withdraws into herself to seek personal growth...until an Emperor comes along whom she considers her Prince Charming. She expects him to miraculously rescue her in spite of his wife, his children, and her husband. The Miracle never happens. the Emperor dies, leaving her unprotected, and her husband, Felix, poisons her with arsenic.

• Why do girls in bildungsroman novels always expect a "Prince Charming"?
  
• Which is better? A lie that makes you happy or the truth that breaks your heart?
  
• Why are there so few Holden Caufields and so many Zuleika novels? Don't boys have growing up problems too?
  
• Why are we socialized to scrutinize female virtue so much more than male?
  

Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad

Both Kurtz and Marlow must face the darkness within themselves. What does it really mean to civilize? Who is really darker? The corrupt man who exploits other men in the name of progress, the man who imposes his beliefs on other men through fear, or the man who clings to primitive beliefs and behaviors?

Bound Feet & Western Dress: A Memoir by Pang-Mei Natasha Chang

“When I was in college I envied those Chinese who associated primarily among themselves, speaking Chinese to one another and hanging around in a large group. They always looked so comfortable. Whereas, whenever I was with other Chinese, I could not help but feel self-concious, concerned as we walked around campus that others would think we were foreigners, outsiders.

"At the same time I could not be with my Western friends and walk by a group of Chinese without wondering what they thought of me. Did they think that I had disdain for my own heritage? I had trouble with everyone. For example, if I walked into a Chinese restaurant and the waiter began speaking in Chinese to me immediately, I felt put upon. But, if he did not speak Chinese with me, I was equally disturbed.” (p. 133)