Christien Jonkheer Book order (chronological)

New York, eind negentiende eeuw. Als Newland Archer gravin Olenska ontmoet, heeft hij zich juist verloofd met May Welland, 'het schrikwekkende product van het maatschappelijk systeem waartoe hij behoorde en waar hij in geloofde: het jonge meisje dat niets wist en alles verwachtte.' De welopgevoede Archer raakt onder de indruk van het ongebruikelijke, impulsieve optreden van Olenska. Tegen de achtergrond van de dramatische ontwikkelingen die dit met zich meebrengt, schetst Wharton met ragfijne ironie een anstaanjagend scherp portret van mensen die zijn opgesloten in een milieu waarin menselijkheid wordt geloochend, terwijl de eigen 'beschaving' tegelijkertijd wanhopig wordt gecultiveerd.

The #1 New York Times bestselling sequel to the Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir, Angela’s Ashes, continues Frank McCourt's journey as an immigrant in America. Celebrated for its spirit, wit, and profound humanity, Angela's Ashes tells a tale of redemption where storytelling becomes a source of salvation. Now, 'Tis recounts Frank's American experience from impoverished immigrant to esteemed teacher and storyteller. Arriving in New York at nineteen, he meets a priest on the boat and secures a job at the Biltmore Hotel, where he faces the stark social hierarchies of America. Drafted into the army, he trains dogs and types reports in Germany. Frank's unique voice, humor, and keen ear for dialogue make these experiences captivating. Upon returning to America in 1953, he works on the docks, defying societal expectations that immigrants should "stick to their own kind." Recognizing the importance of education despite leaving school at fourteen, he persuades New York University to admit him. There, he falls for a quintessential Yankee and pursues his dreams. Ultimately, it is through teaching and writing that Frank discovers his true place in the world. The same resilient spirit that resonated in Angela's Ashes comes of age in this eagerly awaited masterpiece.

"When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood." So begins the luminous memoir of Frank McCourt, born in Depression-era Brooklyn to recent Irish immigrants and raised in the slums of Limerick, Ireland. Frank's mother, Angela, has no money to feed the children since Frank's father, Malachy, rarely works, and when he does he drinks his wages. Yet Malachy -- exasperating, irresponsible and beguiling-- does nurture in Frank an appetite for the one thing he can provide: a story. Frank lives for his father's tales of Cuchulain, who saved Ireland, and of the Angel on the Seventh Step, who brings his mother babies. Perhaps it is story that accounts for Frank's survival. Wearing rags for diapers, begging a pig's head for Christmas dinner and gathering coal from the roadside to light a fire, Frank endures poverty, near-starvation and the casual cruelty of relatives and neighbors--yet lives to tell his tale with eloquence, exuberance and remarkable forgiveness. Angela's Ashes, imbued on every page with Frank McCourt's astounding humor and compassion, is a glorious book that bears all the marks of a classic.