Provides critical overviews of novels from various cultures and time periods. Includes discussions of plot, characters, themes and structure as well as the work's cultural and historical significance.

Banner in the sky / by James Ramsey Ullman -- Cimarron / by Edna Ferber -- Desirable daughters / by Bharati Mukherjee -- Girl with a pearl earring / by Tracy Chevalier -- The heart of the matter / by Graham Greene -- The house behind the cedars / by Charles W. Chesnutt -- A map of the world / by Jane Hamilton -- Never let me go -- Sons and lovers / by D.H. Lawrence -- Stargirl / by Jerry Spinelli -- Sunrise over Fallujah / by Walter Dean Myers -- Swallowing stones / by Joyce McDonald -- The way to rainy mountain / by N. Scott Momaday -- Wuthering heights.