Four Novellas
Class | Registration opens 7/27/2026 9:00 AM
The novella is a satisfying literary genre. Novelist Ian McEwan called it “the perfect form of prose fiction.” Under 200 pages long, novellas can be read in one or two sittings, but they are long enough for a writer to develop a complex plot and flesh out a main character in depth.
Format: We will read four very different novellas in eight weeks, spending two classes on each. Participants will bring discussion questions and interesting passages to class for discussion. Presentations are not required, but participants are invited to present biographical or historical information to enrich our reading.
Resources/Expenses:- Garcia Marquez, Gabriel: Chronicle of a Death Foretold (Vintage)
- Ingalls, Rachel: Mrs. Caliban (New Directions)
- Keegan, Claire: Small Things Like These (Grove Press)
- Otsuka, Julie: When the Emperor Was Divine (Vintage)
Please purchase the editions indicated so that we are all on the same page during class. Used editions of all the novellas are available online at AbeBooks, Thriftbooks or Alibris, with a total cost of less than $15.00.
Coordinators: Susan Dillon has been an LLC member for four years. This is the second course she has co-coordinated. She is a retired English teacher and is particularly fond of 19th century British novelists. Stuart Einhorn has coordinated a number of LLC courses including Magical Realism, George Saunders/Haruki Murakami, Saunders/Kurt Vonnegut, and Detective Fiction. He enjoys incorporating his background in literature, book restoration and art presentation into his classes.