Shelfology Book Pairing

A Novel

by Riley Sager

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Named a summer book to watch by The Washington Post, Boston Globe, USA Today, Oprah, Paste, Country Living, Good Housekeeping, and Nerd Daily "Propulsive ... a dizzying Gothic whodunit." —New York Times Book Review Bestselling author Riley Sager returns with a Gothic chiller about a young caregiver assigned to work for a woman accused of a Lizzie Borden-like massacre decades earlier. At seventeen, Lenora Hope Hung her sister with a rope Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. Other than her denial after the killings, she has never spoken publicly about that night, nor has she set foot outside Hope’s End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred. Stabbed her father with a knife Took her mother’s happy life It’s now 1983, and home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at a decaying Hope’s End to care for Lenora after her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night. In her seventies and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora was rendered mute by a series of strokes and can only communicate with Kit by tapping out sentences on an old typewriter. One night, Lenora uses it to make a tantalizing offer—I want to tell you everything. “It wasn’t me,” Lenora said But she’s the only one not dead As Kit helps Lenora write about the events leading to the Hope family massacre, it becomes clear there’s more to the tale than people know. But when new details about her predecessor’s departure come to light, Kit starts to suspect Lenora might not be telling the complete truth—and that the seemingly harmless woman in her care could be far more dangerous than she first thought.

by Oscar Wilde

The Picture of Dorian Gray is the story of one beautiful, innocent young man''s seduction, moral corruption, and eventual downfall. We meet our three central characters at the beginning of the book, when painter Basil Hallward and his close friend, Lord Henry Wotton, are discussing the subject of Basil''s newest painting, a gorgeous young thing named Dorian Gray. Basil and Henry discuss just how perfectly perfect Dorian is--he''s totally innocent and completely good, as well as being the most beautiful guy ever to walk the earth. Lord Henry wants to meet this mysterious boy, but Basil doesn''t want him to; for some reason, he''s afraid of what will happen to Dorian if Lord Henry digs his claws into him. However, Lord Henry gets his wish--Dorian shows up that very afternoon, and, over the course of the day, Henry manages to totally change Dorian''s perspective on the world. From that point on, Dorian''s previously innocent point of view is dramatically different--he begins to see life as Lord Henry does, as a succession of pleasures in which questions of good and evil are irrelevant. Basil finishes his portrait of Dorian, and gives it to the young man, who keeps it in his home, where he can admire his own beauty. Lord Henry continues to exert his influence over Dorian, to Basil''s dismay. Dorian grows more and more distant from Basil, his former best friend, and develops his own interests. One of these interests is Sybil Vane, a young, exceptionally beautiful, exceptionally talented--and exceptionally poor--actress. Though she''s stuck performing in a terrible, third-rate theatre, she''s a truly remarkable artist, and her talent and beauty win over Dorian. He falls dramatically in love with her, and she with him. For a moment, it seems like everything will turn out wonderfully. However, this is just the beginning of Dorian''s story. Once he and Sybil are engaged, her talent suddenly disappears--she''s so overcome with her passionate love for Dorian that none of her roles on stage seem important to her anymore. This destroys Dorian''s love for her, and he brutally dumps her. Back home, he notices a something different in his portrait--it looks somehow crueler. In the meanwhile, the distraught Sybil commits suicide, just as Dorian decides to return to her and take back his terrible words. Sybil''s suicide changes everything. At first, Dorian feels horrible... but he rather quickly changes his tune. On Lord Henry''s suggestion, Dorian reads a mysterious "yellow book," a decadent French novel that makes him reevaluate his whole belief system. The protagonist of the book lives his life in pursuit of sensual pleasures, which intrigues Dorian. From this moment on, Dorian is a changed man. Dorian starts to live as hedonistically as his wicked mentor, Lord Henry, does. The only thing that documents this turn for the worst is the portrait, which alarmingly begins to exhibit the inward corruption of Dorian''s soul; the beautiful image changes, revealing new scars and physical flaws with each of Dorian''s dastardly actions. As years pass, the man in the picture grows more and more hideous, as Dorian himself stays unnaturally young and beautiful. Rumors start to spread about the various people whose lives Dorian has ruined, and his formerly good reputation is destroyed. On Dorian''s 38th birthday, he encounters Basil, who desperately asks his former friend if all the horrifying rumors about him are true. Dorian finally snaps and shows Basil the portrait, in which the horrible truth about his wicked nature is revealed. Basil recoils, and begs Dorian to pray for forgiveness. In response, Dorian murders Basil, stabbing him brutally. He blackmails another of his former friends into disposing of the body. Dorian retreats to an opium den after dealing with all of the evidence, where he encounters an enemy he didn''t know he had--Sybil Vane''s brother, James...