Alias Grace is a 1996 work of historical fiction by Margaret Atwood based on the 1843 murders of Nancy Montgomery and Thomas Kinnear in Canada, for which servants James McDermott and Grace Marks were convicted (McDermott executed, Marks sentenced to life in prison). The novel follows Simon Jordan, a doctor who becomes interested in the case and attempts to understand how subdued Marks could have committed such a murder. The story is told from multiple points of view, employing a narration that mixes internal and external dialogue.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is the story of a young English schoolgirl, the titular Alice, who wanders into a nonsense realm of logical puzzles and dialogic contrivances while chasing a white rabbit. The convoluted word games and memorable anthropomorphic characters that form the core of the book's cast have given it a lasting popularity among readers of all ages. It touches on subjects ranging from syntax to rhetoric and dialogic logic.
Pygmalion is the story of phonetics professor Henry Higgins and his bet with Colonel Pickering that he can, through education, teach Cockney woman Eliza Doolittle to speak and comport herself as a Duchess at an upcoming party. The play sharply critiques elements of Edwardian English morality, particularly the class lines drawn by dress, composure, and diction. It also uses the cruel and manipulative Higgins to show the upper class's penchant for seeing those beneath them as subhuman or unworthy of dignified treatment.
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas is a book by Gertrude Stein published in 1933. Written as a supposed autobiography by her lover, Alice B. Toklas, Stein's book follows her life in France, the United States and England before, during and after World War I. The book includes much about Stein and her relationship with her, as well as her friendships with famous artists such as Picasso and Matisse and writers like William James and Apollinaire.