In the opening of Barbara Kingsolver’s Unsheltered,we meet Willa Knox, a middle-aged and newly unemployed writer who has just inherited a ramshackle house. Alfred Hitch… See more

In the first piece of dialogue in Pride and Prejudice, we meet Mr and Mrs Bennet, as Mrs Bennet attempts to draw her husband into a conversation about neighborhood gossip. Aus… See more

In The Power, young women around the world suddenly find themselves capable of generating and controlling electricity. In this passage, between two boys and a girl who just used th… See more

Here, friends Tommy and Kathy have a conversation after Tommy has had a meltdown. After being bullied by a group of boys, he has been stomping around in the mud, the pr… See more

The eponymous hobbit Bilbo is engaged in a game of riddles with the strange creature Gollum. Tolkein’s dialogue for Gollum is a masterclass in creating distinct character voices. By … See more