Realism | Lecturia

Dorothy Parker: A Telephone Call

“A Phone Call” is a short story by Dorothy Parker, published in January 1928 in The Bookman. Through an anxious inner monologue, a woman desperately waits for the man she loves to keep his promise to call her. As she watches the clock and struggles not to succumb to the temptation to dial him, her mind wanders between hope, pleading, and humiliation. With an intimate and direct style, Parker sharply portrays the emotional fragility, the self-deception, and the intensity of unrequited desire in an everyday but deeply moving situation.

Doris Lessing: An Old Woman and her Cat

An Old Woman and her Cat is a short story by Doris Lessing, published in 1972 in the New American Review. It tells the story of Hetty, an older woman marginalized by her family and society, who survives as best she can on the fringes of London. Proud, eccentric, and free, Hetty finds comfort in Tibby, a stray cat she adopts and makes her only companion. The story focuses on her wanderings through run-down neighborhoods, her struggle to remain independent, and her endearing bond with the animal in an environment that becomes increasingly hostile and indifferent.

Clarice Lispector: Covert Joy

Clarice Lispector - Felicidad clandestina

Covert Joy (Felicidade clandestina) is a short story by Clarice Lispector, published in 1971. It tells the story of a girl who is passionate about reading and longs for a book that is impossible for her. The daughter of a bookshop owner, a cruel and manipulative girl, promises to lend it to her but always finds new excuses to deny it. The protagonist, clinging to hope, returns daily a prisoner of an illusion that always eludes her.

Gabriel García Márquez: The Woman Who Came at Six O’clock

The Woman Who Came at Six O’clock (La mujer que llegaba a las seis) is a short story by Gabriel García Márquez published in 1950 in El Espectador. The story takes place in a small restaurant where José, the owner, receives a woman every afternoon who always arrives at the same time. However, that afternoon, although her routine seems intact, she insists that she has arrived earlier. Through a tense dialogue full of innuendo, the woman gradually reveals the reason for her behavior.

Katherine Mansfield: Bliss

“Bliss” is a short story by Katherine Mansfield published in August 1918 in the English Review. It recounts a day in the life of Bertha Young, a thirty-year-old woman who experiences overwhelming happiness and a deep sense of fulfillment. While organizing a dinner party at home, her joy is reflected in the small details of everyday life: her tenderness towards her daughter, her satisfaction with her marriage, and the beauty of her garden, where a pear tree in bloom seems to symbolize her state of mind. However, among the gestures and glances of the guests, an unexpected detail threatens to alter her harmony.

Isabel Allende: The Gold of Tomás Vargas

The Gold of Tomás Vargas (El oro de Tomás Vargas) is a story by Isabel Allende, published in Cuentos de Eva Luna (1989). It tells the story of Tomás Vargas, a greedy, quarrelsome, and womanizing man who the people of Agua Santa despise. His meanness and selfishness lead him to accumulate a treasure in gold coins while his wife, Antonia Sierra, and their children live in misery. When a pregnant young woman arrives claiming his protection, Vargas takes her into his home, unleashing a conflict that changes the family dynamic. Her destiny becomes intertwined with the gambling, greed, and tensions of a town that tolerates him but does not respect him.