Decoded Past

Murasaki Shikibu, the world’s first novelist, forged the cultural DNA of her country through a scandalous tale of fragile love and human suffering.

Dogged by tragedy in her early life, Kate Chopin turned to writing for therapy and produced works of genius still loved by women today.

Romantic poets and siblings Mary and Charles Lamb led eventful lives, especially when Mary murdered her mother during a bout of insanity.

Literary critics remain divided over the question of whether William Wordsworth’s cruelty was responsible for Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s decline into mental illness and opium addiction.

Opium left a lasting effect on literature after the experimentation of Thomas De Quincey- and his honesty regarding his use- and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.