Read this when
One Thousand and One Nights
One cheating wife and this king decided every woman was the enemy. It took 1,001 nights of stories to change his mind. Trust issues, ancient edition.
Who it's for
The frame story is a vivid picture of how betrayal can generalize: King Shahryar, finding his wife unfaithful, decides no woman can be trusted and executes a new bride each morning.
Feelings it meets
What it is
A collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled in Arabic over centuries, drawing on Arabic, Persian, Mesopotamian and Indian sources; the earliest surviving fragment dates to the early 9th century, and the collection kept growing in later manuscript traditions.
Where to find it
Older translations (Richard Burton's, Edward William Lane's) are public domain and free on Project Gutenberg, though Burton's is dated and heavily annotated. Husain Haddawy's translation (Norton, 1990.
Before you start
Heads up: Serial killings of brides.
Age: Ages 16+
Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour;Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, Chapter XXVII
