HOW IT WORKS:
Six Degrees of Separation is a meme that began with Annabel Smith and Emma Chapman and has been hosted by Kate over at Books Are My Favourite and Best since 2016. Each month a new book is chosen a starting point and linked to six other books to form a chain. Links can be formed in any way you want, including authors, themes, keywords, and pretty much anything.

Join in by posting your own six degrees chain on your blog and adding the link in the Linky section (via Kate’s post) or comments of each month’s post. If you don’t have a blog, you can share your chain in the comments section. You can also check out links to posts on Twitter using the hashtag #6Degrees

STARTING BOOK: The End of the Affair by Graham Greene

I haven’t read the book but you can find out more about it here.

While I haven’t read the book, the first thing I thought of was the soundtrack by Michael Nyman for the movie adaptation. I only saw bits and pieces of the movie, but I never forgot the soundtrack. It’s so beautiful and filled with such longing.

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1. When I think of memorable soundtracks, I think of the score for Schindler’s List, an adaptation of Thomas Keneally’s Schindler’s Ark, which was published as Schindler’s List in the U.S. I used to confuse Ralph Fiennes, who stars in both The End of the Affair and Schindler’s List, with Liam Neeson, who plays Oskar Schindler, all the time. (Theme Song)

2. This leads me to The Stand-In by Lily Chu. It was first released as an audiobook but is supposed to be published May 2022. Gracie Reed is approached by famous Chinese star Wei Fangli to be her stand-in. They look so much alike even the media has them confused.

3. Trying to be someone she’s not is Ren in The Mask of Mirrors (My review). Ren pretends to be the long lost cousin of a wealthy elite family so she and her sister can live off them. Infiltrating elite society becomes more than she bargained for when it becomes clear she might not be the only one donning a mask.

4. Like Ren, Mariko pretends to be someone else to ensure her survival. After they attack her convoy, Mariko disguises herself as a boy to infiltrate the infamous Black Clan in Flame in the Mist. As the clan warms up to her, she finds herself appreciated for her intelligence when she was always seen as peculiar.

5. This freeing feeling is also realized when Miuko is cursed by a demon in A Thousand Steps into Night (My review). Similar to Mariko, life was limiting to Miuko simply because she was a girl. As she races against time to stop her transformation into a demon, she begins to want more than what society has deemed appropriate for her.

6. Spirits and curses are abound in Within These Wicked Walls (My review), an Ethiopian reimagining of Jane Eyre. Andromeda is an exorcist charged with removing the evil that resides in Magnus Rochester’s home. Since Within These Wicked Walls is a reimagining of Jane Eyre, which has been adapted onto the big screen, I’ve also included music from the 2011 film.

ENDING BOOK: Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood

This chain evolved pretty quickly from one that began with music and is now ending with exorcists, curses, and more music.

If I could take the chain one more link further, I would include Wuthering Heights to connect it through the Bronte Sisters. Bringing it back around to the beginning would be Ralph Fiennes, who starred as Healthcliff in a film adaptation of the book.

What does your chain look like?