The Lottery

First published in 1948, this short story is set in a small American village on a summer morning when the residents gather in the square for their annual lottery. Children pile stones, families draw slips from a black box, and officials treat the rite as ordinary civic business older than the present generation. Tessie Hutchinson arrives late, jokes with neighbors, and then protests when her household is singled out. The narrative shows the ritual's working rather than explaining its origin. The work is a brief tale of communal violence under custom, not a novel and not a mystery to be solved.

Bound in textured paper printed and blocked with a wrap-around colour picture. Off-white slipcase printed with a colour picture.