"Noughts and Crosses" by way of Arthur Quiller-Couch. It is a dystopian younger person novel that explores issues of racism, prejudice, and societal inequality. Set in a trade reality where African human beings (Crosses) keep societal and political strength over the white populace (Noughts), the unconventional follows the lives of Sephy, a Cross, and Callum, a Nought, as they navigate an international wherein racial divisions dictate everything of their lives. The story unfolds towards a backdrop of political turmoil, rebellion, and personal struggles. Sephy and Callum proportion a complex and forbidden love that challenges the deeply ingrained prejudices of their society. As they grow older, their dating will become increasingly entangled with the larger political and social problems plaguing their international. Arthur Quiller-Couch "Noughts and Crosses" is a thought-upsetting and emotionally charged exploration of race, identity, and the impact of systemic discrimination. The novel has been praised for its effective storytelling and its capacity to spark conversations about racism and social justice.
Arthur Quiller-Couch was born in the town of Bodmin, Cornwall. He was the son of Dr. Thomas Quiller Couch, a renowned physician, folklorist, and historian who married Mary Ford and resided at 63 Fore Street, Bodmin, until his death in 1884. Thomas was the offspring of two historic local families, the Quiller and Couch dynasties. Arthur was the third generation of academics from the Couch family. His grandfather, Jonathan Couch, was a naturalist, physician, historian, classicist, pharmacist, and illustrator (especially of fish). His younger sisters, Florence Mabel and Lilian M., were both writers and folklorists. Quiller-Couch attended Newton Abbot Proprietary College between the late 1870s and the early 1880s. He later attended Clifton College and Trinity College, Oxford, where he earned a First in Classical Moderations (1884) and a Second in Greats (1886). Quiller-Couch briefly taught Classics at Trinity beginning in 1886. After gaining some journalistic experience in London, primarily as a writer to The Speaker (periodical), he settled in Fowey, Cornwall, in 1891.
