Page-turner

Origin

As the novel solidified its place as a dominant form of entertainment in the early 20th century, readers developed a keen appetite for stories that held them captive. The phrase "page-turner" vividly captures the physical act of an engrossed reader, whose fingers eagerly flip from one page to the next, desperate to uncover the next twist or resolution. It became the ultimate accolade for a book so compelling, so irresistible, that the reader simply could not put it down, transforming the literal mechanics of reading into a powerful metaphor for narrative allure.