The Ballad of the Sad Café by Carson McCullers was first published in 1951. The original book (shown at right) included, in addition to the title novella, Carson’s other major works of fiction. In later editions, the title novella is presented with six short stories, as follows:
- “The Ballad of the Sad Café”
- “Wunderkind”
- “The Jockey”
- “Madame Zilensky and the King of Finland”
- “The Sojourner”
- “A Domestic Dilemma”
- “A Tree, a Rock, a Cloud”
The title story, written in the genre of Southern Gothic, concerns Miss Amelia, a masculine and eccentric woman (who is also a moonshiner), her purported cousin Lymon (a hunchback), and Marvin Macy, a recently released convict two whom Miss Amelia was briefly married. Read More→
Jamaica Inn, a 1936 novel by British author Daphne du Maurier, is a period piece set in Cornwall, England of the early 1800s. Du Maurier was inspired by a stay at the actual Jamaica Inn, located at Bodmin Moor. Central to the story is a group of “wreckers” — murderers who run ships aground, kill sailors, and steal cargo.
The heroine of the tale is Mary Yellan, a young woman of twenty-three when the story opens. Upon her mother’s death, Mary moves from the farm in Helford where she was raised, to live with her mother’s sister.
Her Aunt Patience is married to a vicious drunkard and giant of a man named Joss Merlyn, who has her completely intimidated. Read More→
Anne of Green Gables is a 1908 novel by beloved Canadian author L. M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery (1874 – 1942). Her first full-length book, it was a great success from the the time it was published, and has appealing to generations of readers of all ages and backgrounds sine.
Anne Shirley is a dreamy, imaginative 11-year-old orphan girl mistakenly sent to middle-aged brother and sister Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, who meant to adopt a boy to help on their farm.
Set in Prince Edward Island, where the author grew up, the original volume and its sequels follow Anne from her arrival in the fictional town of Avonlea, through school, college, marriage, and motherhood. Read More→
The Voyage Out by Virginia Woolf was the first novel by this iconic English author, published in Britain in 1915 and in the U.S. in 1920. Written at a point when Woolf was suffering from an acute period of mental illness during which there was a suicide attempt, the novel proceeded painfully slowly.
Nevertheless, it showed all the promise of her later work that would include stream of consciousness writing and themes of sexuality and death.
The final work was over-edited; her publisher felt that her commentary on British politics was too pointed and that it could nip her career in the bud. Read More→
Excerpted from Writers and Writing by Robert van Gelder, 1946. An interview with Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, the author of The Yearling and Cross Creek, who discusses her way of life and methods of work. This interview was conducted on November 30, 1941:
“Writing,” said Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, “is agony. I stay at my typewriter for eight hours every day when I’m working and keep as free as possible from all distractions for the rest of the day. I aim to do six pages a day but I’m satisfied with three. Often there are only a few lines to show.” Read More→
This interview with the wonderful Southern writer Eudora Welty (1909 – 2001) is excerpted from Writers and Writing by Robert van Gelder (1946).
A short story writer of exceptional talent talks of her work – June 14, 1942: Eudora Welty said that when she was younger she was very much interested in herself and always projected herself into her stories.
“The stories were awful. I’m from Jackson, Mississippi, and never had been much of anywhere else, but the action in my stories took place in Paris. They were awful. I remember the first line in one of them: ‘Monsieur Boule deposited a delicate dagger in Mademoiselle’s left side and departed with a poised immediacy.’ Read More→
Louisa May Alcott (1832 – 1888) imparted wisdom in her fiction as well as in her personal writings and interviews. Here’s a sampling of life lessons from Louisa May Alcott, a woman who worked hard and loved her family fiercely, even as she struggled with her health. We can all learn from her!
Best known for Little Women, she conducted her career as a professional determined to profit from her pen. In her life and writings, Alcott promoted women’s rights and campaigned for women’s suffrage.
Her views were espoused by her lead characters, strong young women who wanted more from life than to get married and have babies. She and her family were ardent abolitionists, a view that wasn’t as widely accepted in Massachusetts as one might think. Read More→
Louisa May Alcott’s Obituary, originally published in the New York Tribune, March 7, 1888: BOSTON, Mass., March 6 – Miss Louisa M. Alcott Following her Father to the Grave — Cold Quickly Develops into Spinal Meningitis
Miss Louisa May Alcott died this morning. Coming so soon after the death of her father the suddenly announced decease of Miss Alcott brings a double sorrow to the many friends of the family.”
For a long time Miss Alcott has been ill, suffering from nervous prostration. Last autumn, placing herself under the charge of Dr. Green of Columbus Avenue, she appeared to be improving and afterward went to Dunreath Place at the Highlands to live temporarily with Dr. Lawrence. Read More→
