Short stories have to be good to drag me away from my beloved novels and Katherine Mansfield's short stories are very good indeed. This collection of selected stories includes some set in Europe and others set in Mansfield's native New Zealand. I particularly like the New Zealand stories and these include The Garden Party, Her First Ball, The Doll's House and Prelude.In The Garden Party, Jose, Laura and Meg Sheridan are assisting their mother to prepare for a lavish party. Workmen arrive to set up a marquee, the gardener is preparing the lawn, the cook is taking deliveries of pastries and pots of pink canna lilies are arriving from the florist. Amidst the preparations a workman is thrown from his horse and killed in the lane outside their house. Laura feels it is no longer appropriate to hold the party but her mother and sisters insist on going ahead ...
Mansfield's style is to show and not tell and many of her stories have a dark or ominous twist which left this reader longing to know more.
3 comments:
I've got this exact book on my tbr pile. Had just taken it off the shelf as a matter of fact after reading a comment on Stuck in a Book about The Garden Party. I've never read anything by Katherine Mansfield so perhaps I'll try one or two stories over the weekend.
Cath, hi. I would certainly recommend The Garden Party. The Doll's House is a very good story, too.
Oo, I'm being mentioned :-)
The Garden Party is my favourite of her stories, though I also love Bliss and Miss Brill - amongst dozens of other gems, of course.
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