It’s about marriage and divorce, women and men, and the complexity or simplicity of relationships. I love Wharton’s adept turn of phrase. She can say so much in one little sentence. For example, “It was so delicious to cry over imaginary troubles!” or “Womanlike, she wanted to turn her disobedience into a law.” While Wharton was not considered a feminist, her sympathy with her female characters and their situations in society reveals so much insight and understanding of feminist issues. Did you know that 1/3 of her 86 short stories center on The Marriage Question? And in her stories, she exposes the consequences of abortion, illegitimacy, economic dependency, and the double standard of sexual morality. Not bad for a woman who doesn’t consider herself a feminist.
This is the story of a reluctantly retired farmer. We are all somewhat “reluctantly retired” at the moment, due to the shelter-in-place order. I...
Anderson was considered a “writer’s writer”. His style was Naturalism. Anderson invites the reader into his process as a writer, in which he unfolds...
This is a fun ghostly tale of unsettling encounters by a school inspector in the north of England. Edwards was an extremely talented woman...