Short stories · A way to begin
The Garden Party and Other Stories
Katherine Mansfield · 1922
Synopsis
Fifteen short stories. The first follows the Burnell family at Crescent Bay, by the sea, from sunrise to the evening of a single day. In the one that gives the collection its title, young Laura Sheridan helps with the preparations for a party when news comes of the accidental death of a poor neighbour; she would like to cancel everything, but her mother and sister refuse. Elsewhere, two elderly sisters, Josephine and Constantia, are left alone after the death of their father, a colonel, and hesitate over everything, even how to cook a fish.
Context
The collection appeared in February 1922. The two stories that open it were written at the Chalet des Sapins, in Montana, Switzerland. The first extends an earlier story about the same family, drawn from childhood memories; the reception in the second is set at the house on Tinakori Road, in Wellington, where the author had been born and had grown up. The stories of a sea crossing and of an awaited return on a quay also have a New Zealand setting; the one about the two sisters gives a subtle account of the frustration of a good family.
Who it is for
Fifteen short stories, to be read one by one. The narration advances obliquely and lingers over small details, which may be disconcerting at first.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as the summit of her art; its first two stories are among the most famous in New Zealand literature.
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