Mansfield, Katherine. “Garden Party.” Garden Party: and Other Stories. Garden City, New York: Garden City Publishing Company, Inc., 1922.
Reason read: June is National Short Story Month.
“Garden Party” illustrates many themes: wealth versus poverty, insensitivity versus compassion, death versus life.
Wealthy Mrs. Sheridan has been preparing for an elaborate garden party with flowers and tents, food and music. Servants and gardeners and workers toil like busy bees here, there, and everywhere setting up chairs, organizing the musicians, placing the flowers just so. The excitement catches with her four children, too. But when a terrible accident leaves a man dead right outside their gates daughter Laura doesn’t thinks it’s appropriate for the show to go on. She questions the sensitivity of their actions. Later Mrs. Sheridan allows Laura to bring a basket of food to the dead man’s family. Walking through the poor neighborhood gives Laura a new perspective and in the face of mortality she learns about living.
Quote to quote, “The very smoke coming out of their chimneys was poverty stricken” (p 71). What a devastating image.
Author fact: the location of the garden party was modeled after Mansfield’s own property.
Book trivia: my copy of Garden Party was marked up like someone was editing the book. Bummer.
Nancy said: Pearl asked her readers not to neglect Mansfield, calling “Garden Party” brilliant.
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust to Go in the chapter called “Kiwis Forever! New Zealand in Print” (p 124).
~*LunaSea*~ 