The Garden Party

The fifteen stories collected in this volume demonstrate the genius of a woman who, in her short life, was compared to Chekhov. These are not tales of violent incident or dexterous plot. They are sensitive revelations of human behavior in quite ordinary situations. The men, women, and especially the children whom Mansfield portrays in such delicate pastels are involved in no sensational episodes, yet they are vividly true to life. The Garden Party was the last collection of stories to be pu...