For the first time, the complete stories of a Pulitzer Prize-winning
master of the form, plus her fascinating portrait of the mother one of
the world's most infamous assassins
This volume collects for the first time the complete stories of a
Pulitzer Prize-winning master of the form, a writer acclaimed for her
acute psychological insight, exacting eye for detail, and mordant
sensibility. Set in New England, Colorado, New York, and Europe, Jean
Stafford's stories intimately examine the lives of women and men beset
by restlessness, dislocation, and isolation. "The Interior Castle" takes
us inside an accident victim's physical and mental pain; "A Country Love
Story" chillingly depicts marital estrangement and mental breakdown
amidst the solitude of a Maine winter; "Bad Characters" is the exuberant
story of a young girl led into mischief by an incorrigible friend; and
"An Influx of Poets" is a haunting story of a marriage wrecked by
literary ambition and egotism. The volume also includes A Mother in
History, Stafford's controversial journalistic profile of Lee Harvey
Oswald's mother, Marguerite, and three revealing literary essays.