A collection of short stories, all set on the Gulf coast, by a master of
the form The magnetic appeal of land, sea, and sky along the southern
coast has drawn Elizabeth Spencer many times to this lush and
semitropical setting. This collection brings together six of her stories
set amid terrain lapped by the warm coastal currents. These stories all
happen on the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico, from New Orleans to
Florida. In each a girl or young woman gives voice to the narrative,
probing and groping for a secure place and identity. The six stories
included here are "On the Gulf," "The Legacy," "A Fugitive's Wife," "Mr.
McMillan," "Go South in the Winter," and "Ship Island." Each reveals the
special allure of the Gulf Coast region through the author's depiction
of character and engagement with the complexities of plot. In these
stories that illuminate the lives of sundry females--from insecure waifs
to novice seductresses--Spencer investigates female psyche, a topic
which lies at the core of much of her fiction. Elizabeth Spencer, Chapel
Hill, North Carolina, is the author of nine novels, seven collections of
short stories, a memoir, and a play. Her novella The Light in the Piazza
(1960) was adapted for the screen in 1962 and transformed into a
Tony-winning Broadway musical of the same name in 2005. She is a member
of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a charter member of
Fellowship of Southern Writers.
