The Collected Stories Of Eudora Welty

While I was in New Orleans it occurred to me via Paul Theroux's musing on Southern literature in Deep South that I haven't really explored the work of Eudora Welty. Since most of her stories take place in Mississippi and New Orleans I decided to read The Collected Stories Of Eudora Welty (1982). The book contains the short story collections A Curtain of Green, The Wide Net, The Golden Apples, and The Bride of the Innisfallen, as well as previously uncollected ones. These forty-one stories show the virtuosity in which Welty can inhabit people of all ages, gender, and walks of life. A Curtain of Green is most notable for containing her most anthologized short story, "A Well Worn Path," which I can remember reading in high school and college. I was surprised to see some Southern Gothic in"Petrified Man" and "Keela, the Outcast Indian Maiden." I found that two of her more comic stories were among my favorites: "Lily Dew and the Ladies" and "Why I Live at the P.O." The title story of her collection The Wide Net was the standout story of a small rural community and the distinctive types of personalities that peopled a small Mississippi town. I was also entertained by the crime-noir atmosphere of "The Purple Hat." The first story "First Love" is notable for being historical fiction where a deaf mute witnesses meeting between Aaron Burr and Harman Blennerhassett. The next collection, Golden Apples, has a list of Main Families in Morgana, Mississippi and a note explaining that it is a fictional place. This suggests the influence of William Faulkner, who has created his own imaginary Mississippi as well. Generally speaking, these stories were denser and more allusive than her earlier stories. The stories are interconnected by recurring characters and events. There is a sense of solemnity in the stories and my favorite in this collection was "Moon Lake," which recounts the drowning and saving of a young girl. My favorite collection in this book might be The Bride of Innisfallen. The title story recounts a group of people traveling from London to Fishguard where they will take a boat to Cork. Welty lets the characters reveal themselves in the conversation that take place on the way. In another standout story, "The Burning" is her only story about the Civil War and how two women are told that there house will be burnt down by Sherman's men. This event haunts the two women and brings to the surface a family secret that they unwilling to face. "No Place for You, My Love" is a love story that unfolds slowly and results in the realization that it must be unrequited. "Going to Naples" is another charming traveling piece that gives Welty an opportunity to gather several different characters together for an ocean long voyage from New York to Italy. There are there are two uncollected stories ("Where Is the Voice Coming From?" and "The Demonstrators") that were written in the 60s and confront the changes that were coming to the South as the Civil Rights movement that was wrecking havoc all over. This collection felt like a chore at times, but it clearly shows that Welty is a masterful short story writer and worthy to be in the canon of great American authors.