The Collected Stories of Katherine Mansfield

By Katherine Mansfield

Kathleen Mansfield Beauchamp Murry was a prominent modernist writer of short fiction who was born and brought up in colonial New Zealand and wrote under the pen name of Katherine Mansfield. Mansfield left for Great Britain in 1908 where she encountered Modernist writers such as D.H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf with whom she became close friends. Her stories often focus on moments of disruption and frequently open rather abruptly.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Start Publishing LLC
• Release date: Dec 10, 2012
• ISBN: 9781625583765

Katherine Mansfield

Katherine Mansfield was a popular New Zealand short-story writer best known for the stories "The Woman at the Shore," "How Pearl Button Was Kidnapped," "The Doll’s House," and her twelve-part short story "Prelude," which was inspired by her happy childhood. Although Mansfield initially had her sights set on becoming a professional cellist, her role as editor of the Queen’s College newspaper prompted a change to writing. Mansfield’s style of writing revolutionized the form of the short story at the time, in that it depicted ordinary life and left the endings open to interpretation, while also raising uncomfortable questions about society and identity. Mansfield died in 1923 after struggling for many years with tuberculosis.

Reviews for The Collected Stories of Katherine Mansfield

[rosielee_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The writer who first made me appreciate the art of the short story, in which so much life is withheld yet suggested, which makes you work much harder as reader but for greater reward if you have the patience. Some characters recur from book to book in vignettes from Mansfield's childhood in New Zealand, which is evocatively brought to life. Many of her best stories have resonating symbolic effects which might seem heavy-handed from a lesser writer, as with the little box in the brilliant A Cup of Tea. The claustrophobic quality of the lives of many women of the period comes across very strongly, as does their frequent hostility to each other in a world where a woman's best chance was to 'catch' a well-heeled man to support her. One of the greatest writers of the last century, and yet another whose career was cut tragically short by tb.

[mounen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

clever, poetic, amazing variety of characters that she's able to take on, from children to elderly ladies, prostitutes, maids, upper class, and she writes them all convincingly. I love that she always leaves the reader thinking about the fate of the characters at the end of the story. I also find myself meditating on the personalities of the characters after reading one of her stories, as if they were real people. That's what makes me feel she was a great writer.

[soniaandree_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Touching, sometimes sad, Katherine Mansfield's stories do not leave casual readers indifferent. Her style approaches the sensitivity of Virginia Woolf, whilst using the conventions of the short story. Her incisive criticism applies to the society of New Zealand, as well as the lives and relationships of the characters, in a kind of honest reflection of her thoughts and feelings. The stories are deeply personal or psychological, and may particularly appeal to female readers. However, the author's skills in writing short stories is widely acknowledged and is recognized as a classic of English literature worldwide.This selection of short stories will find its place on everyone's shelves and the stories can be read as and when needed. It is a library essential. Highly recommended.

[riverwillow · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Virginia Woolf wrote of Mansfield that 'I was jealous of her writing. The only writing I have ever been jealous of.' What more can I say, absolutely stunning prose.