Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More


Désirée’s Baby by Kate Chopin

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on December 27, 2011
Posted in Short Story Read in 2011  | 5 Comments

Back in October, Read Handed reviewed this short.  Of course, being the classics author lover that I am, I had to read it as well. 
It is a bit different than what I have read by Kate Chopin.  She usually deals with women’s rights and women’s issues, which this short had but it focused more on race relations and slavery more so.

Désirée was abandoned in Louisiana and adopted by the Valmondé .  No one knows anything about her biological parents.  She is adored and well taken care of.  Then she gets lucky in love and marries Armond, from one of the wealthiest families in town and he treats her like a queen.  He use to treat his slaves poorly but softens when their son is born.  He is a beautiful baby.

Then one day, out of the blue Armond changes again.  He is really mean to the slaves and doesn’t give Désirée the time of day, in fact he avoids her.  One day she finally notices that the baby’s features have changed.  She tracks Armond down to talk to him about it.  
“look at our child. What does it mean? tell me.”
He coldly but gently loosened her fingers from about his arm and thrust the hand away from him.
“Tell me what it means!” she cried despairingly.
“It means,” he answered lightly, “that the child is not white..”
Armond wants her to leave with the child so she goes back to her adopted mother but the story does not end here.  You will have to read it to find out what happens.
This is a well written piece by Kate Chopin that makes the reader think about race and slavery.  Highly recommended.  You can read it here.
 Short Story Monday is hosted by John at The Book Mine Set.

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Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.

The Cat by Sarah Selecky

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on December 20, 2011
Posted in Short Story Read in 2011 

Back in July, Emeire brought my attention to a challenge to 5 authors in the WalrusEach author was asked to make a list of 5 guidelines to write a short story or poem.  The lists were then traded and each author had to write a short story or poem according to the list of 5 guidelines received.  Three of the authors wrote short stories.

In August, I reviewed one of the stories, Madame Poirier’s Dog by Kathleen Winter. 
Now I have read the second story.
 
 The guidelines for Sarah Selecky’s story were written by Kathleen Winter.  One of the guidelines was “The story should have at least one paragraph that contains something the author personally finds subversive and hilarious.”   Selecky certainly achieved that for me!

The narrator’s father was reincarnated into a cat that lives with her.  

She start’s by saying, ” I am not at all surprised that my father has come back to earth in the form of a grey and white cat. It suits him. Though I do feel uncomfortable when I look into his yellow-green eyes. Those aren’t my father’s eyes — my father had blue eyes, with no yellow in them at all. Have you ever looked into a cat’s eyes and seen anything human? No. A cat has eyes like a hawk’s, or like a lizard’s. My father is no different: he has the eyes of a predator. His pupils grow large and black when he wants to bite.”

She goes on to describe how he use to love birds but now he liked to hunt them and how she plays with him as a cat.  She has many childhood memories of him as a human, like when she caught her first fish.

This is a fun story that cat lovers will especially enjoy.  Highly recommended!  You can read it here.

 Short Story Monday is hosted by John at The Book Mine Set.

Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Bliss by Katherine Mansfield

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on December 13, 2011
Posted in Short Story Read in 2011  | 4 Comments

Earlier this year, I review two stories by Katherine Mansfield, The Fly and The Doll’s HouseI gave both much praise and a high recommendation.  Then I came across Bliss and saved it to review in the future.  I wondered if Mansfield would become a favorite classic author of mine or if Bliss would disappoint.

The answer, Mansfield has become a favorite.

At thirty years old, Bertha Young was so happy with her life, blissfully happy.  She was walking home thinking to herself that she would like to show how bliss she was but the conventions of polite society forbid that, especially from a woman.
She had a lot to be blissful about, she had a husband she adored, a small daughter, a beautiful home, and an exquisite garden.  She especially loves the pear tree.  
When she arrived home she arranged the fruit that was to be at the party she was hosting that evening.  She then went to the nursary to see her daughter.  The nanny was in the middle of feeding the girl but Bertha asked to take over.  The nanny was happy about it but relented and went to tend a couple of things. 
Bertha thought to herself, ” How absurd it was. Why have a baby if it has to be kept – not in a case like a rare, rare fiddle – but in another woman’s arms?”
The dinner party that evening went well and after dinner she shares a moment with her new friend, Miss Fulton.  The both stare at the garden and the pear tree.  However, Bertha’s husband made it fairly clear in his actions that he didn’t care for her new friend much.   She planned to speak to him about it later.  However, as the guest were leaving Bertha heard something between her husband and two guests.  The story ended there but I imagine that it made Bertha question if she would be as blissful in the future.
Mansfield’s writing is exquisite.   She unfolds her stories like pulling pedals from a flower, one at a time until she reveals what is really happening.  This is another highly recomended Katherine Mansfield story!

Also Reviewed by:
Lakeside Musing

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Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.