A White Heron and Other Stories

254 pp. 6 pages of publisher ads follow text. BAL 10887. Wright III 2985. CONTENTS: A White Heron; The Gray Man; Farmer Finch; Marsh Rosemary; The Dulham Ladies; A Business Man; Mary and Martha; The News from Petersham; The Two Brothers. Despite having published in the Atlantic Monthly before, and being close friends with both the editor and his wife, Sarah Orne Jewett’s “A White Heron” was not considered suitable for the magazine. Fortunately for readers, Jewett had faith in her story; she even wrote to the editor’s wife in a letter, “What shall I do with my ‘White Heron’ now she is written' She isn’t a very good magazine story, but I love her, and I mean to keep her for the beginning of my next book.” And so this classic collection, A White Heron and Other Stories, came to be! The nine stories in this collection encapsulate Jewett’s love and reverence for nature; her affinity for understanding complex, nuanced, and often strained relationships; and—just as her father encouraged her—her ability to write not about things, but to “write the things themselves just as they are.” ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Theodora Sarah Orne Jewett (September 3, 1849 – June 24, 1909) was an American novelist, short story writer and poet, best known for her local color works set along or near the southern coast of Maine. Jewett is recognized as an important practitioner of American literary regionalism.