Showing results for "Laura Mansfield" in Women's Fiction

What is a life surrendered for duty, loyalty, and love that can never be returned? In Katherine Mansfield’s “The Lady’s Maid”, Ellen, a devoted maid, recounts her life in a haunting monologue that reveals the quiet sorrows of servitude. From leaving her family at thirteen to forsaking a chance at happiness with Harry, Ellen’s story is one of self-denial, sacrifice, and unwavering loyalty to her Lady. Through her intimate reflections, we witness the invisible labor, emotional restraint, and rigid hierarchies that shape her existence.

In Katherine Mansfield’s "The Singing Lesson", Miss Meadows, a devoted music teacher, is devastated when her fiancé, Basil, cruelly ends their engagement, leaving her feeling that life itself has lost all meaning. Her sorrow spreads to every corner of her day—her classroom, her students, even her own heart—as she compels her choir to sing a haunting, melancholic song that mirrors her inner despair. Just when hope seems lost, an unexpected telegram from Basil flips her despair into ecstatic joy, transforming her world in an instant.

Mike Pazzo was my husband. He was also a narcissist. Every conversation with Mike was a fight. I couldn’t hold my own, much less win those fights. He beat me down with his barrage of caustic words and his superior argumentative techniques. And he loved it. Sometimes I’d fall at his feet, prostrate in absolute abject defeat just to get him to stop yelling at me. I’m not even sure whether I was being sarcastic or authentic in my show of submission. In those moments, he would ball up his fists in silent fury - and walk away. That is when I began to wonder when he would hit me.

The porch swing spoke to Alice. Come sit and rock and read and relax. Watch the waves. Let the sounds of the sea hypnotize you and lull you into contentment, it whispered. Could it really be that simple? Alice wondered. Alice had led an eventful, if not an extraordinary, life. She was recovering from a disastrous second marriage, had been shaken to her core, had caved in on herself and crawled back out again. She had raised a son and watched him fly from the nest.

What if a moment of perfect happiness was only a heartbeat away from shattering? In Bliss by Katherine Mansfield, you follow Bertha Young, a vibrant woman overflowing with excitement she can hardly explain—a feeling so bright it seems to spill into every corner of her world. As she prepares for an evening dinner party, every detail feels alive and full of promise.