A White Heron and Other Stories

by Sarah Orne Jewett

Book Overview

Writing in wonderfully descriptive and fluent prose, Sarah Orne Jewett, best-known for The Country of the Pointed Firs, was early encouraged by her father to write not about things, but to "write the things themselves just as they are." That she did so is clearly evident in this collection of sensitively written stories, regional sketches that celebrate the past, full of clearly delineated characters and carefully detailed natural and domestic...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486408841
• ISBN13: 9780486408842
• Release Date: July 1999
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.1" x 8.2"
• Age Range: 11 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 6 and higher

Customer Reviews

frequently neglected, environmentally aware short fiction

Jewett's short vignettes were dismissed in her lifetime as "mere sketches" of regional life. If you want fast-moving action based plots, these aren't your thing. But the short, loosely interconnected pieces in this collection are wonderful images of a time, place and lifestyle. The domestic world of 19th century women, as well as New England, are painted with a light brush. People interested in early environmentalism/naturalism will find "A White Heron" a depiction of a growing awareness of humanity/nature's interconnectedness. You may have to read this for a high school or college English course, and if so, read it with the expectation of snapshots of American life that reveal a lot about the author's life, too.