Garden Party

»The Garden Party« is a short story by Katherine Mansfield, first published in 1922. KATHERINE MANSFIELD, actually Kathleen Mansfield Beauchamp (later Murry), was born in 1888 in Wellington, New Zealand, and died in 1923 as a result of her pulmonary tuberculosis at a hospital near Fontainebleau, France. Mansfield left her homeland at the age of 19 and moved to Europe. In London, she established herself as a writer and became friends with Virginia Woolf and D.H. Lawrence. Rumour has it that the latter infected her with the lung disease that became her demise, at the young age of 35.

A must-read for all those who enjoy entertaining guests and have a taste for the finer things in life.

A rehearsal dinner brings together two disparate families in this sparkling, witty novel “This vital novel offers delicious echoes of Virginia Woolf and E. M. Forster, and a touch of A Midsummer Night’s Dream—but its magic is unique. The Garden Party is beautiful and full of life.”—Claire Messud, author of The Burning Girl and The Woman Upstairs The Cohens are wildly impractical intellectuals—academics, activists, and artists. The Barlows are Wall Street Journal–reading lawyers steeped in trusts and copyrights, golf and tennis. The two families are reserved with and wary of each other, but tonight, the evening before the wedding that is supposed to unite them in marriage, they will attempt to set aside their differences over dinner in the garden. As Celia Cohen, the eminent literary critic, sets the table, her husband, Pindar, would much rather be translating ancient recipes for his Babylonian cookbook than hosting this rehearsal dinner. Meanwhile, their son, Adam, the poet (and nervous groom), wonders if there is still time to simply elope. One of Adam’s sisters, Naomi, a passionate but fragile social activist, refuses to leave her room, while Sara, scorpion biologist turned folklore writer, sits up on the roof mourning an imminent breakup. And Pindar’s elderly mother, Leah, witnesses everything, weaving old memories into the present. The lawyers are early: patriarch Stephen Barlow and his bespangled wife, Philippa, who specializes in estates, along with Philippa’s father, Nathan, hobbled by age and Lyme disease. Then come the Barlow sons William (war crimes), Cameron (intellectual property), and Barnes (the prosecutor), each with desperate wife and precocious offspring. How could their younger siblings—Eliza, the bride, an aspiring veterinarian, and her twin brother, Harry, recently expelled from divinity school—have issued from such a family? Up and down the dinner table, with its twenty-four (or is it twenty-five?) guests, unions are forming and dissolving while Pindar is trying to figure out whether time is really shaped like baklava, and off in the surrounding forest with its ancient pond different sorts of mischief will lead to a complicated series of fiascoes and miracles before the party is over. Set over the course of a single day and night, Grace Dane Mazur’s brilliantly observed novel weaves an irresistible portrayal of miscommunication, secrets, and the power of love. “Lyrical and charming, this comedy of errors is a delightful summer read.”—People

Garden Party is a collection of charming sketches and quotes from artist Helen Dardik. Dardik's pen-and-ink drawings are replicated from her sketchbooks and interspersed with quotes from classic novels such as Alice in Wonderland and The Secret Garden. Dardik's illustrations of girl-fairies, flora, and fauna create a magical, dreamy world. Many of her characters are hybrid girl/plant creatures whose friends include a menagerie of cats, dogs, and other critters. • Her illustrations are predominantly black-and-white, with a limited palette of accent colors. • Aesthetic feels equal parts vintage Scandinavian modern folk art and Japanese Kawaii culture, • Girl-powered and nature themed This is a charming, girl-centric book that is perfect for all occasions, whether it's a graduation or Mother's Day or simply for yourself. The book's design is also a delight—it looks and feels like an actual sketchbook. • A perfect book for teens, young adult women, and moms • Dardik's unique illustration style is at once elegant and whimsical. • Great for those who loved In the Garden of My Dreams: The Art of Nathalie Lété by Nathalie Lété. and How to Be a Wildflower by Katie Daisy

When her wealthy family prepares to host a lavish summer party, the young, hitherto sheltered Laura Sheridan suddenly feels a kinship with the staff and the helpers hired to set up the venue for the festivities. As she learns of the death of one of their working-class neighbours, this burgeoning sense of class consciousness is heightened by a realization of her own mortality. Published in 1922, at the height of literary modernism, 'The Garden Party' is now considered one of the key texts of that movement. This volume, which also includes a wide selection of Katherine Mansfield's other short stories, is an invaluable resource for anyone wishing to discover one of the early twentieth century's finest writers.

Celebrate the tender story The Little Gardener with a beautiful new cover in the updated 2018 edition! There was once a little gardener and his garden meant everything to him. He worked hard, very hard, but he was just too little (or at least he felt he was). In this gentle, beautiful tale, Emily Hughes, the celebrated author of Wild, departs from the larger than life Wild-girl of her debut to pursue a littler than life Gardener, in a story that teaches us just how important it is to persist and try, no matter what the odds. With delicately woven tapestries of illustrated magic, Hughes once again transports us to a world not unlike our own, while still brimming with fantasy and wonder.