A review by jakepcole
Editha by William Dean Howells

3.0

Howells' critique of romanticism shares certain parallels with the masterpiece of American realist fiction, Twain's Huck Finn, chiefly the movement from romantic perception to horrifying, darkly satiric realism and back again. But where Huck overcomes the reemergence of Tom Sawyer's absurd inability to distinguish fiction from reality, Editha traps herself in her insular self-delusion. Howells doesn't have Twain's touch, though, and the short story barely justifies its minuscule length with prose that only occasionally rises above stiff, unengaging description. I enjoyed it more for the ideas than the actual execution, but Howells floats the story with some well-staged ironies.