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A review by greensalbet
In the Land of Dreamy Dreams by Ellen Gilchrist
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Ellen Gilchrist died this January, which has led to many online obituaries and reviews of her life's work.
After three husbands and three children, Gilchrist returned to her home state of Mississippi and enrolled in classes at Millsaps College in Jackson to pursue a degree in philosophy. At the same time. Gilchrist took English classes from Pulitzer-Prize-Winning author Eudora Welty before graduating in 1967 at 32.
This book was Gilchrist's first collection of short stories, In the Land of Dreamy Dreams, published by the University of Arkansas press in 1981. It sold 10,000 copies -- an impressive number from a small press. She said the stories flew out of her head over a three-month period.
Even though there are many flawed characters in Gilchrist's stories, their judgments and blind spots are hilarious and adorably endearing. Most are aware of their shortcomings and starkly honest about them. The protagonists in this book are young women or girls in their tweens and teens. Some are single and rebellious females who reject the institution of marriage. Others are wives living in luxuery married to wealthy men, but still find themselves stifled by their lives of domesticity and child rearing. The women are all white and from a time and place when race relations were still fiercely divided and oppressive. The dialogue includes multiple uses of the word, Nigger, which may take some getting used to.
Except for a few entertaining and deluded females, who use their beauty as currency, most of the women in these stories are full of spunk, spirit, and smarts.
My only complaint is too many of the stories ended abruptly with unsatisfying conclusions. Though this may have been the sign of a young and inexperienced writer, I wanted more.
After three husbands and three children, Gilchrist returned to her home state of Mississippi and enrolled in classes at Millsaps College in Jackson to pursue a degree in philosophy. At the same time. Gilchrist took English classes from Pulitzer-Prize-Winning author Eudora Welty before graduating in 1967 at 32.
This book was Gilchrist's first collection of short stories, In the Land of Dreamy Dreams, published by the University of Arkansas press in 1981. It sold 10,000 copies -- an impressive number from a small press. She said the stories flew out of her head over a three-month period.
Even though there are many flawed characters in Gilchrist's stories, their judgments and blind spots are hilarious and adorably endearing. Most are aware of their shortcomings and starkly honest about them. The protagonists in this book are young women or girls in their tweens and teens. Some are single and rebellious females who reject the institution of marriage. Others are wives living in luxuery married to wealthy men, but still find themselves stifled by their lives of domesticity and child rearing. The women are all white and from a time and place when race relations were still fiercely divided and oppressive. The dialogue includes multiple uses of the word, Nigger, which may take some getting used to.
Except for a few entertaining and deluded females, who use their beauty as currency, most of the women in these stories are full of spunk, spirit, and smarts.
My only complaint is too many of the stories ended abruptly with unsatisfying conclusions. Though this may have been the sign of a young and inexperienced writer, I wanted more.