Ellen Gilchrist Summary

Ellen Gilchrist's most celebrated works are her short stories that portray girls and women who have romantic longings that are frustrated by the conventions of southern society. With an unflinching re... Read more

In the following essay, Thompson discusses where the search for self-knowledge leads several of Gilchrist's protagonists. Few writers can achieve with a first collection of short stories pub... Read more

In the following review, Rubin asserts that Gilchrist's fiction has been somewhat inconsistent, but that her short stories seem to be stronger, including those in her collection Flights of Ange... Read more

In the following essay, Bauer analyzes Hemingway's influence on Gilchrist's work, especially her story cycle and her use of a composite personality. Re-vision—the act of lookin... Read more

In the following essay, Woodland discusses how the literary tradition of New Orleans is changed and how New Orleans' society is portrayed in the fiction of Ellen Gilchrist, Sheila Bosworth, and... Read more

In the following essay, Larue traces the common features of Gilchrist's female protagonists and complains that they take no positive action to better their own lives. Kathryn Lee Seidel desc... Read more

In the following review, Glass discusses the world Gilchrist creates in her fiction and asserts that the character of Rhoda is the dominating force behind Gilchrist's collection The Age of Mira... Read more

In the following essay, Johnson studies Gilchrist's character Rhoda and her desire to seek acceptance from society while at the same time attempting to free herself from its constraints. Ell... Read more

In the following review, Hooper offers a favorable assessment of The Cabal and Other Stories. Gilchrist demonstrates in her latest collection of short fiction [The Cabal and Other Stories] not only... Read more

In the following review, Reynolds faults Gilchrist's use of detail in The Cabal and Other Stories. It's all in the details, they tell you in creative writing 101. What they might forg... Read more

In the following favorable review of Collected Stories, Reynolds outlines the strengths of Gilchrist's short fiction writing. “A full moon was caught like a kite in the pecan trees ac... Read more

In the following favorable assessment of Collected Stories, Williams offers a thematic overview of Gilchrist's short fiction. I've always been a fan of Ellen Gilchrist. Partly it�... Read more

In the following review, Seaman provides a positive assessment of I, Rhoda Manning, Go Hunting with My Daddy. Gilchrist's most captivating recurring character, the classy and indomitable Rho... Read more

In the following favorable assessment of The Age of Miracles, Seaman finds Gilchrist to be a “marvelously energetic storyteller.” Gilchrist's reputation was built in great part... Read more

In the following review, MacDonald notes the inconsistent quality of the Rhoda stories in The Age of Miracles. “You might have heard of me,” Rhoda Manning says in “A Wedding in... Read more

In the following positive assessment of The Courts of Love, Williams deems Gilchrist “a national cultural treasure.” The Courts of Love lies somewhere between a novel and a story coll... Read more

In the following review, Hooper applauds the humorous and poignant stories comprising Flights of Angels. Gilchrist is so amiable that it's no wonder that she is one of the most popular Ameri... Read more