The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford | Characters & Character Analysis

The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford Characters

Maggie Meriwether

A young woman abroad for the first time, Maggie Meriwether is on vacation in Europe. Maggie has spent time in Paris and has been invited by a young Englishman and student of Harrow University, Tippy Akenside, to Chantilly, France. The invitation is to attend an outdoor party of upper-crust English folks. Maggie's family home is in Nashville, Tennessee, and she is a student of the women's college of Sweet Briar, in Virginia. Maggie is the only American present. Fluent in French, Maggie finds herself dumbstruck in the face of these new experiences. Maggie appears a gauche schoolgirl of unacceptable social yclat by the other members of the party.

Abby Reynolds

Abby Reynolds is a recent widow in her early forties. Abby's husband, John, dies nearly a year before she finds herself in Knokke-le-Zoute, a Belgium gambling establishment. Abby has traveled to Europe to escape the pity for her situation that is expressed...
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