The main character of “Holiday” begins the story by telling readers that this was a time in her life when she was “too young for some of the troubles” she was having (though she never specifies exactly what the troubles are). Wanting to escape these troubles, she decides to take a holiday to the country. She confides this desire to her friend Louise, who exclaims that she has the perfect place: a Texas farm run by a traditional German family. While the narrator is skeptical of Louise's idyllic description of the farm (“Louise had . . . something near to genius for making improbable persons, places, and situations sound attractive”) she agrees to the idea, and a few days later she arrives at the Müller farm.

When she arrives at the station and surveys the “desolate mud-colored, shapeless scene,” she feels justified in her skepticism. A...