Souvenir Study Guide

Souvenir describes a relationship between a mother and daughter. It uses thirds person narrative to reveal the nature of the relationship as the protagonist, Kate, discovers that her mother is dying. As the story opens the setting reveals that it is near Valentine's Day. Kate always sends her mother cards on Valentine's Day. She times when she should send the cards through the mail so that they will arrive at her mother's house on the February 14th. Her parents had always celebrated Valentine's Day and after Kate's father died, six years ago, she continued to send the cards as a gesture of remembrance. At first she made the cards herself. She made collages or would press grass on construction paper sewn in fabric. Now she sends store bought cards, glossy art reproductions with blank inside... (read more)