The Courting of Sister Wisby | The Courting of Sister Wisby

At a glance:

Author: Sarah Orne Jewett
First Published: 1887
Type of Plot: Regional, frame story
Time of Work: The late nineteenth century
Setting: A New England village
Principal Characters: A walking woman, Mrs. Goodsoe, Mrs. Jerry Foss, Jim Heron, Eliza Wisby, Silas Brimblecom, Phebe Brimblecom
Genres: Short fiction
Subjects: Husbands, North America or North Americans, United States or Americans, Wives, Love or romance, Nineteenth century, Marriage, Rural or country life, New England, Women, Single people, Widows or widowers, Generation gap
Locales: New England

While walking one August day in a sunny pasture, the female narrator encounters Mrs. Goodsoe, her old friend, gathering a medicinal herb called mullein. They sit, eat some peaches the narrator has brought along, and chat. Mrs. Goodsoe needs little prompting as she reminisces garrulously. First, she mentions Mrs. Peck, a widow who had two daughters. One of them was forsaken by a “rovin’” boyfriend; the other married Jim Heron, the first Irishman ever seen in the region. Remembering Heron reminds Mrs. Goodsoe of Mrs. Jerry Foss, a hard-scrabble widow whose three...

The Courting of Sister Wisby | The Courting of Sister Wisby

At a glance:

The Story

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