Memories of a Catholic Girlhood (Masterplots II: Women’s Literature Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Mary McCarthy
- First Published: 1957
- Type of Work: Autobiography
- Time of Work: 1918 to the late 1920’s
- Setting: Minnesota, Washington, and Montana
- Principal Characters: Mary McCarthy, Kevin McCarthy, Preston, Lizzie Sheridan McCarthy, Uncle Myers, Augusta Morganstern Preston, Miss Gowrie, Ruth, Bob Berdan
- Genres: Nonfiction
- Subjects: Maturation or coming of age
- Locales: Washington
Form and Content
Memories of a Catholic Girlhood contains eight personal narrative essays, most of which were originally published in The New Yorker, about Mary McCarthy’s childhood years, beginning with being orphaned, along with her three brothers, when her parents died from influenza. Besides a preface entitled “To the Reader,” seven italicized commentaries follow all but the last essay, which McCarthy admits was the most difficult essay for her to write because it is about her Grandmother Preston, who, for McCarthy, holds the real key to knowing herself....
[The entire page is 1801 words long]
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