This collection includes "Life in the Iron Mills" by Rebecca Harding Davis, "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, "The Country of the Pointed Firs" by Sarah Orne Jewett, and "Souls Belated" by Edith Wharton.

"Mills" was continually and annoyingly interrupted by the narrator, which limited my appreciation of the author's main points. "Wallpaper" and "Belated" are included elsewhere in my library. Both of them are worthwhile and will be reviewed elsewhere.

"Pointed Firs" was enjoyable. It had the feel of Cranford, though set across the ocean. Not much happened but the lives of the folks in a part of Maine were shown with attention to what made each person different but still a part of the community.

I would recommend this book as a representative of the types of short story writing produced by American women during this time. I think a more effective book would have included a broader group of stories so that conclusions could be made about what may have characterized this writing. ( )