Though Rodman the Keeper: Southern Sketches seems to be Woolson's most popular story collection, I actually prefer the Castle Nowhere collection, Woolson's collection of Upper Peninsula regionalism which is titled after its novella-length introductory story. The Castle Nowhere collection has some unity through a couple of the stories which share a common narrator, though this narrator is only occasionally significant as a character. As a regionalist, Woolson can be compared with Sarah Orne Jewett (in my opinion, the most underrated American writer), and the narrative unity of the Castle Nowhere collection calls to mind that of The Country of the Pointed Firs which would appear some two decades later. There's a particularly intriguing spookiness, especially in the title story.

ETA: But beware. This review is only of the e-book content. I've discovered that there are actually several stories missing from the various e-book versions (both the modestly priced and the free versions), all of which trace back to an incomplete e-book edition on Project Gutenberg. I'm presently in the process of acquiring a complete first-edition from AbeBooks. Because of this defect in the e-book, I would only rate the e-book at 1½*, though I expect that my rating of the first-edition text will remain at 4½****. But go ahead and get this e-book if you like, because it's free on Gutenberg, but just be aware of the missing content. ( )