At The Bay, by Katherine Mansfield

At The Bay is a good story, but I didn’t see the point.  It was well written and there were definitely parts I found interesting, but I didn't feel any real connection to the characters.  I also felt it was very long.

I could do an analysis of the duality of the characters.  The women and children are one person when the man of the house is home and another when he leaves. Even he has his own duality.  I could comment on family life at the time Katherine Mansfield wrote this.  I could discuss gender differences.  I could even talk about the possibility of the mother having post-partum depression and that here is a glimmer of hope of her coming out of it.  All these interesting topics are present within the story. But I don't feel like talking about them.

Does At The Bay have more of a point than the first Mansfield story I read, The Young Girl?  No, I don't think so.  Maybe then, it's the length plus the enigmatic characters. I don't know.  It just left me feeling a bit meh...


Short Story Monday is hosted by The Book Mine Set.