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As fillas do defunto coronel
Father would never forgive them. That was what they felt more than ever when, two mornings later, they went into his room to go through his things. They had discussed it quite calmly. It was even down on Josephine's list of things to be done. Go through father's things and settle about them. But that was a very different matter from saying after breakfast.
88 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1921
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330 people want to read
About the author
Katherine Mansfield
989 books1,216 followersKathleen Mansfield Murry (née Beauchamp) was a prominent New Zealand modernist writer of short fiction who wrote under the pen name of Katherine Mansfield.
Katherine Mansfield is widely considered one of the best short story writers of her period. A number of her works, including "Miss Brill", "Prelude", "The Garden Party", "The Doll's House", and later works such as "The Fly", are frequently collected in short story anthologies. Mansfield also proved ahead of her time in her adoration of Russian playwright and short story writer Anton Chekhov, and incorporated some of his themes and techniques into her writing.
Katherine Mansfield was part of a "new dawn" in English literature with T.S. Eliot, James Joyce and Virginia Woolf. She was associated with the brilliant group of writers who made the London of the period the centre of the literary world.
Nevertheless, Mansfield was a New Zealand writer - she could not have written as she did had she not gone to live in England and France, but she could not have done her best work if she had not had firm roots in her native land. She used her memories in her writing from the beginning, people, the places, even the colloquial speech of the country form the fabric of much of her best work.
Mansfield's stories were the first of significance in English to be written without a conventional plot. Supplanting the strictly structured plots of her predecessors in the genre (Edgar Allan Poe, Rudyard Kipling, H. G. Wells), Mansfield concentrated on one moment, a crisis or a turning point, rather than on a sequence of events. The plot is secondary to mood and characters. The stories are innovative in many other ways. They feature simple things - a doll's house or a charwoman. Her imagery, frequently from nature, flowers, wind and colours, set the scene with which readers can identify easily.
Themes too are universal: human isolation, the questioning of traditional roles of men and women in society, the conflict between love and disillusionment, idealism and reality, beauty and ugliness, joy and suffering, and the inevitability of these paradoxes. Oblique narration (influenced by Chekhov but certainly developed by Mansfield) includes the use of symbolism - the doll's house lamp, the fly, the pear tree - hinting at the hidden layers of meaning. Suggestion and implication replace direct detail.
Katherine Mansfield is widely considered one of the best short story writers of her period. A number of her works, including "Miss Brill", "Prelude", "The Garden Party", "The Doll's House", and later works such as "The Fly", are frequently collected in short story anthologies. Mansfield also proved ahead of her time in her adoration of Russian playwright and short story writer Anton Chekhov, and incorporated some of his themes and techniques into her writing.
Katherine Mansfield was part of a "new dawn" in English literature with T.S. Eliot, James Joyce and Virginia Woolf. She was associated with the brilliant group of writers who made the London of the period the centre of the literary world.
Nevertheless, Mansfield was a New Zealand writer - she could not have written as she did had she not gone to live in England and France, but she could not have done her best work if she had not had firm roots in her native land. She used her memories in her writing from the beginning, people, the places, even the colloquial speech of the country form the fabric of much of her best work.
Mansfield's stories were the first of significance in English to be written without a conventional plot. Supplanting the strictly structured plots of her predecessors in the genre (Edgar Allan Poe, Rudyard Kipling, H. G. Wells), Mansfield concentrated on one moment, a crisis or a turning point, rather than on a sequence of events. The plot is secondary to mood and characters. The stories are innovative in many other ways. They feature simple things - a doll's house or a charwoman. Her imagery, frequently from nature, flowers, wind and colours, set the scene with which readers can identify easily.
Themes too are universal: human isolation, the questioning of traditional roles of men and women in society, the conflict between love and disillusionment, idealism and reality, beauty and ugliness, joy and suffering, and the inevitability of these paradoxes. Oblique narration (influenced by Chekhov but certainly developed by Mansfield) includes the use of symbolism - the doll's house lamp, the fly, the pear tree - hinting at the hidden layers of meaning. Suggestion and implication replace direct detail.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews
January 16, 2026
This short story opens with two sisters, evidently quite close, dealing with the immediate aftermath of their father’s death. Their flighty thoughts and actions, vagueness about time and mealtimes, and the way they tease each other led me to assume that they were in their twenties or even late teens.
“Constantia was still gazing at the clock. She couldn't make up her mind if it was fast or slow. It was one or the other, she felt almost certain of that. At any rate, it had been.
There’s a mix of practicalities (people to tell, a funeral to arrange, condolence letters to reply to, possessions to sort through) and more awkward social interactions (with a nurse, a vicar, and their maid).
What’s sort of story?
It’s a slippery tale, and I could never quite decide what it was. There’s some comedy of manners, a few mysterious hints about secrets, a fleeting supernatural aspect, some nasty assumptions about the people of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) which were probably normal for 1921, a puzzling relationship with their maid, and a quasi feminist angle emerging by the end. The loss of a parent is almost secondary - and yet in some ways, he’s the most constant and powerful presence.
Image: Gold pocket watch - totemic in the story (Source.)
Is it funny?
Josephine and Constantia briefly consider if they should dye their dressing gowns black for mourning, there’s a memorably awkward and absurd conversation (if that’s not too strong a word) about meringues between a dying man and a young relative, and an infuriating and unjustly snooty house guest. But is it a funny story? Not primarily.
I would have enjoyed it more without the expectation of laughs that I had from reading it in Paul Merton’s collection Funny Ha Ha: 80 of the funniest stories ever written (see my review HERE).
I think my largest smile was for one of the most anti-climactic endings I’ve ever read. Except on reflection, it’s not. It’s utterly apt.
So what sort of story is it?
The colonel of the title is dead. The story is primarily about his daughters whose place in the title, as in life, is as mere adjuncts to him. There is an almost literal sense of his continued oversight in what’s left of their lives - lives thus far devoted to him and his whims, rather than forging their own identities, relationships, and maybe marriages.
Familial duty matters, but not to the extent of extinguishing the chance of a meaningful life of our own.
Our parents give us life, but it is our responsibility - and right - to live it. Kindly, but freely.
Gifts should not come with strings, except as part of the wrapping, or if there’s a marionette inside.
Image: Cutting marionette string (Source.)
Quotes
* “The sunshine pressed through the windows, thieved its way in, flashed its light over the furniture and the photographs.”
* “A perfect fountain of bubbles of notes shook from the barrel-organ, round, bright notes, carelessly scattered.”
Read it free
You can read or download the story in a variety of formats, along with other short stories by Mansfield, on Gutenberg, HERE.
This was published in the collection called The Garden Party.
* I reviewed the title story HERE.
* I reviewed Miss Brill HERE.
* I reviewed Bliss, from a different collection, HERE.
“Constantia was still gazing at the clock. She couldn't make up her mind if it was fast or slow. It was one or the other, she felt almost certain of that. At any rate, it had been.
There’s a mix of practicalities (people to tell, a funeral to arrange, condolence letters to reply to, possessions to sort through) and more awkward social interactions (with a nurse, a vicar, and their maid).
What’s sort of story?
It’s a slippery tale, and I could never quite decide what it was. There’s some comedy of manners, a few mysterious hints about secrets, a fleeting supernatural aspect, some nasty assumptions about the people of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) which were probably normal for 1921, a puzzling relationship with their maid, and a quasi feminist angle emerging by the end. The loss of a parent is almost secondary - and yet in some ways, he’s the most constant and powerful presence.
Image: Gold pocket watch - totemic in the story (Source.)
Is it funny?
Josephine and Constantia briefly consider if they should dye their dressing gowns black for mourning, there’s a memorably awkward and absurd conversation (if that’s not too strong a word) about meringues between a dying man and a young relative, and an infuriating and unjustly snooty house guest. But is it a funny story? Not primarily.
I would have enjoyed it more without the expectation of laughs that I had from reading it in Paul Merton’s collection Funny Ha Ha: 80 of the funniest stories ever written (see my review HERE).
I think my largest smile was for one of the most anti-climactic endings I’ve ever read. Except on reflection, it’s not. It’s utterly apt.
So what sort of story is it?
The colonel of the title is dead. The story is primarily about his daughters whose place in the title, as in life, is as mere adjuncts to him. There is an almost literal sense of his continued oversight in what’s left of their lives - lives thus far devoted to him and his whims, rather than forging their own identities, relationships, and maybe marriages.
Familial duty matters, but not to the extent of extinguishing the chance of a meaningful life of our own.
Our parents give us life, but it is our responsibility - and right - to live it. Kindly, but freely.
Gifts should not come with strings, except as part of the wrapping, or if there’s a marionette inside.
Image: Cutting marionette string (Source.)
Quotes
* “The sunshine pressed through the windows, thieved its way in, flashed its light over the furniture and the photographs.”
* “A perfect fountain of bubbles of notes shook from the barrel-organ, round, bright notes, carelessly scattered.”
Read it free
You can read or download the story in a variety of formats, along with other short stories by Mansfield, on Gutenberg, HERE.
This was published in the collection called The Garden Party.
* I reviewed the title story HERE.
* I reviewed Miss Brill HERE.
* I reviewed Bliss, from a different collection, HERE.
February 1, 2026
The Short Story Club
'The Daughters of the Late Colonel' is a masterful story following two sisters who are desperately trying to get their bearings one week after their father's funeral. The author's intention is crystal clear - to show what it meant to be a woman at the beginning of the 20th century, even in a civilized country. As a rule, you are not in control of your life. Even when the circumstances change, it is too late to start a new life as it is too hard to leave your inner 'prison'.
'The Daughters of the Late Colonel' is a masterful story following two sisters who are desperately trying to get their bearings one week after their father's funeral. The author's intention is crystal clear - to show what it meant to be a woman at the beginning of the 20th century, even in a civilized country. As a rule, you are not in control of your life. Even when the circumstances change, it is too late to start a new life as it is too hard to leave your inner 'prison'.
November 16, 2023
We meet Josephine and Constantia, two sisters, in the aftermath of their father’s death. Their father was a very controlling gentleman. They have lived with him their entire lives and now they are on their own. Neither seems to have ever been allowed to make a decision- how will they manage?
A wonderfully written story- it is poignant and memorable. I would just have liked a bit more!
I had never read Katherine Mansfield before- I definitely plan to read more.
Published: 1922
A wonderfully written story- it is poignant and memorable. I would just have liked a bit more!
I had never read Katherine Mansfield before- I definitely plan to read more.
Published: 1922
September 22, 2024
“What it comes to is, if we did”—and this she barely breathed, glancing at the door—“give Kate notice”—she raised her voice again—“we could manage our own food.” “Why not?” cried Constantia. She couldn’t help smiling. The idea was so exciting. She clasped her hands. “What should we live on, Jug?” “Oh, eggs in various forms!” said Jug, lofty again.
Tal como fez naquele que é talvez o seu conto mais famoso, “O Garden- Party”, Katherine Mansfield consegue abordar o luto com algum humor, não pela morte em si, que não é um tema transcendental para a autora, mas pela forma disparatada e até frívola como as personagens dos seus contos reagem a ela.
“Do you think we ought to have our dressing gowns dyed as well?” “Black?” almost shrieked Josephine. “Well, what else?” said Constantia. “I was thinking—it doesn’t seem quite sincere, in a way, to wear black out of doors and when we’re fully dressed, and then when we’re at home—” (...) Josephine thought of her dark-red slippers, which matched her dressing gown, and of Constantia’s favourite indefinite green ones which went with hers. Black! Two black dressing gowns and two pairs of black woolly slippers, creeping off to the bathroom like black cats.
Josephine e Constantia dedicaram toda a sua vida a um irascível pai, cuja presença dominadora parece fazer-se sentir mesmo depois da morte que dá início a esta história. Podendo pela primeira vez decidir por si mesmas o que fazer, as duas irmãs dão mostras da sua imaturidade, ingenuidade e profunda solidão.
Josephine had had a moment of absolute terror at the cemetery, while the coffin was lowered, to think that she and Constantia had done this thing without asking his permission. What would father say when he found out? For he was bound to find out sooner or later. He always did. “Buried. You two girls had me buried!” She heard his stick thumping. Oh, what would they say? What possible excuse could they make? It sounded such an appallingly heartless thing to do.
Tal como fez naquele que é talvez o seu conto mais famoso, “O Garden- Party”, Katherine Mansfield consegue abordar o luto com algum humor, não pela morte em si, que não é um tema transcendental para a autora, mas pela forma disparatada e até frívola como as personagens dos seus contos reagem a ela.
“Do you think we ought to have our dressing gowns dyed as well?” “Black?” almost shrieked Josephine. “Well, what else?” said Constantia. “I was thinking—it doesn’t seem quite sincere, in a way, to wear black out of doors and when we’re fully dressed, and then when we’re at home—” (...) Josephine thought of her dark-red slippers, which matched her dressing gown, and of Constantia’s favourite indefinite green ones which went with hers. Black! Two black dressing gowns and two pairs of black woolly slippers, creeping off to the bathroom like black cats.
Josephine e Constantia dedicaram toda a sua vida a um irascível pai, cuja presença dominadora parece fazer-se sentir mesmo depois da morte que dá início a esta história. Podendo pela primeira vez decidir por si mesmas o que fazer, as duas irmãs dão mostras da sua imaturidade, ingenuidade e profunda solidão.
Josephine had had a moment of absolute terror at the cemetery, while the coffin was lowered, to think that she and Constantia had done this thing without asking his permission. What would father say when he found out? For he was bound to find out sooner or later. He always did. “Buried. You two girls had me buried!” She heard his stick thumping. Oh, what would they say? What possible excuse could they make? It sounded such an appallingly heartless thing to do.
January 15, 2026
Cool story! Clever writing! Fun to read!
Jan. 2026 reread.
Mansfield’s careful prose highlight many of subtleties of being a woman of her time. Her exact observation and precise description of the natural world add a wonderfully sensitive color to her work. She is a must read for anyone fond of good writing.
Jan. 2026 reread.
Mansfield’s careful prose highlight many of subtleties of being a woman of her time. Her exact observation and precise description of the natural world add a wonderfully sensitive color to her work. She is a must read for anyone fond of good writing.
May 30, 2017
A sad short story about two sisters mourning the loss of their father. Though I found Katherine Mansfield's writing dull, she does a good job of showing the sisters' nuanced relationship with their father, in particular how his control over them permeates beyond death. It sucks how these girls suffer, both from the patriarchal way their father treated them as well as the grief they experience after he dies. Mansfield captures this intricate father-daughter beyond the grave dynamic well.
January 17, 2026
Two middle-aged sisters who have been taking care of their domineering ill father feel lost after his death. They had spent so many years fearing their father that they were unable to make decisions on their own. Katherine Mansfield's writing is excellent with many tragicomic moments.
September 26, 2020
O imenso talento de Katherine Mansfield para contos é inegável. Sua capacidade de moldar diálogos por meio de memórias é impressionante. Ela morreu jovem, com apenas 34 anos. Das mais de 60 histórias que publicou, destaca-se The Daughters of the Late Coronel "As filhas do Falecido Coronel". O conto foi concluído em 1920, apenas 2 anos antes de sua morte. Mansfield diz em seu diário em 1920: “A única vez em que me senti me divertindo foi quando estava escrevendo esta história e, no final, fiquei terrivelmente infeliz e comecei a escrever o mais rápido possível com medo de morrer antes de terminá-la. Que triste! Ela já sentia a tuberculose dilacerando seu corpo.
A história é sobre duas irmãs de meia-idade, Josephine e Constance, que, em face da morte de seu pai tirânico, perderam sua única razão de viver, não sabem como se comportar diante da liberdade que nunca tiveram. A história se passa na primeira semana após a morte do pai, mas também lembra fatos da semana anterior, quando o pai estava doente.
O tema ainda é muito relevante, e sua modernidade se deve não só ao fato de ainda existirem pessoas privadas de suas vidas por abuso de poder, mas também por mostrar que os problemas da era vitoriana, como abuso do poder dos pais e outros ainda persistem hoje.
A autora explora com maestria a relação entre tempo, memória e subjetividade.
O tempo é pré estabelecido. Transcorre de uma semana anterior à morte do pai até uma semana depois. A memória das irmãs transcorreram esse período de uma forma fragmentada e descontinuada e no campo emocional de forma confusa e culposa. A subjetividade se estabelece de forma persuasiva.Mesmo o pai estando morto elas ainda o temem , para elas o pai continua as observando desde o paraíso.
Como se livrar de uma cela na qual você viveu para sempre? Esse parece ser o resumo perfeito deste conto. É como um pássaro que ficou preso por muito tempo, que, ao ser solto, volta à sua gaiola por puro medo e insegurança do mundo exterior.
Vale a pena dar uma chance à Katherine Mansfield! Ela é fenomenal!
A história é sobre duas irmãs de meia-idade, Josephine e Constance, que, em face da morte de seu pai tirânico, perderam sua única razão de viver, não sabem como se comportar diante da liberdade que nunca tiveram. A história se passa na primeira semana após a morte do pai, mas também lembra fatos da semana anterior, quando o pai estava doente.
O tema ainda é muito relevante, e sua modernidade se deve não só ao fato de ainda existirem pessoas privadas de suas vidas por abuso de poder, mas também por mostrar que os problemas da era vitoriana, como abuso do poder dos pais e outros ainda persistem hoje.
A autora explora com maestria a relação entre tempo, memória e subjetividade.
O tempo é pré estabelecido. Transcorre de uma semana anterior à morte do pai até uma semana depois. A memória das irmãs transcorreram esse período de uma forma fragmentada e descontinuada e no campo emocional de forma confusa e culposa. A subjetividade se estabelece de forma persuasiva.Mesmo o pai estando morto elas ainda o temem , para elas o pai continua as observando desde o paraíso.
Como se livrar de uma cela na qual você viveu para sempre? Esse parece ser o resumo perfeito deste conto. É como um pássaro que ficou preso por muito tempo, que, ao ser solto, volta à sua gaiola por puro medo e insegurança do mundo exterior.
Vale a pena dar uma chance à Katherine Mansfield! Ela é fenomenal!
January 20, 2026
5★
"Father would never forgive them. That was what they felt more than ever when, two mornings later, they went into his room to go through his things. They had discussed it quite calmly. It was even down on Josephine's list of things to be done. 'Go through father's things and settle about them.'"
It appears that Father had run the household with pretty firm rules, so much so that his adult daughters fear he will never forgive them for having buried him without his permission. As for 'going through his things'… well! That will take another whole level of fortitude.
They still have Kate, who cooks for them, and for a week they still have Father's nurse, a supercilious woman with whom Mansfield has great fun. Nurse Andrews is eating her way through the butter. Read this aloud to get the full effect.
" 'When I was with Lady Tukes,' said Nurse Andrews, 'she had such a dainty little contrayvance for the buttah. It was a silvah Cupid balanced on the—on the bordah of a glass dish, holding a tayny fork. And when you wanted some buttah you simply pressed his foot and he bent down and speared you a piece. It was quite a gayme.'
Josephine could hardly bear that. 'But I think those things are very extravagant' was all she said.
'But whey?' asked Nurse Andrews, beaming through her eyeglasses. 'No one, surely, would take more buttah than one wanted—would one?'
'Ring, Con,' cried Josephine. She couldn't trust herself to reply.
And proud young Kate, the enchanted princess, came in to see what the old tabbies wanted now. She snatched away their plates of mock something or other and slapped down a white, terrified blancmange."
Mansfield is terrific. It takes only a word in the right place to set a scene. Snatching away plates and slapping down a terrified blancmange tells us more about Kate and the household than several paragraphs by a lesser writer.
The infantilism of the two middle-aged women seems comical at first. They had lived in Ceylon in a position of privilege with servants for whom they have only to ring a bell. But Kate scares them.
"If mother had lived, might they have married? But there had been nobody for them to marry. There had been father's Anglo-Indian friends before he quarrelled with them. But after that she and Constantia never met a single man except clergymen. How did one meet men?"
Father was no doubt content to be surrounded by females who were always at his beck and call. He kept them girls, and girls they are still, with no lives or minds of their own. which is something of a tragedy.
She died more than a century ago, but celebrated New Zealand author Katherine Mansfield is just as much fun to read today as ever. You'll find her collections in libraries everywhere.
Another winner from the The Short Story Club Group
Feel free to join us for access to good stories and conversations about them.
"Father would never forgive them. That was what they felt more than ever when, two mornings later, they went into his room to go through his things. They had discussed it quite calmly. It was even down on Josephine's list of things to be done. 'Go through father's things and settle about them.'"
It appears that Father had run the household with pretty firm rules, so much so that his adult daughters fear he will never forgive them for having buried him without his permission. As for 'going through his things'… well! That will take another whole level of fortitude.
They still have Kate, who cooks for them, and for a week they still have Father's nurse, a supercilious woman with whom Mansfield has great fun. Nurse Andrews is eating her way through the butter. Read this aloud to get the full effect.
" 'When I was with Lady Tukes,' said Nurse Andrews, 'she had such a dainty little contrayvance for the buttah. It was a silvah Cupid balanced on the—on the bordah of a glass dish, holding a tayny fork. And when you wanted some buttah you simply pressed his foot and he bent down and speared you a piece. It was quite a gayme.'
Josephine could hardly bear that. 'But I think those things are very extravagant' was all she said.
'But whey?' asked Nurse Andrews, beaming through her eyeglasses. 'No one, surely, would take more buttah than one wanted—would one?'
'Ring, Con,' cried Josephine. She couldn't trust herself to reply.
And proud young Kate, the enchanted princess, came in to see what the old tabbies wanted now. She snatched away their plates of mock something or other and slapped down a white, terrified blancmange."
Mansfield is terrific. It takes only a word in the right place to set a scene. Snatching away plates and slapping down a terrified blancmange tells us more about Kate and the household than several paragraphs by a lesser writer.
The infantilism of the two middle-aged women seems comical at first. They had lived in Ceylon in a position of privilege with servants for whom they have only to ring a bell. But Kate scares them.
"If mother had lived, might they have married? But there had been nobody for them to marry. There had been father's Anglo-Indian friends before he quarrelled with them. But after that she and Constantia never met a single man except clergymen. How did one meet men?"
Father was no doubt content to be surrounded by females who were always at his beck and call. He kept them girls, and girls they are still, with no lives or minds of their own. which is something of a tragedy.
She died more than a century ago, but celebrated New Zealand author Katherine Mansfield is just as much fun to read today as ever. You'll find her collections in libraries everywhere.
Another winner from the The Short Story Club Group
Feel free to join us for access to good stories and conversations about them.
February 28, 2024
a simple but powerful feminist text meditating on the repression of women and the ways it manifests in all aspects of their behaviour. following constantia and josephine navigating their lives after the death of their tyrannical father was both interesting and saddening, as they came to terms with their newfound freedom and were quite simply unsure what to do with it. the subtext was brilliantly threaded through the writing making it unsettling but thought-provoking.
this was the last mansfield i had to read for english class, and i'm pretty sad about it! i've grown a deep appreciation for her writing style, and the characters in this story were some of my favourites :)
this was the last mansfield i had to read for english class, and i'm pretty sad about it! i've grown a deep appreciation for her writing style, and the characters in this story were some of my favourites :)
November 22, 2020
Freed from a truculent tyrant by the death of the paterfamilias, his 2 spinster daughters struggle to make headway in their 1st week without him. Katherine Mansfield's short story is not only tragic, but there's some deft comic touches amidst the grief and despondency as they fear his abiding presence in the house & anticipate his expected disapproval of their hesitant actions. An interesting subject for a short story & perfectly pitched, sensitively told.
January 11, 2026
I find it near on impossible to describe another gem of a short story by Katherine Mansfield . What a genius she was . Pitch perfect , funny and poignant .
April 19, 2016
The best? So simple to say and so contested. But, for me, this is the best short story I have ever read. It starts so simply but the whole story is contained in that wonderful opening line.
"The week after was one of the busiest weeks of their lives."
And it certainly is. Two elderly spinsters deal with one of life's milestones and Katherine Mansfield details their struggle with eloquence and grace. Like so much in life there is no running away but acceptance may be difficult, perhaps impossible. So where does that leave us. Exactly where Katherine Mansfield leaves the Daughters of the Late Colonel.
"The week after was one of the busiest weeks of their lives."
And it certainly is. Two elderly spinsters deal with one of life's milestones and Katherine Mansfield details their struggle with eloquence and grace. Like so much in life there is no running away but acceptance may be difficult, perhaps impossible. So where does that leave us. Exactly where Katherine Mansfield leaves the Daughters of the Late Colonel.
January 15, 2026
I read this for Goodreads' Short Story Club. I thought the story has an anxious tension, with the reader kept waiting in suspense for some climax that never comes. The two sisters, cowed by years of living with an irrational father, practically tiptoe around their house as they find themselves free from his domination for the first time ever. It's sad how the sisters are left with only each other because their father never allowed them to get out and meet anyone else. The patriarchal repression is so overpowering that the women are basically helpess despite being grown adults. Only the male family members have the ability to flee, whereas the sisters were forever trapped in the house with their father, with his oppressive personality lingering even after his death like a bad odor. It seems no one liked the old colonel. I noticed that the son went as far away as possible (Ceylon) to escape the colonel, and the grandson is clearly uncomfortable, telling white lies and making excuses to end his visit with the colonel as soon as possible. Even the food is nervous.
I wonder if the blancmange is described as "terrified" not only because it is ghostly white but also because it trembles like Jell-O. Also creepy is some casual racism that isn't uncommon in works from that era but that the modern reader cannot overlook.
Perhaps with time, the sisters will become less tense and venture to flex a bit of their newfound freedom after their father's death.
I wonder if the blancmange is described as "terrified" not only because it is ghostly white but also because it trembles like Jell-O. Also creepy is some casual racism that isn't uncommon in works from that era but that the modern reader cannot overlook.
Perhaps with time, the sisters will become less tense and venture to flex a bit of their newfound freedom after their father's death.
July 30, 2012
A lengthy tale of two odd sisters who must cope with the death of their aged father. The sisters really are rather charming, if dotty, and the unfolding of their peculiarities and their realisation that they are finally free to step out of the shadow of the late colonel if they can bring themselves to is bittersweet.
June 4, 2023
Worst one yet
August 12, 2024
No more tapping of the stick…
August 22, 2023
my least favourite mansfield thus far but still impeccably crafted. i did spend half the time thinking they had murdered someone though
October 21, 2015
I have never read a Mansfield short story before and I must admit, her writing style did remind me a lot of D.H. Lawrence's. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, I just struggle to become invested in Lawrence's style of prose...
That being said, this certainly was thought provoking. The temporal shift in the narrative is done so well, almost seamlessly. As a reader, you feel like you are being whipped along in an almost dream like manner. I actually found myself going back over to read a section again before I realised what had just happened.
The story obviously investigates the position of women in our society with shocking realism.
That being said, this certainly was thought provoking. The temporal shift in the narrative is done so well, almost seamlessly. As a reader, you feel like you are being whipped along in an almost dream like manner. I actually found myself going back over to read a section again before I realised what had just happened.
The story obviously investigates the position of women in our society with shocking realism.
November 29, 2020
Чем-то напомнило The Story of an Hour.
May 5, 2017
Wow. This was such a pleasure to read. I love reading stories that move me by word usage and sentence structure. There is such a tone set in this book. So often I actually felt the same as I do in a dream. Amazing.
This is a story of grief, bitter loss, and freedom, told through the conversations between two daughters who have recently lost their father. I highly recommend it.
This is a story of grief, bitter loss, and freedom, told through the conversations between two daughters who have recently lost their father. I highly recommend it.
October 30, 2011
Two sisters readjust their lives following the death of their father.
March 4, 2017
Short but well-written, it is interesting how much the author is able to convey about these two women and their father without outright saying much at all. Sad and insightful.
January 14, 2023
Depicts the sisterly relationship well (i would know i have a sister)
November 24, 2024
Os relatos son moi bos, a edición de peto de Xerais é unha chafallada
October 28, 2022
Incredible prose and subtext. In awe!
June 13, 2023
They should have stuffed the father like a teddy bear 🧸
Read
September 16, 2025the late colonel really puts the "colon" in "colonel" because he colonizes his daughters and he is a piece of shit
(goodreads deleted this review lol why u madddd)
(goodreads deleted this review lol why u madddd)
November 5, 2020
Katherine Mansfield proves to be with every story a extremely talented writer. In this particular story I have found terribly sad the patriarchal oppression and fear that the two protagonist have of their father, even after he dies, which causes them to be unable to take the most simple of decisions.
June 11, 2016
Mansfield makes a place for the importance of things that were considered things of the women's world at that time. She was a pioneer in that way along with Virginia Woolf.
This is not the colonel's story, nor the story of captains and kings, nor an epic of gods and goddesses, leaders of nations, and the fates of nations. Those stories are, after all, simply stories of men, a kind of top-down history, great man history, that ignores the vast bulk of the population. If you can say, Grant whipped the rebels, or if you can say Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin beat Hitler and Mussolini, then you subscribe to great man history. I would suggest that the movements of peoples run deeper, and that the leaders float into a place of public focus, serving a purpose, but that the force of vast historical events run far deeper than this man and that. In fact, I would say that those kinds of stories, in important part, are designed to keep the vast bulk of the population out of historical decisions.
I think Woolf and Mansfield had had enough of that kind of story, that kind of history, and they were trying to create a place for the stories, not just of everyman - but of everywoman.
Thus "The Daughters of the Late Colonel." The daughters have deep characterization. The whole story - it's not a story - there is a story arc to it - it is a series of looks into the relationship and the personalities of the daughters, first and foremost, and Mansfield shows, not tells, with superb actions and conversations, the internal and different worlds of each daughter.
Reading about the relationship of these women and about their concerns - with no great battles, no cannon fired, no ship rammed - is a wonderful and human, humane thing to do.
This is not the colonel's story, nor the story of captains and kings, nor an epic of gods and goddesses, leaders of nations, and the fates of nations. Those stories are, after all, simply stories of men, a kind of top-down history, great man history, that ignores the vast bulk of the population. If you can say, Grant whipped the rebels, or if you can say Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin beat Hitler and Mussolini, then you subscribe to great man history. I would suggest that the movements of peoples run deeper, and that the leaders float into a place of public focus, serving a purpose, but that the force of vast historical events run far deeper than this man and that. In fact, I would say that those kinds of stories, in important part, are designed to keep the vast bulk of the population out of historical decisions.
I think Woolf and Mansfield had had enough of that kind of story, that kind of history, and they were trying to create a place for the stories, not just of everyman - but of everywoman.
Thus "The Daughters of the Late Colonel." The daughters have deep characterization. The whole story - it's not a story - there is a story arc to it - it is a series of looks into the relationship and the personalities of the daughters, first and foremost, and Mansfield shows, not tells, with superb actions and conversations, the internal and different worlds of each daughter.
Reading about the relationship of these women and about their concerns - with no great battles, no cannon fired, no ship rammed - is a wonderful and human, humane thing to do.
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