Dream Children: Stories

by Gail Godwin

In fifteen extraordinary and lyrical short stories, esteemed novelist Gail Godwin has created worlds in which we discover ourselves as lovers, mothers, wives, and friends.

Carefully, delicately, Ms. Godwin peels back the layers of defense and reveals women who search for meaning and connection in a world of abstraction and isolation. In "Dream Children," a reckless young wife finds herself unable to separate from the child she has lost; in "My Love, His Summer Vacation," the mistress of a married man so closely follows his every action that she has no life of her own; and in "Indulgences," a woman makes a list of her lovers, only to wonder if she can love.

A keen observer of both heart and mind, Ms. Godwin has conjured up a stunning collection of stories that strike at the center of our lives.

Contents:
Dream children --
False lights --
Some side effects of time travel --
Nobody's home --
My lover, his summer vacation --
Interstices --
The legacy of the motes --
Why does a great man love --
Death in Puerto Vallarta --
An intermediate stop --
A sorrowful woman --
Layover --
The woman who kept her poet --
Indulgences --
Notes for a story --
A conversation with Gail Godwin --
Reading group questions and topics for discussion --
Queen of the underworld [novel excerpt].

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Gail Kathleen Godwin is an American novelist and short story writer. She has published one non-fiction work, two collections of short stories, and eleven novels, three of which have been nominated for the National Book Award and five of which have made the New York Times Bestseller List.

Godwin's body of work has garnered many honors, including three National Book Award nominations, a Guggenheim Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts grants for both fiction and libretto writing, and the Award in Literature from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. Five of her novels have been on the New York Times best seller list.
Godwin lives and writes in Woodstock, New York.

Reviews

[Amanda Stevens]

Why I Stopped Reading (after the first and titular story): I had to read "Dream Children" for a class in college, and I remember liking it. I've had this collection on my shelf for years and decided to re-read that story and, if I still enjoyed it, read the next as well. Oh, 20-year-old English Major Amanda, I don't know what you liked about this. Today I find the author's voice dated (in a negative way) and overwrought and the story in no way compelling. I skimmed the next one anyway and felt no pull toward it either. Life is short: this one goes to the used-book store.

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

First AP Lit assignment along with The Story of An Hour by Kate Chopin. Very upsetting to read, but as someone who has suffered from mental illnesses, I could relate. I found it rude that she fired "the girl" because she actually brought some life to the house. There's definitely some significance to the fact the characters did not all get names, but when you have depression, nothing is really significant to you anymore. Very poetic and beautiful.

[LB · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't connect with the protagonist, really. Feel sorry for the husband and particularly the son. Too melodramatic. She seems to be overwhelmed with just one child. Most women have more and raise them all and some even w/o husbands. It doesn't appear that she even loves her child. Feminist or not, but love for your children is as natural as the world itself, esp when the kid is still so young. You can change your feelings for you kids later, when they grow up and become adult and as with other adults, there could be conflicts, but a three-year old?? She hits him bc he accidentally scratched her? What is it? This woman dies from her depression and dissatisfaction, that's a little ridiculous, if you ask me. It appears she actually died, not killed herself, not sure I understand. If she wanted to do something outside of the family, she should've talked to her husband, I am sure he would've been ok with it. Clearly, he made enough money to support her hobby and was understanding of her. She could've even gotten a part time job if she felt so trapped at home. Maybe that would've fulfilled her. It appears the action takes place in the 20th century, it's not like centuries ago when women were under lock and key in their homes. Anyway, no more than one star.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not finish all stories.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a little embarrassing to admit I didn't like this collection of stories more than I did. After all, it's got a lot of the things I like in stories, especially a lot of formal invention, so the stories will tackle their narratives in different ways-- epistolary styles, or like the last story, composed entirely of notes for a story. The stories are smart, literate, and witty, and deal with a variety of different kinds of people (while also feeling like they belong to the seventies-- there are a lot of spurned lovers here, and a general sense of the hangover post the sexual revolution hovers overhead).

But I didn't love these stories. I think it's because the stories being scrambled here by invention were otherwise kind of flat. The decision to not dramatize scenes is because, in many cases, they lacked drama, lacked clarity and occasionally, compelling characters, settling instead for cyphers.

It's odd that one of the most memorable stories here was the most traditionally told-- "An Intermediate Stop."

[Cathy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't even finish this book. A RARE occurance for me. The stories in this book are all about people (women) who don't really know who they are, don't have any grounding in life, and live constantly questioning their relationships and why they are here. I think this line of thought could be done in an entertaining fashion but to me these stories just dragged and was dragging down with them. Perhaps you need to be more cerebral to "get" this. Not my cup of tea.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

A collection of short stories written in the late 60s and early 70s, which seems both dated and contemporary. The protagonists (most stories are about women) are almost all strangely without power, which I found annoying. My favorite stories, "False Lights" and "The Women Who Kept Her Poet", were both about young women who marry older artists and how they deal with these lopsided relationships.

[Jessica Timmons · Rating 2 out of 5]

A novel that seems thrown together of a number of short stories. All based on depressing events. Confusing in some parts, I found myself having to read back a number of pages, more so then normal. The first story hit me hardest, mostly because I hope I'm never in such a situation. Do I recommend this book? No.

[Yuki · Rating 3 out of 5]

The short stories are a little more disturbing than interesting. The author is obviously very influenced by the life and work of Carl Jung. Dream analysis can be fascinating, but neuroses, personality disorders and depression not so much.

[Sohail · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very sad story, and a story that, despite being poetic, is very true to life.

[Arin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite being well written and poetic I couldn't connect with this story.

[Karen]

This a book I read and was very impressed by back in high school. I remembered one or two of the stories, or at least bits of them. On re-reading, I found that the stories I remembered, the stories I had rewritten in my head, were better that the stories on the page. :(

I still found the writing quite lovely, but the stories just don't hold up some 40 years later.