lia ₊˚ˑ༄ؘ’s Reviews > The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton > Status Update

a bottle of perrier: HELLO??? i thought this one wouldn’t be for me, but that was so awesome. i loved the fresh themes, the intense eerie atmosphere, and the mysterious plot, all contrasting against the rest of the collection. a great ending.

a journey: essentially what i’ve gotten from this collection is that wharton loves marriage stories so much and i was a little bored of them. this was a nice spin on the same concept with some fresher ideas

the looking glass: dorian gray if he was a woman and was quick about his shenanigans

pomegranate seed: with a title like that how could i not love it? persephone and hades have some of my favorite myths, and this was such an interesting interpretation with a good blend of retelling, symbolism, and freshness (in relating to wharton’s favorite themes)

mr jones: i found the storyline of this quite entertaining in the way a bit unlike the others and found the characters more lovable. they felt a more realistic, less caricatures of things to make a thematic point

the fullness of life: okay i lied about everything THIS is my favorite story of the collection. it’s not very ghost-y, but it’s so ethereal and its discussions are so relatable, especially in where the main character has so many conflicting feelings.

bewitched: very twin peaks, hampden college-esque setting which was of course very lovely. i really like the themes here, that spookily abrupt ending, and the plot itself. it was just unique enough to break up the monotony and similar enough to fit in the collection. definitely one of the more enjoyable stories

miss mary park: ehhh. this one switched it up but i think it was a bit TOO short. i felt like i needed more substance for it to actually mean anything to me, but im sure it’s just meant to be a fun little thing.

the duchess at prayer: ehh. the duchess is such a diva but these stories are getting a bit formulaic and repetitive to a fault. i understand it may be intentional, especially for such a specific kind of collection, but the editors need to do some serious reordering or smth

the triumph of the night: i enjoyed the writing of this one, but found it to be disinterested to my personal tastes in its themes. not bad though