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The Member of the Wedding

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( 20,046 ratings, 1,938 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers explores the story of a twelve-year-old girl named Frankie Addams as she grapples with feelings of isolation and alienation in the Deep South during the 1940s. Eager to escape her small town life and connect with others, she becomes fixated on her brother's upcoming wedding, seeing it as a potential gateway to a larger, more inclusive world. The narrative delves into themes of identity, belonging, and the transition from childhood to adolescence.
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you are captivated by introspective coming-of-age stories that delve into themes of loneliness and belonging. It offers a profound exploration of the complexities of adolescence and the yearning for connection, all set against a vivid Southern backdrop.

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Presents three phases of a weekend crisis in the life of a motherless twelve-year-old girl.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Rarely has emotional turbulence been so delicately conveyed – The New York Times

With delicacy of perception and memory, humour and pathos, Carson McCullers spreads before us the three phases of a weekend crisis in the life of a motherless twelve-year-old girl. Within the span of a few hours, the irresistible, hoydenish Frankie passionately plays out her fantasies at her elder brother's wedding.

Through a perilous skylight, we look into the mind of a child torn between her yearning to belong and the urge to run away.

Series: Penguin Modern Classics

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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

The Member of the Wedding is praised for its exploration of a young girl's emotional turmoil and vivid imagination in a Southern setting. Reviewers highlight McCullers' delicate portrayal of emotional depth and complexity, lauding her as an exceptional Southern prose writer with profound insight into human nature.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780141182827

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 26 April 2001

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Penguin Classics

Contributors:

  • Introduction by Ali Smith
  • Introduction by Ali Smith

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 13.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 170g

Pages: 224

About the Author

Carson McCullers was born in 1917. She is the critically acclaimed author of several popular novels in the 1940s and '50s, including The Member of the Wedding (1946). Her novels frequently depicted life in small towns of the southeastern United States and were marked by themes of loneliness and spiritual isolation. McCullers suffered from ill health most of her adult life, including a series of strokes that began when she was in her 20s; she died at the age of 50. The Member of the Wedding was dramatized for the stage in the 1950s and filmed in 1952 and 1997. Other films based on her books are Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967, with Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando), The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1968, starring Alan Arkin) and The Ballad of the Sad Cafe (1991).

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  • The Ballad of the Sad CafΓ©
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  • The Ballad of the Sad CafΓ©
    Introducing Little Clothbound Classics- irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith. Few writers have expressed loneliness, the need for human understanding and the search for love with such power and poetic sensibility as the American writer Carson McCullers. The Ballad of the Sad CafΓ© is her masterpieceβ€”an...
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