This psychological ghost story by Ellen Glasgow combines themes of the supernatural, crime (murder) and justice (revenge). A young nurse besotted by a popular doctor is assigned as night-nurse to his ailing wife. The woman, who is recovering from the death of her young daughter from a previous marriage, is suffering “hallucinations” that the girl is still alive. When the nurse claims that she, too, can see the spectral child, the mother confides that her husband killed her. The woman dies soon afterwards and, when the doctor claims her multi-million dollar estate, justice is served in an unexpected manner. More…
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The Difference
A more apt title for this story by Ellen Glasgow would be The Differences. It explores differences in attitudes to love, marriage and infidelity between men and women, and between women born in the Victorian era and those born in the early 1900s. A middle-aged woman’s calm existence is shattered when she receives a letter from the much younger mistress of her husband of twenty years. She meets the woman, confronts her husband, and initiates a discussion about who loves whom and what is to be done about it. Themes include gender roles, love and adultery, the generation gap, sacrifice. More…