Short stories by Mary Lavin
Mary Josephine Lavin (10 June 1912 – 25 March 1996) wrote short stories and novels. An Irishwoman, she is now regarded as a pioneer in the field of women's writing. The well-known Irish writer Lord Dunsany mentored Lavin after her father approached him on her behalf to discuss with him some stories she had written. Her subject matter often dealt explicitly with concerns of women, as well as a deep Catholic faith (she attended a convent school in Dublin). She is particularly noteworthy for her stories on the topic of widowhood, which are acknowledged to be among her finest. Her husband died in 1954, little over a decade into his marriage. She remarried in 1969. Her second husband, who before his marriage to Lavin had been living abroad, died in 1991 and she was once again a widow, remaining so until her death five years later.
Listing 9 stories.
A middle-aged man’s trip into the Irish countryside causes him to reflect on the dreams he gave up for his now-failing marriage.
In a small village in Ireland, a single mother of three copes with the loss of her husband and the increasingly hectic responsibilities of raising three daughters by seeking happiness above all else.
A woman in Ireland finally gets to be with her long-lost love, but only after he is tragically made a widower when his previous wife passes from an illness, leading the new wife to compare herself to the perfect, kind, dead one.
A widow in the Irish countryside needs someone to mow her overgrown fields. She hires her neighbor, who visits her house the following night, but a renegotiation of their agreement is not the only thing he's after.
A forty-year-old British man endeavors into his first relationship with a widowed woman.
A woman with minimal relationship experience deals with the aftermath of her choice between her first love and her sick father.
Three argumentative children staying at a resort for the summer attempt to work together to build a sandcastle.
After reading about two murders in the paper, a mother panics because her son has been missing since that morning.
A daughter recounts the story of how her parents came from Ireland to Massachusetts, and the regretful sentiments of each parent upon return visits to their hometowns.