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In this collection of the lives of three women in early twentieth century U.S.A. Stein is experimenting with the form of the novel. Her three protagonists are three women of humble means who are struggling with the challenges of life. There is good Anna, Melanctha the black girl of mixed heritage and no strong parental guidance, and gentle Lena, who, like Anna, is an immigrant from Germany. She writes as in an extended prose poem. Rhythm and repetition are important to the flow of the stories. I
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The middle and longest story was rough. And if you took out half the times they say the name of the main character, Melanctha, it would have been 25% shorter
"I knew you had been free in your ways, Melanctha, I knew you liked to get excitement the way I always hate to see the colored people take it. I didn't know, till I heard Jane Harden say it, you had done things so bad, Melanctha. When Jane Harden told me, I got very sick, Melanctha. I couldn't bear hardly, to think, perhaps I was just anothe ...more
"I knew you had been free in your ways, Melanctha, I knew you liked to get excitement the way I always hate to see the colored people take it. I didn't know, till I heard Jane Harden say it, you had done things so bad, Melanctha. When Jane Harden told me, I got very sick, Melanctha. I couldn't bear hardly, to think, perhaps I was just anothe ...more
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