A review by honeydewfelon
Delta Wedding by Eudora Welty
5.0
This book was pure delight to read (or listen to). Welty's lyrical prose comes to life in descriptions of the Delta, the trees and flowers, the food--oh, the food: Great Aunt Mashula's coconut cake with rosewater almond paste and fresh shaved coconut, cold fried chicken, and cheese straws, and pickled peaches. (Anne Romines has a fantastic article on "reading" and baking Welty's cakes, including Mashula's coconut.) Delta Wedding is a comedy--Welty wrote it with Austen's Pride & Prejudice in mind--but there are darker themes at play, deeper questions the story tugs at. Why do we cling to arbitrary traditions and class distinctions, and how does that play out? What does it mean to be a man? A wife? A mother?
Shelley's thoughts as she watches Troy assert dominance over a Black field hand, stood out to me as a surprisingly modern questioning of the role of masculinity: "Suppose, the behavior of all men were actually no more than this--imitation of other men. ... (Suppose her father imitated...oh, not he!) Then all men could not know any too well what they were doing. ... She felt again, but differently, that men were no better than little children. She ran across the grass toward the house. Women, she was glad to think, did know a little better--though everything they knew they would have to keep to themselves...oh forever!" (CN, 286) Interestingly, we only see into the minds of the women in this book. The narrative flows between little nine-year-old Laura, to Ellen, Shelley, Dabney, and Robbie and back. (And how well Welty is able to write children, as if her consciousness retained part of the wonder, confusion, and curiosity of childhood.)
I like Welty's longer stories and novels because she has room to sprawl out. Her language can stretch its legs, move in all directions. Delta Wedding will be a book that I return to.
Shelley's thoughts as she watches Troy assert dominance over a Black field hand, stood out to me as a surprisingly modern questioning of the role of masculinity: "Suppose, the behavior of all men were actually no more than this--imitation of other men. ... (Suppose her father imitated...oh, not he!) Then all men could not know any too well what they were doing. ... She felt again, but differently, that men were no better than little children. She ran across the grass toward the house. Women, she was glad to think, did know a little better--though everything they knew they would have to keep to themselves...oh forever!" (CN, 286) Interestingly, we only see into the minds of the women in this book. The narrative flows between little nine-year-old Laura, to Ellen, Shelley, Dabney, and Robbie and back. (And how well Welty is able to write children, as if her consciousness retained part of the wonder, confusion, and curiosity of childhood.)
I like Welty's longer stories and novels because she has room to sprawl out. Her language can stretch its legs, move in all directions. Delta Wedding will be a book that I return to.