Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    A Study Guide for Mary Lavin's "In the Middle of the Fields"
    A Study Guide for Mary Lavin's "In the Middle of the Fields"
    A Study Guide for Mary Lavin's "In the Middle of the Fields"
    Ebook31 pages21 minutes

    A Study Guide for Mary Lavin's "In the Middle of the Fields"

    By Gale and Cengage

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    A Study Guide for Mary Lavin's "In the Middle of the Fields," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Short Stories for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Short Stories for Students for all of your research needs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCengage Learning - Gale
    Release dateJul 15, 2016
    ISBN9781535825924
    A Study Guide for Mary Lavin's "In the Middle of the Fields"

    Read more from Gale

    Related to A Study Guide for Mary Lavin's "In the Middle of the Fields"

    Related ebooks

    Teaching Methods & Materials For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Summer Reading Guide

      Jan 2, 2022

      Summer Reading Guide
      6 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Apr 16, 2021

      Books
      4 min read

    • Article

      Great Read

      Mar 22, 2023

      Great Read
      8 min read

    • Article

      Mother Love

      Oct 5, 2023

      Mother Love
      7 min read

    • Article

      Great Read

      Aug 9, 2023

      Great Read
      7 min read

    • Article

      Great Read

      Aug 9, 2023

      Great Read
      7 min read

    • Article

      Mother Love

      Oct 5, 2023

      Mother Love
      7 min read

    • Article

      Wednesday New Release Day: Starring Ball, Orlean, and More

      Oct 13, 2021

      This week, we're looking at new titles from Bethany Ball, Susan Orlean, Margaret Verble, and Judith Freeman. The post Wednesday New Release Day: Starring Ball, Orlean, and More appeared first on The Millions.

      5 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Aug 20, 2021

      ‘Brood’ is such a multi-layered word: thinking deeply about something, a group of young animals, something to do with longed-for motherhood… and this beautiful, spare book is about all of those, and more. The protagonist (she’s never named) and her h

      4 min read

    • Article

      Riding The Rapids

      Apr 4, 2021

      Riding The Rapids
      3 min read

    • Article

      Great Read

      May 18, 2022

      Great Read
      5 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Aug 19, 2022

      Books
      4 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Sedaris, Adelmann, Cross-Smith, and More

      May 31, 2022

      Here’s a quick look at some notable books—new titles from David Sedaris, Maria Adelmann, Leesa Cross-Smith, and more—that are publishing this week. Want to learn more about upcoming titles? Then go read our most recent book preview. Want to help The

      5 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Keefe, Beagin, Welsh, and More

      Feb 26, 2019

      Here’s a quick look at some notable books—new titles from the likes of Patrick Radden Keefe, Jen Beagin, Irvine Welsh and more—that are publishing this week. Want to learn more about upcoming titles? Then go read our most recent book preview. Want to

      6 min read

    • Article

      Evenings with Clarice Lispector’s Newest Translator

      Apr 24, 2018

      1. “I’ve been working on the translation nonstop—it’s like I’m in a trance,” Magdalena Edwards told me in early March 2017, while preparing a gin and tonic at her house in Santa Monica. I walked there from my place—we live very close to one another.

      8 min read

    • Article

      Summer Reading Special

      Dec 28, 2023

      The distinctive depth of characterisation shines in this tightly knitted story of therapist Nick and retired solicitor wife Zoe, as they decide to view a deconsecrated Victorian church which is for sale. It’s “even more picturesque than it looked onl

      11 min read

    • Article

      Six Books to Read During a Stressful Family Holiday

      Dec 23, 2023

      Leo Tolstoy’s observation in Anna Karenina is famous to the point of becoming a cliché: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” But it wouldn’t have become a truism if it didn’t resonate—whether or not you agree

      5 min read

    • Article

      Summer Reading Special

      Dec 28, 2023

      Summer Reading Special
      11 min read

    • Article

      ‘You Are The One Spark In My Life’: Laurie Lee’s Loving Letters To Secret Daughter

      Jul 3, 2021

      Adoring, hidden letters exchanged between the Cider With Rosie author Laurie Lee and the painter Yasmin David, his secret daughter from an illicit affair with a prominent member of the Bloomsbury group, have been unearthed in lockdown. The emotional

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Black Spider

      Nov 28, 2019

      The Black Spider
      22 min read

    • Article

      A Granted Prayer

      Nov 9, 2020

      A Granted Prayer
      12 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Day, Würger, Owuor, and More

      Mar 12, 2019

      Hot off the presses this week, three debuts, two much-welcomed sophomore efforts, and a memoir drawing comparisons to 'H Is for Hawk.' The post Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Day, Würger, Owuor, and More appeared first on The Millions.

      5 min read

    • Article

      Giant Leaps

      Apr 24, 2022

      Giant Leaps
      2 min read

    • Article

      Subscribers’ News

      Sep 1, 2022

      ‘My daughter Annabelle was the inspiration for Bella,’ writes subscriber Anne John-Ligali. ‘Writing about characters that are the same age as my kids came with ease. Annabelle’s part in the cowriting process is brainstorming, she is the best brainsto

      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for A Study Guide for Mary Lavin's "In the Middle of the Fields"

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      A Study Guide for Mary Lavin's "In the Middle of the Fields" - Gale

      1

      In the Middle of the Fields

      Mary Lavin

      1998

      Introduction

      Mary Lavin's In the Middle of the Fields is often referred to as one of the author's widow stories, a group of stories that Lavin wrote in the late 1960s that reflect her own struggles with widowhood. Patricia K. Meszaros, in her article on Lavin for Critique, writes that her widowhood informs this work in her searching and compassionate portrayals of loneliness. In the Middle of the Fields is one of the most gripping stories in this group in its focus on the efforts of a recently widowed woman to resist the pull of the past in order to function in the present.

      The unnamed woman is determined to run the farm herself after her husband dies. During the day, she demonstrates an independent spirit that suggests she will ultimately succeed in her attempt to establish a new life and identity for herself. Yet in the evening, her fear of being alone makes her more vulnerable to her memories. An encounter one night with Bartley Crossen, a neighboring farmer whom she employs to cut her grass, highlights the tenuous balance she has struck between past and present and the sometimes overwhelming sense of loss she experiences. In this intimate and sensitive story, Lavin reveals the painful consequences of death on those left behind.

      Author

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1