Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Identifier

1048

Date

2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts

Major

Creative Writing

Committee Chair

Cary Holladay

Committee Member

Leslie Graff

Committee Member

Tim Johnston

Abstract

This collection's first section of interrelated short stories is centered on the lives of those working in a clothing store in a coastal New Jersey town. Hungarian emigre Ili manages the Lucky Lady Boutique on the Seaside Park boardwalk. Her abusive husband Pista owns the store and the arcade next door. Ili strives to make a life for herself free from Pista's cruelty. Angie, Ili's young salesgirl, attempts to support her ill mother after her father's death, but she struggles with the financial and care-giving responsibilities this entails. The stories in the second section of this collection explore the troubled relationships within one family. Judy becomes unexpectedly pregnant in college, and her decision to start a family with her boyfriend, despite her ambivalence, results in heartache years later, when their marriage fails. She is unwilling to accept support from her sister Michelle because she resents the history of their parents coddling her sister. The sisters' mutual resentment is a legacy to Judy's daughter Sarah and tensions between the three women are inevitable.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to the local University of Memphis Electronic Theses & dissertation (ETD) Repository.

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