The Getaway
and Other Stories
Copyright © 2002
by Dorothy Thomas
U of NE P
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Despite the rustic charm of their settings, the bitingly humorous
short stories of Dorothy Thomas (1898-1990) challenge stereotypes
of good-hearted country people-a harried woman tries to rid herself
of her impertinent son as he refuses to cooperate with her plans to
leave him and his father for another man; an old woman given a late
second chance to marry the man she loves loses out once more because
of her literal mindedness; a child's fib grows into a detailed fiction
leading one family to embarrassment and another to stretch beyond
their means; and two little girls with childish ingenuity foil their
step-mother's opportunity for a romantic fling when their father is
away.
In these twelve stories Thomas is most concerned with the flaws in
familial relationships, but her analysis never turns bitter. Thomas
used what she called "telling detail" to animate her characters as
they repeatedly trump their family's needs with their own desires,
and children are often the most prescient of all about the
self-destructive plans of the adults around them. — from the
jacket
Thomas's 12 stories themselves are elegantly composed ...
and make an earnest attempt to capture everyday life in Depression-era
heartland. — Kirkus Reviews
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The Home Place
Copyright © 1966
by Dorothy Thomas
U of NE P
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As a writer of the short, pungent tale, Miss Thomas can have but few
superiors. Her work is firm and disciplined. She makes the richest
possible use of such details of midwest agrarian life as she chooses
so economically. — Saturday Review of Literature
A realist of no mean
order, as Ma Jeeter's Girls showed, [Miss Thomas's] work has humor,
warmth, a kind of homely solidity. — New York Times Book Review
Miss Thomas tells the story with keen insight and sympathetic
understanding, supplementing her picture with an authentic
background and an eye for detail which vivify the whole narrative.
— Christian Science Monitor
It is only when the story is finished
that the reader realizes he has actually been living for a year in
a very small house with an extremely large and united family — and
that his understanding has been greatly enriched by the experience.
— Boston Transcript
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Ma Jeeter's Girls
Copyright © 1986
by Dorothy Thomas
U of NE P
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Ma Jeeter, a sensible
and hearty farm woman, tells the stories of the courtships of five
daughters to the schoolteacher who boards with her. Ella, Bell,
Lena, Laura, and Lizzie all got bitten and burdened early, thanks
to the bumblebee of love. Now her youngest, Evie, is coming home
to be married, and everything is as it should be. The Jeeters are
based loosely on a funny, goodhearted family that Dorothy Thomas
lived with in her schoolteaching days. HL Mencken, the famed
editor, author, and critic, encouraged her to write these vignettes
about them. Original pen and ink drawings by the author have been
added to this edition. — from the jacket
Full of pawky observation and robustious humor. The central character,
Ma Jeeter of the Nebraska wheat country, stands out brilliantly in the
round, and there is quite as much reality in her six unfortunate
daughters, all of whom save one get to the altar only a lap or two
ahead of the midwife. — American Mercury
Miss Thomas's Ma Jeeter is
a never failing delight [in] her gusto, humor, and native good
sense. — New Republic
Miss Thomas tells her story with charming
humor and real understanding. ... Ma Jeeter and each one of the
girls become lovable and live, in her vivid phrases, without any
appearance of exaggeration. — New York Times
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What the Critics Say
Bibliography
