Reena and Other Stories

Book excerpt: Â Â Â This collection of Paule Marshall's short works illustrates the growth of a remarkable writer. For the first time these stories, long out of print or difficult to obtain, appear together in a single volume. Introducing the volume is Marshall's much acclaimed autobiographical essay, "From the Poets in the Kitchen" from the New York Times Book Review's series called "The Making of a Writer." This collection included newly written autobiographical headnotes to each story and "Merle," a novella excerpted from Marshall's 1969 novel, The Chosen Place, The Timeless People , and extensively reshaped and rewritten for this collection. It stands as an independent story about one of the most memorable women in contemporary fiction.