The Garden Party is a short story by Katherine Mansfield, first published in 1922 and the title story of her collection The Garden Party and Other Stories. A wealthy girl's joy in a party is shaken by the news of a poor neighbour's death.
The story
The Sheridans, a well-off family in Wellington, are preparing a garden party on a perfect summer day. Laura, the youngest daughter, takes charge of the workmen putting up the marquee and delights in the flowers and the cream puffs.
Then news comes that a young carter, Scott, has been killed in an accident in the poor cottages below the house. Laura wants to cancel the party; her family refuses. Afterwards she takes a basket of leftovers to the widow and sees the dead man.
Childhood memories
The story draws on Mansfield's childhood in Wellington. The house at Tinakori Road where the Beauchamps lived and a real garden party given by her mother in 1907 inspired the setting.
Like her other New Zealand stories, Prelude and At the Bay, it uses an indirect style that follows the thoughts of the characters closely.
Publication
The story appeared in The Saturday Westminster Gazette in February 1922 and gave its title to Mansfield's last collection published in her lifetime, in February 1922.
It is one of the most anthologised short stories in English, studied for its treatment of class and of the meeting of life and death.
Anecdotes
Laura's hat
Laura goes to the house of mourning still wearing the beautiful hat she wore for the party, and feels ashamed of it, a detail that sums up the contrast of the story.
Tinakori Road
Mansfield's birthplace, at 25 Tinakori Road in Wellington, is now a museum, the Katherine Mansfield House & Garden. The family later lived further along the same street, in the larger house that inspired the story.
Frequently asked questions
What is The Garden Party about?
A young woman from a rich family discovers death and social inequality on the day of her family's garden party.
Where is the story set?
In Wellington, New Zealand, in a house inspired by Mansfield's childhood home.
When was The Garden Party published?
In 1922, in a magazine and then in Mansfield's collection The Garden Party and Other Stories.