Top 10 Short Stories, The - The African American Women

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. A few pages can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere. In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted ‘Top Tens’ across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions – Why that story? Why that author? The theme itself will form the boundaries for our stories which range from well-known classics, newly told, to stories that modern times have overlooked but perfectly exemplify the theme. Throughout the volume our authors whether of instant recognition or new to you are all leviathans of literature. Some you may disagree with but they will get you thinking; about our choices and about those you would have made. If this volume takes you on a path to discover more of these miniature masterpieces then we have all gained something. Race and gender have denied many their rightful place in literary history. When we take time to look again we find remarkable jewels of astonishing merit that reveal just how many talented stories have emerged from the pens of these very special women. 01 - The Top 10 - The African American Women - An Introduction 2 - Two Offers by Frances W Harper 3 - The Wooing of Pastor Cummings by Georgia F Stewart 4 - The Stones of the Village by Alice Dunbar Nelson 5 - The Hoodoo by Martha Gruening 6 - The Octoroon's Revenge by Ruth D Todd 7 - Breaking the Color Line by Annie McCary 8 - The Quadroons by Lydia Maria Child 9 - The Preacher at Hill Station by Katherine Davis Chapman Tillman 10 - Talma by Pauline E Hopkins 11 - Aunt Lindy. A Story Founded on Real Life by Victoria Earle Matthews