The Optimist’s Daughter

The people of Mount Salus, Mississippi always felt good about Judge McKelva. He was a quiet, solid reassuring figure, just as a judge should be. Then, ten years after his first wife's death, he marries the frivolous young Wanda Fay. No-one can understand his action, not least his beloved daughter, Laurel, who finds it hard to accept the new bride. It is only some years later, when circumstance brings her back to her childhood home, that Laurel stirs old memories and comes to understand the peculiarities of her upbringing, and the true relationship between her parents and herself.Winner of the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.'Her last, most autobiographical, and finest novel.'  Independent'A gentle, tender work, bright with Welty's sharp humour and pioneer sense of place.'  Guardian