Editions

The Member of the Wedding

  • Imprint: Penguin Classics

  • ISBN: 9780141182827

  • Length: 224  Pages

  • Dimensions: 198mm x 14mm x 129mm

  • Weight: 179g

  • RRP: £8.99

The Member of the Wedding

'Rarely has emotional turbulence been so delicately conveyed' The New York Times

With delicacy of perception and memory, humour and pathos, Carson McCullers spreads before us the three phases of a weekend crisis in the life of a motherless twelve-year-old girl. Within the span of a few hours, the irresistible, hoydenish Frankie passionately plays out her fantasies at her elder brother's wedding. Through a perilous skylight we look into the mind of a child torn between her yearning to belong and the urge to run away.

  • Imprint: Penguin Classics

  • ISBN: 9780141182827

  • Length: 224  Pages

  • Dimensions: 198mm x 14mm x 129mm

  • Weight: 179g

  • RRP: £8.99

Reviews

  • Entirely winning ... A probing novel about a youngster with an unlimited gift for creating fantasies in a Southern town ... Rarely has emotional turbulence been so delicately conveyed

    The New York Times

  • The greatest prose writer that the South produced ... She has examined the heart of man with an understanding that no other writer can hope to surpass

    Tennessee Williams

  • Of all the Southern writers, she is the most apt to endure

    Gore Vidal

More in this Series

View all View all
View all View all

About the Author

Carson McCullers

Carson McCullers was born in 1917. She is the critically acclaimed author of several popular novels in the 1940s and '50s, including The Member of the Wedding (1946). Her novels frequently depicted life in small towns of the southeastern United States and were marked by themes of loneliness and spiritual isolation. McCullers suffered from ill health most of her adult life, including a series of strokes that began when she was in her 20s; she died at the age of 50. The Member of the Wedding was dramatized for the stage in the 1950s and filmed in 1952 and 1997. Other films based on her books are Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967, with Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando), The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1968, starring Alan Arkin) and The Ballad of the Sad Café (1991).

Carson McCullers

Read more

/content/dam/prh/articles/adults/2020/july/reading-remediesmain-image-1800x1200.jpg

Features

Reading Remedy: books to help cope with the heat

Tried ice packs, cold drinks and hunkering down in the shade? Here are some books to help with the heat.
/content/dam/prh/articles/adults/2020/november/Cheers-books-Article-Card-1800x1200.jpg

Features

Editor's picks: the best books to transport you

A selection of reads that will take you to different lands and time periods, all from the comfort of your favourite reading spot.
/content/dam/prh/articles/adults/2019/november/Article Card_Atwood_Birthday.jpg

Features

Atwood at 80: How her work shaped the lives of authors and activists

As Margaret Atwood turns 80, we asked some of our favourite writers and activists about how they discovered her work. They told us how her writing influenced them and which of her books are closest to their hearts.

Our Use of Cookies

We use cookies on this site to enable certain parts of the site to function and to collect information about your use of the site so that we can improve our visitors’ experience.

For more on our cookies and changing your settings click here

Strictly Necessary

Strictly Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions. See More.

Analytics

Analytics cookies help us to improve our website by collecting and reporting information on how you use it. These cookies may be set by us or by third-party providers whose services we have added to our pages. See More.

Preferences & Features

Preference and Feature cookies allow our website to remember choices you make, such as your language preferences and any customisations you make to pages on our website during your visit. See More.

Targeting / Advertising

Targeting cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you and your interests. They perform functions like preventing the same content from reappearing, ensuring ads are displayed and, in some cases, selecting content based on your interests. See More.