The Garden Party (Katherine Mansfield) — graded reader B1–B2

The Garden Party

A graded reader · Katherine Mansfield · B1–B2

Warm-up

• Do you enjoy parties? What's the best party you've ever been to?

• Have you ever helped to organise a big event? How did it go?

• How much does it matter to you what you wear to a special occasion?

• When did you first feel like an adult? What happened?

The author and the book

Katherine Mansfield (1888–1923)

Katherine Mansfield was born Kathleen Beauchamp in 1888 in Wellington, New Zealand. Her family was rich: her father later became chairman of the Bank of New Zealand. At nineteen, she left New Zealand for London, and she settled in England.

She wrote short stories, not novels, and other writers admired them enormously. After her death, Virginia Woolf wrote in her diary that Mansfield's was "the only writing I have ever been jealous of".

In 1917, she learned that she had tuberculosis. She died near Fontainebleau, in France, in January 1923. She was only 34.

"The Garden Party" first appeared in February 1922, in three parts, in the Westminster Gazette, and later that year in her book The Garden Party and Other Stories. The big house in the story is based on her childhood home in Wellington. In March 1907, her mother gave a real garden party there, on a day when a poor neighbour was killed in a street accident.

Key words

marquee

carter

cottage

a very large tent, put up outside for a party or a wedding

a man whose job is to drive a horse and cart, carrying goods

a small, simple house

class

sympathetic

a group in society, decided by money, family and the work people do

showing that you understand someone's sadness and care about it

Let's talk

• Mansfield grew up rich, far from London. Why might a writer return to her childhood in a story?

• In your country, do people from different classes mix? Where do they meet, and where not?

• Is it ever wrong to have fun while other people are suffering nearby?

• The story is called "The Garden Party". What could spoil a perfect party?

PART 1 OF 4

A perfect day

PART 1 · A PERFECT DAY

And after all, the weather was perfect. They could not have had a better day for a garden party if they had ordered it. No wind, warm, and not a cloud in the sky. And the roses! Hundreds of them had come out in a single night.

Breakfast was not yet over when the men came to put up the marquee.

"Where do you want the marquee, mother?"

"My dear child, don't ask me. This year I'm leaving everything to you children. Treat me as an honoured guest."

But Meg had just washed her hair, and Jose wasn't dressed.

"You'll have to go, Laura. You're the artistic one."

Away Laura flew, still holding her piece of bread-and-butter.

Four men with big tool bags stood on the garden path. They looked impressive. She went red and tried to look serious.

"Good morning," she said, copying her mother's voice. But it sounded so false that she was ashamed, and she stammered like a little girl. "Oh — er — have you come — is it about the marquee?"

"That's right, miss," said the tallest man, a thin, freckled fellow, and he smiled down at her. "That's about it."

His smile was so easy, so friendly, that Laura felt better. What nice eyes he had, small, but such a dark blue! How very nice workmen were!

Another man, pale, with dark, tired eyes, looked at the tennis court. "Going to have a band, are you?"

PART 1 · A PERFECT DAY

"Only a very small band," said Laura gently. Perhaps he wouldn't mind so much if the band was small.

Then the tall man bent down, picked a little piece of lavender and smelled it. When Laura saw that, she was amazed. How many men that she knew would do such a thing? Why couldn't she have workmen for her friends, instead of the silly boys she danced with? It was all the fault, she decided, of these stupid class differences. Well, she didn't feel them. Not a bit. Just to show the tall man how much at home she felt, Laura took a big bite of her bread-and-butter. She felt just like a working girl.

Later, in the drawing room, Jose tried the piano, in case someone asked her to sing. "This Life is Weary," she sang sadly.

"A Tear — a Sigh... And then... Good-bye!" But at the word "Good-bye", her face broke into a brilliant smile. "Aren't I in good voice, mummy?"

Then the cream puffs arrived from Godber's, the famous shop. Laura and Jose were far too grown-up to care about such things. All the same, two minutes later they were both licking cream off their fingers.

"Let's go into the garden by the back way," said Laura. "I want to see the men. They're such awfully nice men."

But the back door was blocked by the cook, Sadie the maid, Hans and Godber's man.

Something had happened.

Book club

PART 1 · A PERFECT DAY

1. Why was Laura sent to talk to the workmen?

2. What did the tall workman do that surprised Laura?

3. What did Laura decide about class, and how did she try to show it?

4. Does Laura really understand the workmen's lives? Why or why not?

5. Can people from very different backgrounds be real friends?

6. Something has happened at the back door. What do you think it is?

PART 2 OF 4

A man killed

PART 2 · A MAN KILLED

"There's been a horrible accident," said the cook. "A man killed."

"A man killed! Where?"

"Know those little cottages just below here, miss?" said Godber's man. "Well, there's a young chap living there, name of Scott, a carter. His horse was frightened by a traction engine this morning, and he was thrown out on the back of his head. Killed."

"Dead!"

"Dead when they picked him up," said Godber's man, enjoying it. "He's left a wife and five little ones."

Laura pulled Jose out of the kitchen. "Jose!" she said, horrified. "How are we going to stop everything?"

"Stop everything, Laura! What do you mean?"

"Stop the garden party, of course."

"My dear Laura, don't be so absurd. Of course we can't. Nobody expects us to."

"But we can't possibly have a garden party with a man dead just outside the front gate."

That was too much. The cottages were at the bottom of the hill, with a broad road between. They were small, mean houses, painted chocolate brown. Even their smoke looked poor: little rags of smoke, not the great silver clouds from the Sheridans' chimneys.

"Think what the band will sound like to that poor woman," said Laura.

Jose's eyes hardened. "You won't bring a drunken workman back to life by being sentimental," she said softly.

"Drunk! Who said he was drunk?" Laura turned on her furiously. "I'm going straight up to tell mother."

"Do, dear," said Jose sweetly.

PART 2 · A MAN KILLED

Mrs Sheridan was trying on a new hat.

"Mother, a man's been killed."

"Not in the garden?"

"No, no!"

"Oh, what a fright you gave me!"

Laura told her the whole dreadful story. "Of course we can't have our party, can we? They'd hear us, mother. They're nearly neighbours!"

Her mother seemed amused. "But, my dear child, use your common sense. If someone had died there normally, we'd still be having our party, wouldn't we?"

Laura had to say yes, but it felt all wrong. "Mother, isn't it terribly heartless of us?"

"Darling!" Her mother put the new hat on Laura's head. "The hat is yours. I have never seen you look such a picture. Look at yourself!" And she held up a mirror.

"But, mother—" Laura couldn't look.

Mrs Sheridan lost patience. "You are being very absurd, Laura," she said coldly. "People like that don't expect sacrifices from us. And it's not very sympathetic to spoil everybody's enjoyment as you're doing now."

"I don't understand," said Laura, and she went to her own room. There, in the mirror, she saw a charming girl in a black hat with gold daisies and a long velvet ribbon. She had never imagined she could look like that. Is mother right? she thought. And now she hoped her mother was right.

For a moment, she saw that poor woman and her children again. But it all seemed unreal, like a picture in the newspaper.

I'll remember it again after the party's over, she decided. And somehow that seemed quite the best plan...

Book club

PART 2 · A MAN KILLED

1. How did the carter die, and who did he leave behind?

2. How did Jose and her mother react to Laura's idea?

3. What made Laura start to change her mind?

4. Who is right: Laura, or her mother and Jose? Why?

5. Have you ever pushed a difficult thought away until "later"? What happened?

6. Will Laura enjoy the party? Do you think she will remember the dead man?

PART 3 OF 4

The basket

PART 3 · THE BASKET

By half past two, everything was ready. The band, in green coats, sat in a corner of the tennis court. Then Laurie, Laura's brother, came home, and she followed him into the hall. If Laurie agreed with the others, then it would be all right.

"Laurie!"

"My word, Laura! You look stunning. What an absolutely wonderful hat!"

Laura said faintly, "Is it?" and smiled up at him, and didn't tell him after all.

Soon the guests came in crowds. Everywhere, couples walked on the lawn, bending to the flowers, laughing. They were like bright birds that had landed in the Sheridans' garden for one afternoon.

"Darling Laura, how well you look!"

And Laura, glowing, answered softly, "Won't you have an ice? The passion-fruit ices really are rather special."

And the perfect afternoon slowly ripened, slowly faded, slowly its petals closed.

When the last guest had gone, the family sat down in the empty marquee.

"I suppose you didn't hear about a terrible accident today?" said Mr Sheridan.

"My dear," said Mrs Sheridan, "we did. It nearly ruined the party. Laura wanted us to put it off."

"It was a horrible thing, all the same," said her father. "The chap was married too. Lived just below in the lane, and leaves a wife and half a dozen kids, they say."

An awkward silence fell. Then Mrs Sheridan looked at the table. All those sandwiches, cakes and cream puffs, all going to be wasted.

PART 3 · THE BASKET

She had one of her brilliant ideas.

"I know. Let's make up a basket. Let's send that poor creature some of this perfectly good food. It will be the greatest treat for the children. Laura, get me the big basket!"

"But, mother, do you really think it's a good idea?"

Again, how strange, Laura seemed to be different from them all. To take scraps from their party. Would the poor woman really like that?

"Of course! What's the matter with you today? An hour or two ago you wanted us to be sympathetic, and now—"

So Laura ran for the basket, and her mother filled it high.

"Take it yourself, darling. Run down just as you are. And, Laura—" Her mother followed her out. "Don't on any account—"

"What, mother?"

No, better not put such ideas into the child's head! "Nothing! Run along."

It was getting dark as Laura shut the garden gates. Here she was, going down the hill to a place where a man lay dead, and she couldn't feel it. Kisses, voices, laughter, the smell of cut grass were somehow inside her. There was no room for anything else.

Then the lane began, smoky and dark. Women in shawls hurried by. Children played in the doorways. How her dress shone! And the big hat — if only it was another hat! Were the people looking at her? They must be. It was a mistake to come.

Should she go back, even now?

Book club

PART 3 · THE BASKET

1. Why didn't Laura tell Laurie about the accident in the end?

2. What was Mrs Sheridan's "brilliant idea" after the party?

3. How did Laura feel as she walked down into the lane?

4. Is the basket a kind gift, or something else? What do you think?

5. What do you think Mrs Sheridan almost told Laura not to do?

6. Should Laura go back? What will she find at the house?

PART 4 OF 4

Forgive my hat

PART 4 · FORGIVE MY HAT

No, it was too late. This was the house. A dark group of people outside went quiet as Laura came near, and moved apart, as if they had known she was coming.

"Is this Mrs Scott's house?" she asked a woman, and the woman, smiling strangely, said, "It is, my lass."

I'll just leave the basket and go, she decided.

The door opened. A little woman in black stood in the gloom.

"Are you Mrs Scott?" But the woman only said, "Walk in, please, miss," and Laura was shut in the passage.

"No," said Laura, "I don't want to come in. I only want to leave this basket. Mother sent—"

"Step this way, please, miss," said the little woman, and Laura followed her into a poor, low kitchen, lit by a smoky lamp. A woman was sitting by the fire.

"Em," said the little woman. "It's a young lady." She turned to Laura. "I'm 'er sister, miss. You'll excuse 'er, won't you?"

Then the woman at the fire turned round. Her face, red and swollen, looked terrible. She didn't seem to understand why this stranger was standing in her kitchen with a basket. And her poor face crumpled again.

Laura only wanted to get out. A door opened, and she walked straight into the bedroom, where the dead man was lying.

"You'd like a look at 'im, wouldn't you?" said Em's sister, and gently she drew down the sheet. "Don't be afraid, my lass. 'E looks a picture.

PART 4 · FORGIVE MY HAT

There's nothing to show. Come along, my dear."

Laura came.

There lay a young man, fast asleep, sleeping so deeply that he was far, far away from them both. So distant, so peaceful. He was dreaming. Never wake him up again. What did garden parties and baskets and lace dresses matter to him? He was far from all those things. He was wonderful, beautiful. While they were laughing and while the band was playing, this marvel had come to the lane. Happy... happy... All is well, said that sleeping face. This is just as it should be. I am content.

But all the same, you had to cry, and she couldn't leave the room without saying something to him. Laura gave a loud, childish sob.

"Forgive my hat," she said.

She found her way out, past all those dark people. At the corner of the lane she met Laurie.

"Is that you, Laura?"

"Yes."

"Mother was getting anxious. Was it all right?"

"Yes, quite. Oh, Laurie!" She took his arm and pressed close to him.

"I say, you're not crying, are you?"

Laura shook her head. She was.

Laurie put his arm round her shoulder. "Don't cry," he said in his warm, loving voice. "Was it awful?"

"No," sobbed Laura. "It was simply marvellous. But Laurie—" She stopped, she looked at her brother. "Isn't life," she stammered, "isn't life—" But what life was she couldn't explain. No matter. He quite understood.

"Isn't it, darling?" said Laurie.

Book club

PART 4 · FORGIVE MY HAT

1. What did Laura plan to do at the house, and what happened instead?

2. How did Mrs Scott react when she saw Laura?

3. How did the dead man look to Laura?

4. Why do you think Laura said "Forgive my hat"?

5. What was Laura trying to say about life? Did Laurie really understand?

Big questions

1

How has Laura changed between the morning and the evening?

2

"People like that don't expect sacrifices from us." What does this tell us about Mrs Sheridan?

3

Laura calls the dead man "wonderful" and "beautiful". Is that a strange reaction? Why?

4

Should the Sheridans have stopped the party? What would you have done?

5

Mansfield never finishes Laura's sentence. How would you finish it: "Isn't life..."?

6

Are the lines between rich and poor still as clear today? Where do you see them?

TEACHER'S REFERENCE · SKIP OR DELETE BEFORE CLASS

Answer key

Part 1 · 1 Meg had just washed her hair, Jose wasn't dressed, and Laura was "the artistic one".

Part 1 · 2 He picked a piece of lavender and smelled it.

Part 1 · 3 She decided class differences were stupid and that she didn't feel them. To show it, she took a big bite of her bread-and-butter in front of the men.

Part 2 · 1 His horse was frightened by a traction engine, and he was thrown out on the back of his head. He left a wife and five little children.

Part 2 · 2 Jose said it was absurd and called the man a drunken workman. Her mother was amused at first, then lost patience and said Laura was spoiling everybody's enjoyment.

Part 2 · 3 Her mother put the new hat on her head, and Laura saw how lovely she looked in the mirror.

Part 3 · 1 He told her she looked stunning and admired her hat, and she just smiled.

Part 3 · 2 To send the poor widow a basket of the leftover food from the party.

Part 3 · 3 Nervous and out of place: her dress shone, she wished she had another hat, and she felt people were looking at her. She thought it was a mistake to come.

Part 4 · 1 She planned to leave the basket and go, but Mrs Scott's sister brought her inside, into the kitchen and then to the dead man's room.

Part 4 · 2 She didn't seem to understand why a stranger was there with a basket, and she started crying again.

Part 4 · 3 Like a young man fast asleep: peaceful, far away, wonderful and beautiful.