The Life of Nancy

The Life of Nancy (1895) is a collection of eleven short stories by Sarah Orne Jewett. Following in the tradition of "local colour" fiction, Jewett's stories are defined by their detailed descriptions of all aspects of everyday life in the country locales and fishing-towns in which the stories are set. Despite the lack of relation between the characters in each story, a common theme runs through the collection: nostalgia for the past and/or a need for revival of tradition.