Carson McCullers has generally been viewed as a novelist who produced a small but important body of work in the Southern gothic genre. Recent critics have focused on a variety of subtle themes in her works, ranging from examinations of gender, identity, and race to psychological sketches. This new approach and a continuing interest in adapting her works for motion pictures has brought McCullers's plays back into the literary spotlight. The Member of the Wedding: A Play (1950) is her major dramatic success both in terms of its Broadway run and its critical reception, while her second play, The Square Root of Wonderful (1957), is notable not for its dramatic value but because of the insights it offers about McCullers's personal life. Her style of playwriting was innovative, and McCullers has ultimately been recognized as an important American playwright.

Lula Carson Smith was born on 19 February 1917, the oldest of Lamar...