Narrative point of view is the most important technical aspect of the novel.

Edna Earle is the teller, and an unidentified guest at the Beulah Hotel — Edna Earle is the proprietor — is the listener. Her listener learns a great deal about the Ponder family, such unforgettable facts as that Edna Earle's grandmother was the "second-to-longest living Sunday School teacher" ever to serve in her congregation, and that Edna Earle would rather sit down and read a good set of directions than any piece of fiction someone might try to "wish off" on her.

In this book, as in many of her stories, Welty shows the remarkable ear and eye for southern speech and manners that so distinguish her among writers. She seems almost instinctively to discern the speech habits, mannerisms, and style that both characterize and typify the inhabitants of her fictional world. Furthermore, with almost...