Part 3, Chapter 21 Summary

Young Emily Vanderpool is again the subject of Jean Stafford's collection. In A Reading Problem, Emily is faced with the problem of locating a quiet and uninterruptible place to read. Each location is an experience in itself. Emily finds herself exposed to all manner of questions and situations upon sitting down to read in a public location. Finding the visiting area of the jail to be the most suitable location, because folks do not generally come by there to visit or stay to talk, Emily has discovered a solution to her reading problem. When the sheriff gets a rowdy group of prisoners in, he asks Emily to find another location for the day. Thus, she retreats to the riverside. Upon a rock and engrossed in the books of the Bible that she has to memorize to win a prize at Sunday...