The title story of Gilchrist's second collection of short fiction, "Victory Over Japan" (1984) is a first-person narrative that chronicles the adventures of a young girl named Rhoda Manning during the final days of World War II. This is the first of three stories in the "Rhoda" section of the book; the other two stories deal with Rhoda as a willful adolescent determined to lose her virginity and as a thirty-four year-old divorcee adjusting to declining fortunes.

Gilchrist's work is praised for its "deceptively simple" style, for the richness and eccentricity of her Southern female characters, and for the engaging quality of her prose. The story challenges gender stereotypes and explores the dynamics of power and victimization.