The King of Folly Island

The King of Folly Island, 1888, a collection of eight stories, features two works with strong depictions of women: “Miss Tempy’s Watchers,” a reflection on friendship that is one of Jewett’s most anthologized stories; and “The Courting of Sister Wisby,” whose Mrs. Goodsoe represents a recurring Jewett theme of the maternal healer. Both stories touch upon spiritualism, a subject of interest to Jewett.