Willa Cather, The Garden Lodge
b'Sometimes early situations and relationships place us under such stress that we develop survival mechanisms and patterns of behavior that help us cope. Having survived and dealt with traumatic stress, we may discover that the special behavior that once served us has become an enduring pattern of how we deal with the world. Is it to our benefit or harm? Caroline Noble, Willa Cather\\u2019s central character in tonight\\u2019s story, \\u201cThe Garden Lodge,\\u201d is a woman endowed with many gifts. Her early survival meant turning away from her artistic talents to become a practical manager of family finances and affairs. How is she to deal with this now, when she is out of any of the dangers that faced her as a young woman? A beautiful and subtly observed portrait from Cather\\u2019s first collection of stories, The Troll Garden.'