Eudora Welty 
Delta Wedding and The Ponder Heart 

These two classic novels by the Pulitzer Prize winning author depict 20th century Southern life “with infinite finesse” (The Christian Science Monitor).   Set in 1923, Eudora Welty’s first novel, The Delta Wedding, centers around the Fairchild family and their preparations for a wedding at their Mississippi plantation. Drama leads to drama, and the result is a surprising portrait of a large and clamorous Southern family that is “nothing short of riotous” (The New Yorker).   In The Ponder Heart, Daniel Ponder of Clay County, Mississippi, is giving away family heirlooms, a watch, and so far, at least one family business. His niece, Edna Earle, has a solution to save the family fortune from Daniel’s mortifying philanthropy: As much as she loves her Uncle Daniel, she’s decided to have him institutionalized in this “wonderful tragicomedy” (The New York Times).