It concerns a woman named Laurel, who travels to New Orleans to take care of her father, Judge McKelva, after he has surgery for a detached retina. Welty is a Mississippi native, having attended Jackson High School where she first engaged with her literary strengths. Eudora Welty, author of famous novel The Optimist’s Daughter, is know for her exquisite literary works. Laurel utilizes memory to overcome the grief she experiences, resulting from the loss of her family. This Study Guide consists of approximately 65 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of The Optimist's Daughter. udora Welty's novel, "The Optimist's Daughter," which first appeared in The New Yorker of March 15, 1969, is a miracle of compression, the kind of book, small in scope but profound in its implications, that rewards a lifetime of work. Laurel meets her father's young, new wife, a … Among the summaries and analysis available for The Optimist's Daughter, there are 1 Full Study Guide, 2 Short Summaries and 4 Book Reviews. The Optimist’s Daughter is a quiet novel. The first version of Eudora Welty's best-selling, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Optimist's Daughter, appeared as a short story in 1969 in the New Yorker. The Optimist's Daughter is the tale of Laurel McKelva, a middle-aged widower living in Chicago, called to New Orleans to be with her ailing father the Judge. The Optimist's Daughter Analysis. Depending on the study guide provider (SparkNotes, Shmoop, etc. In addition to the Storyform, you'll also find any additional analysis or media related to the story in question. The Optimist's Daughter is a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction-winning short novel by Eudora Welty.It was first published as a long story in the New Yorker in March 1969 and was subsequently revised and published in book form in 1972. It builds slowly, like the logs of a fire stacked with precision and lit with kindling, first on one side, then another, then another, until finally the coals in the center are hot enough to engulf the pile into a steady, even flame, perfect for cooking. You've reached the "hub" for any and all Dramatica analysis of The Optimist’s Daughter. After the Judge passes - one doesn't say dies in the South - Laurel and her step-mother, the younger and self-centered Wanda Fay, return to the family home in Mississippi to bury the Judge. The J.D William’s library at the University of Mississippi obtains several copies of the novel in English, French, Chinese, and Tybaniese which provides evidence of the popularity of this novel. It is memory that is the somnambulist. This detailed literature summary also contains Bibliography and a Free Quiz on The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty. A Form to Story. The Optimist’s Daughter is renown novel, arguably Welty’s best work— winning a Pulitzer Prize. ), the resources below will generally offer The Optimist's Daughter chapter summaries, quotes, and analysis of themes, characters, and symbols. Becky Mckelva was Judge Mckelva's wife before she died and had Laurel Mckelva with him. Plot Summary Part One. More Analysis → The Others. It will come back in its wounds from across the world, like … Analysis Home. As The Optimist's Daughter opens, Laurel McKelva Hand leaves Chicago and goes to New Orleans, where her father, Judge McKelva, is seeing an eye specialist to find out why his sight is failing. The Optimist's Daughter: Summary The major characters in The Optimist's Daughter are Judge McKelva, Becky Mckelva, Laurel Mckelva, Wanda Fay, Dr. Courtland, Miss Adele Courtland, Tish Bullock, Major Bullock, Miss Tennyson, and Miss Missouri. The Optimist’s Daughter is a novel written by Eudora Welty, and it is based on a girl named Laurel McKelva Hand and her struggles with grief. The Optimist's Daughter (Book) : Welty, Eudora.