Stranger Within the Gates: A Collection of Short Stories

First published in 1912, this is a collection of witty, sharply observed short stories which engage with feminism, the "new women" of the 1890s, alongside narratives which explore the personal and emotional conflict experienced by people torn between multiple ethnicities or between different social and national groups. Bertha Thomas lightly but deftly sketches her characters with a sharp eye for humorous and satirical detail. Her stories are by turns Gothic, romantic, humorous, fantastic, and satirical, but always engagingly written.