The Ballad of the Sad Cafe ***

A haunting tale of a human triangle that culminates in an astonishing brawl, the the title novella introduces readers to Miss Amelia, a formidable southern woman whose café serves as the town’s gathering place. Among other fine works, the collection also includes “Wunderkind,” McCullers’s first published story written when she was only seventeen about a musical prodigy who suddenly realizes she will not go on to become a great pianist. The Ballad of the Sad Café is a brilliant study of love and longing from one of the South’s finest writers.