May Sarton

  • 34

    Catalog books

  • 41

    Works

  • 1984 to 2015

    Strongest span

Who This Author Is

May Sarton’s work here traces a late-career restlessness and reflective clarity, moving between poetry, novels, and prose that examine solitude, aging, and intimate relationships. These books—poems spanning decades, novels like Faithful Are the Wounds and Shadow of a Man, and lyrical shorter works—favor unvarnished emotional honesty and careful observation.

Recurring themes include memory, the interior life of women, and the uses of language to name small but stubborn truths. Collected Poems 1930–1993 and Coming into Eighty reveal a persistent poetic voice; shorter pieces such as The Poet and the Donkey and A Shower of Summer Days balance tenderness with a clear-eyed appraisement of time and loss.

Best Place To Start

A Reckoning: A Novel

W W Norton & Co Inc • 1997 • standard commitment

It stands out because it asks for less time than many of the longer volumes on this page.

Author At A Glance

Best known for: Poetry collections • Personal, reflective verse • Novels with intimate character study

Genres and themes: Lyric poetry • Aging and memory • Interior life and relationships

Who this author is best for: For readers who prefer contemplative, emotionally honest writing that examines daily life, solitude, and the passage of time.

Start with a recent poetry collection to sample range, then try a novel if you want longer narratives and character focus.

Top Books To Start With

  1. A Reckoning: A Novel

    W W Norton & Co Inc • 1997 • standard commitment

    UPB note: one of the most common used-copy publishers for this author • year signal: 1997 • 200 pages.

  2. Faithful Are the Wounds: A Novel

    W W Norton & Co Inc • 1997 • standard commitment

    It helps anchor a specific period of this author’s publishing run instead of blending into the undated shelf clutter.

  3. Selected Poems of May Sarton

    W W Norton & Co Inc • 1997 • standard commitment

    UPB note: one of the most common used-copy publishers for this author • year signal: 1997 • 208 pages.

  4. Plant Dreaming Deep

    W W Norton & Co Inc • 1996 • standard commitment

    UPB note: one of the most common used-copy publishers for this author • year signal: 1996 • 192 pages.

  5. Shadow of a Man

    W W Norton & Co Inc • 1996 • standard commitment

    UPB note: one of the most common used-copy publishers for this author • year signal: 1996 • 312 pages.

  6. The Poet and the Donkey

    W W Norton & Co Inc • 1996 • quick commitment

    UPB note: one of the most common used-copy publishers for this author • year signal: 1996 • 126 pages.

  7. A Shower of Summer Days

    W W Norton & Co Inc • 1995 • standard commitment

    UPB note: one of the most common used-copy publishers for this author • year signal: 1995 • 256 pages.

  8. I Knew a Phoenix: Sketches for an Autobiography

    W W Norton & Co Inc • 1995 • standard commitment

    UPB note: one of the most common used-copy publishers for this author • year signal: 1995 • 300 pages.

  9. Crucial Conversations

    W W Norton & Co Inc • 1994 • quick commitment

    UPB note: one of the most common used-copy publishers for this author • year signal: 1994 • 156 pages.

  10. At Seventy

    W W Norton & Co Inc • 1993 • standard commitment

    UPB note: one of the most common used-copy publishers for this author • year signal: 1993 • 336 pages.

How The Picks Compare

  • A Reckoning: A Novel is the easier short commitment, while Faithful Are the Wounds: A Novel asks for more reading time up front.

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