Structure

The short story “Her Share of Sorrow” by Tessa Hadley follows a ten-year-old girl named Ruby as her newly-found passion – literature – comes to life. The story is structured in three main parts: Ruby’s life before the holiday in France, her life during the holiday and her life after returning home.

The short story contains the five elements which are typical for a traditional plot structure: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution.

Title

The title of the short story is quite intriguing and simply announces that the main character is going to be either a girl or a woman. Indeed, the title can be associated with Ruby, who has her own “share of sorrow” once she realises that her efforts of writing a novel are mocked and ridiculed by her family.

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Beginning

The exposition of the short story is quite unusual, as the author does not initially offer readers information about the main character – Ruby – but about her mother; it becomes clear, then, that Dalia will play an important role in the story:

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Middle

The rising action presents the family’s holiday in a house in Southern France. After initially being worried about Ruby not enjoying any activity, Dalia soon discovers that her daughter has begun reading: "Behind the locked door, Ruby was already three-quarters of the way through East Lynne. This was only one volume in a promisingly tall pile of Treasury Classics (…)" (ll. 53-54)

After spending her entire holiday reading 19th-century novels, upon her return home, Ruby decides to write a novel of her own.

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Ending

The falling action of the short story is quite short: Ruby’s parents and brother apologise and Ruby decides half-heartedly to finish the story anyway. It is interesting to note that the resolution of the short story coincides with the resolution of Ruby’s novel:

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