Explore "Lone Women" by Victor LaValle on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
"I admire your mother."
No response from the child. Mrs. Reed didn't mind. She knew she could be intimidating. How many grown men came to her with their heads bowed? Most. She liked to believe it wasn't simply her wealth that steered their eyes toward the floor. The Busy Bees often addressed her in the same manner, no matter how many times she urged them to treat her like a peer, like a friend. As a woman of authority, she felt there was a particular loneliness to her position. Her husband never seemed to suffer from it. He had more friends than fingers and toes. McNamara and Marlow might as well be appendages. Had she started the weekly gatherings at the opera house simply to enjoy the company of others? Why bother with questions whose answers would only sting?