Sparks

Fifty years after her death in 1963, Jean Stewart McLean's poems, short stories, and one-act plays are published for the first time, in a definitive collection, edited and with extensive photos and commentary by her son, Don McLean. The author was born in 1917 in Rahway, N.J., growing up in the rectory of the church where her father was minister. Two of the plays in this book are set in small-town parishes. She wrote poetry as a girl, and at New Jersey College for Women studied literature and edited the literary magazine. Upon graduation, she was secretary to the editor of the Book of the Month Club in New York City, reveling in the literary atmosphere. She chose domestic life after marriage, settling in Princeton, N.J., and continued writing, primarily short stories and one-act plays. One of her stories was co-authored with her mentor, Dorothy Thomas. Her work was unpublished during her short lifetime, making the appearance of this collection particularly meaningful.