Gail Godwin is mainly known for her novels, in which she expertly uses her autobiographical knowledge of writing and teaching to shine a light on modern life. Her short stories share similar themes, of family, marriage and religion. However, while reading her novels gives the audience a sense of reality, her short stories often try to break conventions of reality and discuss concepts from a more metaphysical standpoint.
Throughout her career, Gail Godwin has written two collections of short stories, with some others published independently. Throughout these, the above mentioned concept of breaking the boundaries of reality is evident. The strongest aspect of this can be found in stories like "Dream Children" that discusses dreams and reality as equality important and real. However, her short stories go further by exploring the human psyche. Her stories include discussions of human perception, where the same concept is viewed differently from two angles, like in "My lover, his summer vacation". Similarly, the perception of time is questioned, as human intelligence allows us to think and act outside of it.
While Gail Godwin's short stories rely on similar themes than her more successful novels, they take it a little further. She uses her characters as vessels through which perception of time, reality or even religion can be discussed.
