• The Garden Party, is a short story by Katherine Mansfield, published as the title story in The Garden Party, and Other Stories (1922).- The story centres on Laura Sheridan’s response to the accidental death of a neighbourhood workman; Laura suggests that, out of respect for the man’s family, Laura’s family cancel their lavish garden party. - Dismissing Laura’s feelings as inappropriate and overwrought, her family proceeds with the festivities. - After the party Laura takes a basket of leftover food to the dead neighbour’s bereaved family, views the body, observes the family’s grief, and begins to ponder the meaning of life and death.• Katherine Mansfield (born October 14, 1888, Wellington, New Zealand—died January 9, 1923, Gurdjieff Institute, near Fontainebleau, France) was a New Zealand-born English master of the short story, who evolved a distinctive prose style with many overtones of poetry. - Her delicate stories, focused upon psychological conflicts, have an obliqueness of narration and a subtlety of observation that reveal the influence of Anton Chekhov. - She, in turn, had much influence on the development of the short story as a form of literature.• Notable Works: - At the Bay,- Bliss and Other Stories,- Daughters of the Late Colonel,- Prelude,- The Garden Party,- The Stranger,- The Voyage, etc.Source: Britannica.