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Three Lives (1909) was Gertrude Stein's first published work of fiction. The book is comprised of three tales -- two short stories: "The Good Anna," and "The Gentle Lena"; and the novella. "Melanctha." Each one is a portrait of the title character and all of the women are members of the lower class living in a fictional town called Bridgepoint. Anna is a German immigrant who keeps house for Miss Mathilda and falls in love with another woman, Mrs. Lehntman. Lena is also a German woman who marries badly and dies in childbirth. Melanctha is a mulatto woman with unhappy love affairs. All three, however, face their various disappointments and their lots in life with resignation and acceptance.

• fiction