The Four Corners opens with a precise geography: the house stands at the foot of Virginia's blue mountains, on the edge of town, where one street ends at the front gate and another winds uphill as the old County Road. This rambling, unpainted house is home to four sisters—Nancy (Nan), Mary Lee, Jacqueline (Jack), and Jean—each introduced through a catalog of nicknames and temperaments. Nan, the eldest, is impetuous and original; Mary Lee is quiet, reserved, and fond of boyish sports; the twins are mentioned but not yet characterized. The novel's first chapter establishes a pattern of naming and renaming that reflects the sisters' identities and the household's dynamics.

A House of Corners and Characters

The sisters' nicknames are not merely affectionate: they encode personality and family lore. Nan is called Sharp Corner by her cousin Phil when she is "on the bias," while Aunt Sarah declares that West Corner suits her because from that quarter spring "the briskest, as well as the most agreeable, of breezes." Mary Lee is always called by both names, a Virginia custom that sets her apart. The house itself has a shut-up wing and an indescribable hue, suggesting both neglect and potential. These details—the naming system, the house's architecture, the sisters' contrasting traits—create a microcosm where character is expressed through place and epithet.

The Grandmother's Gift and Its Price

Nan's visit to her grandmother introduces a central tension: the grandmother offers lavish gifts from Italy—silks, corals, beads, jewelry—but insists Nan keep them all, refusing to share with her sisters. Nan protests, calling it "piggish" to keep everything, and the grandmother withdraws the gifts entirely, saying, "Put them away, Helen." The scene reveals the grandmother's pride and bitterness, as well as Nan's honesty and discomfort. The grandmother's face shifts between mildness and a "look of the portrait," suggesting a frozen, unforgiving nature. Nan realizes her grandmother is "no queen, but only a faulty woman," a moment of clear-eyed judgment that sets up a pattern of moral testing.

Voice and Moral Weighing

The narrative voice is direct and slightly ironic, as when it notes that Nan "greatly preferred Nannette and sometimes stealthily signed herself so." The dialogue carries the weight of family conflict: the grandmother says, "I hoped my granddaughter would be pleased," while Nan thinks, "She might have left out one little string of beads." The aunt, Miss Helen, acts as a mediator, urging patience. The excerpt shows a world where generosity is tested by pride, and where the eldest sister must navigate between her own desires and her sense of fairness. The novel's moral landscape is established through these small, precise exchanges.

Setting as Character

The Virginia setting is not just backdrop but active element. The house's location at the foot of mountains, the old County Road, the shut-up wing—all suggest a place of both isolation and possibility. The sisters' names (West Corner, Sharp Corner) tie them to the house's geography. The grandmother's house, by contrast, is associated with Italy and luxury, but also with coldness. The contrast between the rambling, unpainted family home and the grandmother's formal, gift-laden parlor underscores the novel's central conflict between warmth and pride, poverty and wealth.

Readers will find that the novel's interest lies less in plot than in the sisters' negotiations with each other and with the adults around them. Pay attention to how names shift and how the house's corners mirror the characters' positions. The grandmother's gifts, the cousins' teasing, and the sisters' quiet rebellions all build a portrait of family life that is both specific and resonant.