《花園派對》（The Garden Party）是在凱瑟琳的弟弟於1915年去世後那段時間所寫的。那時凱瑟琳寫的幾個故事背景都設定在紐西蘭家鄉，講述世紀交替那個年代的故事。《花園派對》這個故事的場景是在榭里丹家的豪宅和花園，顯然是以她自己的家為雛型，那是一棟座落在威靈頓提那克里路75號的大房子，她於1898年到1903年居住於此。故事中一個中產階級家庭舉辦的花園派對，也是作者在年少時期常會見到的社交場面。就在榭里丹家忙著張羅花園派對之際，年少的女兒蘿拉得知住家旁邊有一個工人往生了。這件事讓她感到不安，她覺得應該取消派對，以示尊重。這個故事做了一個強烈的對照──派對上一派光鮮亮麗、尊貴奢華、生氣勃勃，相對於工人家中的黑暗、貧窮和死亡。
《六便士銅板》（Sixpence）講的則是班道家的事，班道家對他們調皮的兒子弟奇，一向比較溫和包容，但時當一位訪客說出自己如何對孩子嚴加管教之後，班道家對兒子的態度就有了一百八十度的轉變。後來發生了一件小事情，讓班道先生和兒子的關係，就此產生了變化。
上述這兩個故事，是很典型的現代小說，描繪出一個小小的件事，會如何深刻地影響到故事人物的想法和行為。
The Garden Party was written in the period after Mansfield’s brother’s death in 1915 when the author wrote a number of stories set in her native New Zealand at the turn of the century. The scene of the story – the Sheridan’s large house and garden – is clearly based on her family’s opulent home at 75 Tinakori Road in Wellington, where she lived from 1898 to 1903. The event – a middle-class garden party – is also based on the kind of social occasions she would have taken part in as a girl and young woman.
As the Sheridans prepare for the garden party, Laura, their teenage daughter learns that a neighboring workman has died. The news disturbs her and she feels the party should be canceled as a sign of respect. The story is one of great contrasts – the brightness, wealth and life at the party, and the darkness, poverty and death at the worker’s house.
Sixpence tells the story of how the Bendall family’s easygoing and understanding attitude to their lively son Dicky is suddenly overturned when a visitor describes her own much more authoritarian method of bringing up her children. One small incident will irreversibly change the relationship between Mr Bendall and his young son.
Both stories are fine examples of modernist writing, showing how small incidents can have a profound effect on the protagonists’ thoughts and actions.
Helbling文學讀本（Helbling Readers）簡介
共出版十餘本，分兩大套：
● Helbling Classics（經典英文文學改寫）
● Helbling Fiction（當代原創英文小說）
《Helbling文學讀本》為一套最優質的英文分級閱讀讀本，英語難易度由初級銜接到中級。
全系列皆隨書附贈全文朗讀MP3。
內文編排精美，採用彩色印刷，全文穿插精美插圖，單元設計豐富。
除了精彩的小說之外，另編寫有：
1.About the Author（作者簡介）：介紹作者，幫助認識創作背景。
2.About the Book（本書簡介）：介紹故事內容概要，幫助了解故事的背景與旨意。
3.Before Reading（閱前活動）：設計各種問題和活動，幫助暖身，啟發各種探討與學習。
4.After Reading（閱後練習）：設計各種深入的問題和題目練習，幫助復習內容，加深英語的學習印象。
5.Test（測驗）：有些讀本在閱畢之後，設計有各種測驗題目，包括文意測驗和英語練習等。
6.隨文討論：在故事行文中，另設計有針對內文情節的問題探討，幫助做啟發性的思考。
作者簡介
凱瑟琳．曼斯菲爾德 Katherine Mansfield Beaumon
1888年10月14日出生於紐西蘭的威靈頓，出身於一個中產階級的殖民者家庭。她在學生時代便開始創作，還曾在兩份學校期刊上發表過小說。1903年，她搬到倫敦，在皇后學院念書，到了1906年才又回到紐西蘭。從倫敦回來之後，她不太能適應紐西蘭單調的生活，最後她說服父親每年給她一百鎊的生活費，讓她回到倫敦。
她在倫敦時過著居無定所的生活，一直到了1909年，搬到德國，才開始積極寫作。1911年，她出版了第一本小說集《在德國公寓》（In a German Pension）。她也開始為《Rhythm》雜誌寫小說，並且和雜誌社的編輯John Middleton Murry相戀，兩人後來於1918年結婚。
1915年10月，她的弟弟於第一次世界大戰中喪生，這件事情改變了她的生活和寫作。弟弟過世後，她的很多小說轉而以兒童和兒時回憶為主。D. H. 勞倫斯（D H Lawrence ）和維吉尼亞．吳爾夫（Virginia Woolf）都和她有不錯的交情，吳爾夫曾說，曼斯菲爾德的創作，「是唯一不會讓我心生嫉妒的作品」。
凱瑟琳一生多病。1918年，她被診斷出罹患肺結核，1923年，死於肺結核，年僅35歲。凱瑟琳公認是20世紀一位偉大的短篇小說作家。
Katherine Mansfield Beaumont was born on October 14th 1888 in Wellington, New Zealand. She was the daughter of a middle-class colonial family. She began writing when she was at school and her stories were published in two school magazines. In 1903, she moved to London to attend Queen’s College, then in 1906 she returned to New Zealand. However, she found life very dull after her time in London, and she persuaded her father to let her return there with an allowance of ￡100 a year.
She led a Bohemian lifestyle until she moved to Germany in 1909. In Germany she started writing in earnest and in 1911, her first collection of stories In a German Pension was published. She started writing for Rhythm magazine, and fell in love with its editor, John Middleton Murry. The couple eventually got married in 1918.
Katherine’s life and work was changed by her brother’s death in October 1915 in World War I. Many of her stories after his death focused on children and her childhood memories. Katherine was friendly with both D H Lawrence and Virginia Woolf. Woolf said that Mansfield’s was “the only writing I have ever been jealous of”.
Katherine suffered with ill health throughout her life. She was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1918 and died of the disease in 1923 when she was just 35. Katherine Mansfield is recognized as one of the greatest short story writers of the 20th century.
