Yes, I agree about her respect for the characters' inner lives! I always like when an author really cares about their characters, and McCullers does that even while she gives them such bleak lives.

"The Member of the Wedding" doesn't end in such a bleak note, while still really understanding that need to belong (the main character calls it "the we of me") and how that can happen or not. It's really good!

That does sound very good—I'll definitely put it on the to-read list :)