Author:Elizabeth Bowen
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY A. N. WILSON
Throughout these seventy-nine stories - love stories, ghost stories, stories of childhood, of English middle-class life in the twenties and thirties, of London during the Blitz - Elizabeth Bowen combines social comedy and reportage, perception and vision in an oeuvre which reveals, as Angus Wilson affirms in his introduction, that 'the instinctive artist is there at the very heart of her work'.
Bowen's stories show the awesome capabilities of the English language and the surprise and mystery of the human soul
—— Anne TylerBowen's stories are novels that have been split open like rocks and reveal the glitter of the naked crystals which have formed them
—— V.S. Pritchett , VogueThe absolute master of the twist in the tale
—— ObserverFox's prose is poised and confident, a well-honed tool with which to treat his delicate subject matter.
—— Rob Doyle , Sunday TimesThe best of these stories are very good indeed ... While there are few happy souls in these arresting stories, the reader can find consolation in Fox's supple prose and frequently subtle insights
—— Irish IndependentFox joins a band of new talented Irish short story writers, like Colin Barrett and Mary Costello, with this assured debut collection
—— RTE GuideThese are thoughtful, well-told stories that bring home how hard it can be to belong
—— HeraldImpressive ... First-person narrators, their voices deceptively casual and conversational, draw the unsuspecting reader in before they strike. Against a backdrop of ordinary settings and pared-down realism, the arresting images, when they come, have an explosive force
—— The LadyA superb collection ... compassionate and knowing
—— Irish ExaminerOutstanding
—— Hot PressA remarkable new talent ... He is able to tread so lightly that we only realise we have been cleverly punched in the solar plexus after we finish the last line
—— Dermot Bolger , Irish Mail on SundaySam Miller's memoir Fathers is ostensibly about a family secret. But its true subject is a family silence… The book is about ways to be a father, but also, more generally, about ways to be a man, from the 1950s to now. Should you be an intellectual, and write letters full of irony and wit? How camp are you allowed to be, or how fearful of homoeroticism? Must you be good at manual labour? Where do you stand in relation to class or entitlement? Should you be more interested in football than you are?
—— William Leith , Evening StandardMorrissy has been compared to Joyce and Chekov. She’s brilliant.
—— iMary Morrissy’s persuasive stories sidle up to you quietly and before you know it have you wrapped up in their embrace… We meet people on the edge… in this resonant collection from an accomplished writer.
—— Donal O'Donoghue , RTE GuideAn outstanding collection…She is a true heir to Chekhov and the great writers
—— Éilís Ní Dhuibhne , Irish Times