Balloons

by Elizabeth Bibesco

Elizabeth "Asquith" Bibesco (1897-1945) was an English writer. A final posthumous collection of her stories, poems and aphorisms was published under the title Haven in 1951, with a preface by Elizabeth Bowen. As a teenager, during World War I, she was given opportunities to do "good works", organizing and performing in "matinees" for the servicemen. In 1919 she married Prince Antoine Bibesco, a Romanian diplomat stationed in London. It was the society wedding of the year, attended by everyone from the Queen to George Bernard Shaw. Between 1921 and 1940 Elizabeth wrote three collections of short stories, four novels, two plays and a book of poetry. All of these works have a continental sensibility. They deal almost entirely with a kind of love in which the heroines ponder the least gesture of a man until it takes on the proportions of an emotional event with lasting implications, while the heroes spend their time in mute surrender at the feet of remote women.

120 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1922

About the author

Elizabeth Charlotte Lucy Asquith Bibesco, daugther of Margot Asquith.

Reviews

[Meakin Armstrong · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this because I came across her name in Wikipedia. She was the daughter of a Brit PM, and married a Romanian prince.. She was also a feminist and a writer of precise, compressed stories. This book is slightly uneven, but there’s one or two that remind me of Chekhov in how the reveal contradictions in humanity. My favorite is “Haven” where a woman is ignored in her small town because she’s unmarried. She then moves to a new town, pretending to be a widow. Because this fictive man had once loved her (thus proving her value to society), the town decides to love her, too. However, some stories fall flat. She wasn’t a genius but it’s too bad she’s forgotten.