The Mulberry Tree: Writings of Elizabeth Bowen

by Elizabeth Bowen

Collects literary essays, book prefaces, reviews, letters, radio talks, and autobiographical writings

Genres: Nonfiction, Literature, Essays, Literary Criticism

256 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1987

About the author

Elizabeth Dorothea Cole Bowen, CBE was an Anglo-Irish novelist and short story writer and short story writer notable for her books about the "big house" of Irish landed Protestants as well her fiction about life in wartime London.

Reviews

[Aniek Verheul · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoroughly entertaining, beautifully written collection. Bowen's prose is as masterful here as it is in her fiction. I particularly enjoyed the essays, letters, and autobiographical writing included here, while I didn't care much for the reviews - something I ascribe to the fact that I haven't read any of the reviewed material and not to Bowen's writing. I do wish this edition was a little clearer about the fact that it has endnotes. Whether that would be in the shape of adding them onto the page as footnotes or simply indicating them with an asterisk on the page, I don't really mind, but I found myself frequently looking up information on the internet, only to remember later that I could've saved myself the effort and flipped to the back instead. I don't know, maybe that says more about me as a reader than about this collection, but I've found that such notes are usually indicated more clearly, and that definitely has my preference.

[Yousseif Abdellatif · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elizabeth Bowen in The Mulberry Tree: Writings of Elizabeth Bowen pushes the idea that we talk way too much about "finding your passion" and way too little about getting decent at something boring. I felt like it was solid, because the examples are plumbers, bakers, and bookkeepers instead of tech founders. The chapter on mastery got me thinking about how I quit things the minute they stop being fun. You might not love the tough-love tone, but it definitely forces you to rethink what "passion" even means.