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Bodily Secrets
Wealthy widow Norah O’Neill wonders if she will ever marry again. When her son decides to close the family’s failing toy factory, the manager, a decent man who dances the quickstep beautifully, becomes unemployed. Suddenly, Norah sees her chance for happiness, in a new venture of her own.
United by the theme of love, the writings in the Great Loves series span over two thousand years and vastly different worlds. Readers will be introduced to love’s endlessly fascinating possibilities and extremities: romantic love, platonic love, erotic love, gay love, virginal love, adulterous love, parental love, filial love, nostalgic love, unrequited love, illicit love, not to mention lost love, twisted and obsessional love…
United by the theme of love, the writings in the Great Loves series span over two thousand years and vastly different worlds. Readers will be introduced to love’s endlessly fascinating possibilities and extremities: romantic love, platonic love, erotic love, gay love, virginal love, adulterous love, parental love, filial love, nostalgic love, unrequited love, illicit love, not to mention lost love, twisted and obsessional love…
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 23, 1992
1 person is currently reading
497 people want to read
About the author
William Trevor
181 books764 followersWilliam Trevor, KBE grew up in various provincial towns and attended a number of schools, graduating from Trinity College, in Dublin, with a degree in history. He first exercised his artistry as a sculptor, working as a teacher in Northern Ireland and then emigrated to England in search of work when the school went bankrupt. He could have returned to Ireland once he became a successful writer, he said, "but by then I had become a wanderer, and one way and another, I just stayed in England ... I hated leaving Ireland. I was very bitter at the time. But, had it not happened, I think I might never have written at all."
In 1958 Trevor published his first novel, A Standard of Behaviour, to little critical success. Two years later, he abandoned sculpting completely, feeling his work had become too abstract, and found a job writing copy for a London advertising agency. 'This was absurd,' he said. 'They would give me four lines or so to write and four or five days to write it in. It was so boring. But they had given me this typewriter to work on, so I just started writing stories. I sometimes think all the people who were missing in my sculpture gushed out into the stories.' He published several short stories, then his second and third novels, which both won the Hawthornden Prize (established in 1919 by Alice Warrender and named after William Drummond of Hawthornden, the Hawthornden Prize is one of the UK's oldest literary awards). A number of other prizes followed, and Trevor began working full-time as a writer in 1965.
Since then, Trevor has published nearly 40 novels, short story collections, plays, and collections of nonfiction. He has won three Whitbread Awards, a PEN/Macmillan Silver Pen Award, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In 1977 Trevor was appointed an honorary (he holds Irish, not British, citizenship) Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to literature and in 2002 he was elevated to honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE). Since he began writing, William Trevor regularly spends half the year in Italy or Switzerland, often visiting Ireland in the other half. He lived in Devon, in South West England, on an old mill surrounded by 40 acres of land.
In 1958 Trevor published his first novel, A Standard of Behaviour, to little critical success. Two years later, he abandoned sculpting completely, feeling his work had become too abstract, and found a job writing copy for a London advertising agency. 'This was absurd,' he said. 'They would give me four lines or so to write and four or five days to write it in. It was so boring. But they had given me this typewriter to work on, so I just started writing stories. I sometimes think all the people who were missing in my sculpture gushed out into the stories.' He published several short stories, then his second and third novels, which both won the Hawthornden Prize (established in 1919 by Alice Warrender and named after William Drummond of Hawthornden, the Hawthornden Prize is one of the UK's oldest literary awards). A number of other prizes followed, and Trevor began working full-time as a writer in 1965.
Since then, Trevor has published nearly 40 novels, short story collections, plays, and collections of nonfiction. He has won three Whitbread Awards, a PEN/Macmillan Silver Pen Award, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In 1977 Trevor was appointed an honorary (he holds Irish, not British, citizenship) Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to literature and in 2002 he was elevated to honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE). Since he began writing, William Trevor regularly spends half the year in Italy or Switzerland, often visiting Ireland in the other half. He lived in Devon, in South West England, on an old mill surrounded by 40 acres of land.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
September 30, 2025
In the depths of the ugly building were the strangeness and the beauty as he had known them, and for a moment he experienced what was left of his passion: a useless longing to change the circumstances there had been.
Having previously read just one story by William Trevor (The Piano teacher’s pupil, which can be read here), now closing this collection that comprises five of his short stories, I sit here and stare through the window, left with a lump in the throat while the final chord slowly dies away, awestruck. Mildly sad. Sadder. Saddest. How skilfully both the stories and the order in which they are included in this selection from earlier collections are composed, culminating in the apotheosis of the ultimate, utterly poignant story.
William Trevor struck me as a subtle, compassionate and suggestive storyteller with a profound insight in the human psyche and the complexity and power of emotions. Much has to be read and can be found in between the lines. As published in the Penguin series Great Loves, all the five stories revolve around the unifying theme of love - with a penchant to the darker side of it. Loneliness, infatuation, unattainable love, adultery, companionship and treachery are handled with the fine brushstrokes of a keen and understanding but unsentimental observer of the human heart.
Sketching his small scenes of middle-class Irish life in (mostly) small towns and villages, in cafés, at work, Trevor alludes to the delicate issues which can affect relationships (childlessness, class, suicide, double standards for men and women, a family history of child abuse) often by just touching on them slightly, needing slow and close reading not to be overlooked. Does this sound gloomy? Perhaps. Nevertheless, Trevor’s characters try to make the best of it, some seeking and finding more or less a form of freedom or fulfilment despite the given circumstances.
My favourites were the title story Bodily Secrets – on an affluent widow wishing to get married again, fancying one of her late husband’s employees (who dances the quickstep well) much to the dislike of her son and struggling with her body getting older - and the closing story, In Love with Ariadne, a haunting, achingly tender and tragic story on a student falling in love with the daughter of his landlady in Dublin.
In a 1989 interview, Trevor compared writing short stories to impressionist art: ‘I think it is the art of the glimpse. If the novel is like an intricate Renaissance painting, the short story is an impressionist painting. It should be an explosion of truth. Its strength lies in what it leaves out just as much as what it puts in, if not more. It is concerned with the total exclusion of meaninglessness. Life, on the other hand, is meaningless most of the time. The novel imitates life, where the short story is bony, and cannot wander. It is essential art’.
William Trevor’s stories are essential reading.
(Paintings by William John Leech (1881-1968)
Having previously read just one story by William Trevor (The Piano teacher’s pupil, which can be read here), now closing this collection that comprises five of his short stories, I sit here and stare through the window, left with a lump in the throat while the final chord slowly dies away, awestruck. Mildly sad. Sadder. Saddest. How skilfully both the stories and the order in which they are included in this selection from earlier collections are composed, culminating in the apotheosis of the ultimate, utterly poignant story.
William Trevor struck me as a subtle, compassionate and suggestive storyteller with a profound insight in the human psyche and the complexity and power of emotions. Much has to be read and can be found in between the lines. As published in the Penguin series Great Loves, all the five stories revolve around the unifying theme of love - with a penchant to the darker side of it. Loneliness, infatuation, unattainable love, adultery, companionship and treachery are handled with the fine brushstrokes of a keen and understanding but unsentimental observer of the human heart.
Sketching his small scenes of middle-class Irish life in (mostly) small towns and villages, in cafés, at work, Trevor alludes to the delicate issues which can affect relationships (childlessness, class, suicide, double standards for men and women, a family history of child abuse) often by just touching on them slightly, needing slow and close reading not to be overlooked. Does this sound gloomy? Perhaps. Nevertheless, Trevor’s characters try to make the best of it, some seeking and finding more or less a form of freedom or fulfilment despite the given circumstances.
My favourites were the title story Bodily Secrets – on an affluent widow wishing to get married again, fancying one of her late husband’s employees (who dances the quickstep well) much to the dislike of her son and struggling with her body getting older - and the closing story, In Love with Ariadne, a haunting, achingly tender and tragic story on a student falling in love with the daughter of his landlady in Dublin.
In a 1989 interview, Trevor compared writing short stories to impressionist art: ‘I think it is the art of the glimpse. If the novel is like an intricate Renaissance painting, the short story is an impressionist painting. It should be an explosion of truth. Its strength lies in what it leaves out just as much as what it puts in, if not more. It is concerned with the total exclusion of meaninglessness. Life, on the other hand, is meaningless most of the time. The novel imitates life, where the short story is bony, and cannot wander. It is essential art’.
William Trevor’s stories are essential reading.
(Paintings by William John Leech (1881-1968)
January 27, 2023
William Trevor does it once again. He colors the pages with his Irishness and conquers the reader’s heart with his humble, slow-paced storytelling.
Five stories about love, frustrated love, love that ends because of circumstance, love that can’t redeem those touched by it, love that becomes the mask to cover the need for freedom, love that brings shame instead of pride.
Love is never simple, Trevor implies in this collection that mixes tenderness and detachment in his unique, Irish way.
Innocence in different shapes and the sense of time passing is at the core of these stories where the dispossessed are given voice to defy the romantic notions we might have about love.
But they do not say it all. They won’t care to admit the despair that haunts them, and they hide it from the reader. And there is as much strength in what is left out as in what it is told, if not more.
Trevor speaks in the silences of his characters, but there is not a sense of unresolved issues, their stories keep going after the last word is written, because these fictional people develop a life of their own. Trevor’s art of glimpsing a moment is otherworldly, a moment that becomes a truth that looks back at you in the eye. Unflinchingly.
Five stories about love, frustrated love, love that ends because of circumstance, love that can’t redeem those touched by it, love that becomes the mask to cover the need for freedom, love that brings shame instead of pride.
Love is never simple, Trevor implies in this collection that mixes tenderness and detachment in his unique, Irish way.
Innocence in different shapes and the sense of time passing is at the core of these stories where the dispossessed are given voice to defy the romantic notions we might have about love.
But they do not say it all. They won’t care to admit the despair that haunts them, and they hide it from the reader. And there is as much strength in what is left out as in what it is told, if not more.
Trevor speaks in the silences of his characters, but there is not a sense of unresolved issues, their stories keep going after the last word is written, because these fictional people develop a life of their own. Trevor’s art of glimpsing a moment is otherworldly, a moment that becomes a truth that looks back at you in the eye. Unflinchingly.
March 23, 2017
A thin, little book and my first exposure to William Trevor. Five stories of love set in the 40s, 50s and 60s in Ireland. Regular folks of all ages in sometimes clunky relationships in dowdy, grey townscapes and rooms ... but sympathetically written and feeling authentic. A few chuckles here and there. I loved it.
August 5, 2014
Bodily Secrets by William Trevor is a really really short book, with 5 stories.
Story 1 is about a man not wanting to fall out of love.
Story 2 is about how a man finds love, but life destroys it.
Story 3 is about an old woman looking to marry, but not out of love.
Story 4 is about a man who wants to save the girl he loves, but can't.
Story 5 is about a man waying out who won the most out of his marriage, him or his bride.
As you can see, in short, all these stories are about love. What I found really refreshing is that none of these stories are sappy, cliché lovestories. This collection shows very neatly how love can create all sorts of emotions, all sorts of pain and grief and happiness and contentness,...
These are not the stories that will explain everything to you, a lot of it is between the lines. If you want to enjoy this book to the fullest, read slowly. Don't think 'cool, this is a really thin book, I'll just blaze through it in one night'. You won't get everything out of it that way. These stories need some time, they warrant some reflection, some 'slowness'.
All of the stories are so beautiful in their own way. For example, in the first story, the last scene, was really heartbraking, really beautiful. Suddenly all the rest of the story made sense, fell into place. The feeling that crept up on me during that last moment was so sad, so melancholic, so painfull, I could picture what the main character was feeling exactly, it was so tragic.
Every story left me with a different feeling, sometimes an emptiness, sometimes a sadness,... None of them are the superficial teenage-lovestory and I was so thankfull for that. The emotions in this book were so much more profound.
Although the stories are told with very little words, the feelings behind them are so so clear, so well conveyed. William Trevor might not be an eloquent writer, but he is a master at conveying a certain feeling very quickly and well.
I loved these stories, I truly did. I'd reccomend them to anyone who is in a pensive state, wants to reminisce about passed and future loves.
Story 1 is about a man not wanting to fall out of love.
Story 2 is about how a man finds love, but life destroys it.
Story 3 is about an old woman looking to marry, but not out of love.
Story 4 is about a man who wants to save the girl he loves, but can't.
Story 5 is about a man waying out who won the most out of his marriage, him or his bride.
As you can see, in short, all these stories are about love. What I found really refreshing is that none of these stories are sappy, cliché lovestories. This collection shows very neatly how love can create all sorts of emotions, all sorts of pain and grief and happiness and contentness,...
These are not the stories that will explain everything to you, a lot of it is between the lines. If you want to enjoy this book to the fullest, read slowly. Don't think 'cool, this is a really thin book, I'll just blaze through it in one night'. You won't get everything out of it that way. These stories need some time, they warrant some reflection, some 'slowness'.
All of the stories are so beautiful in their own way. For example, in the first story, the last scene, was really heartbraking, really beautiful. Suddenly all the rest of the story made sense, fell into place. The feeling that crept up on me during that last moment was so sad, so melancholic, so painfull, I could picture what the main character was feeling exactly, it was so tragic.
Every story left me with a different feeling, sometimes an emptiness, sometimes a sadness,... None of them are the superficial teenage-lovestory and I was so thankfull for that. The emotions in this book were so much more profound.
Although the stories are told with very little words, the feelings behind them are so so clear, so well conveyed. William Trevor might not be an eloquent writer, but he is a master at conveying a certain feeling very quickly and well.
I loved these stories, I truly did. I'd reccomend them to anyone who is in a pensive state, wants to reminisce about passed and future loves.
May 17, 2016
William Trevor has that uncanny ability to make the ordinary and extraordinary lie side by side as if they were born as twins, separated at birth and after many years apart find each other and wonder at how much they have in common. The characters he creates are living, breathing, loving beings in a world that is real, in all its anguish, disappointment, excitement and joy. Bodily Secrets is a great collection of his stories to whet your appetite for more of the William Trevor world.
August 22, 2019
I thought every one of these short stories, which broadly covered the topic of love, had their own individual charm.
The first I particularly liked for it's sheer wackiness. It was simply bizarre in plot and dialogue and I didn't know what to expect of the rest after reading it but they did get considerably less loony.
The story I thought was best written and developed was 'Bodily Secrets'. The main character, a woman who is left a widower and the owner of an unusual house, thinks about re-marrying. After talking with and getting to know the obvious candidates at the golf club she attends she's put off by them all. Then this unassuming, quiet, slightly enigmatic man who has been running the family's failing toy factory - but not unwell - comes into view and the relationship progresses, much to the dissatisfaction of most of her family members.
This is my first reading of William Trevor and he appears really well, gifted. His writing style is very easy and he's not superfluous with his description. He also seems to capture emotions fairly well. All in all an enjoyable encounter with Trevor.
The first I particularly liked for it's sheer wackiness. It was simply bizarre in plot and dialogue and I didn't know what to expect of the rest after reading it but they did get considerably less loony.
The story I thought was best written and developed was 'Bodily Secrets'. The main character, a woman who is left a widower and the owner of an unusual house, thinks about re-marrying. After talking with and getting to know the obvious candidates at the golf club she attends she's put off by them all. Then this unassuming, quiet, slightly enigmatic man who has been running the family's failing toy factory - but not unwell - comes into view and the relationship progresses, much to the dissatisfaction of most of her family members.
This is my first reading of William Trevor and he appears really well, gifted. His writing style is very easy and he's not superfluous with his description. He also seems to capture emotions fairly well. All in all an enjoyable encounter with Trevor.
April 12, 2020
I know i go on and on about William Trevor but truly his stories knock the breath out of me-the intuition he has about what make s a person work and how the human heart is frail and yet so strong. The simpleness of the themes and the part the settings play in each one are so important. I have a huge collection of his stories but it`s too heavy to read in bed so i have it at my chair ready at a moments notice. I find them beautiful and so touching a very good read for these fragile times about the beauty of people and the bravery to carry on.
June 23, 2020
What I love about William Trevor's short stories, is that they have an atmosphere which is consistent and overwhelming at times when reading. Edna O'Brien comes close to this, but Trevor seems to capture something cinematic for the senses, beyond just images, but also the psychological terrain of being human. He is a master at how scene can reflect internal feelings. The image of the man whose hand is dangling down over the side of his chair, fingers just touching the carpet, has stayed with me ever since I read it, and is an absolute heartbreaking story. The best literature for me, is that which you cannot explain-to paraphrase Flannery O'Connor -if you can explain a story to someone, then it hasn't worked as a story, but if the only way that person and understand what you felt to read it for themselves, then the stories of success. Trevor is exactly this, and this is a really nice way into his work.
January 14, 2022
The first short story actually got me really excited (it is something really absurd and zany that seemed fresh to me), but the rest of the stories could not really keep up the pace. It's not that Trevor is not apt at observing human psychology or building compelling characters, but rather that his stories are somewhat demure and that much of the tragedy that unfolds goes unstated. Some people might like this style, but I prefer a bolder approach to the treatment of human life and its mundane tragedies.
October 4, 2019
This selection of short stories come from Irish author William Trevor. They focus on the lives of ordinary people in Ireland and the connections that they form with each other. A couple of these stories are about marriages and relationships that were formed more out of necessity than by any real desire to be together.
They were nice stories to read on their own, but one after another made them a bit tedious.
They were nice stories to read on their own, but one after another made them a bit tedious.
June 24, 2022
William Trevor is truly an artist of his time. The way he manages to decipher human psychology and constructs different versions of extreme love and attraction gets me so interested. My favorite of the five stories is the first, some saying the character would like to fall out of love whereas I describe this storyline as unrequited love, sad, sufferable, and desperate.
November 9, 2017
Five bittersweet love stories (my favourite being "Lovers of their time") set in a time when attitudes to love, romance & sex were very different to those of today....but in many ways things never change!
A quick but nevertheless lovely read.
A quick but nevertheless lovely read.
February 11, 2025
Five beautifully well written short stories.
August 4, 2025
I can’t think of anything wrong with these stories, I just didn’t care for them?
January 1, 2023
The lives of office workers in the 1950s and 60s are all the same
August 13, 2009
The beauty of these stories is that they convey emotional depth without being wordy.
William Trevor is a master at uncovering the complexities of human relationships hidden behind the mundane activities of the characters, even though the characters themselves say very little.
I am not sure I always side with the narrative point of view (resignation/acceptance of the character's fate), but I do enjoy the way the author succinctly describes the internal workings of these characters. There is an honesty here, in that the author lets his characters decide for themselves, rather than directing their actions for the sake of a 'complete' ending, or for bringing a conclusion to a thematic statement.
If you like this collection, I recommend W. Trevor's short novel The Story of Lucy Gault (2002).
William Trevor is a master at uncovering the complexities of human relationships hidden behind the mundane activities of the characters, even though the characters themselves say very little.
I am not sure I always side with the narrative point of view (resignation/acceptance of the character's fate), but I do enjoy the way the author succinctly describes the internal workings of these characters. There is an honesty here, in that the author lets his characters decide for themselves, rather than directing their actions for the sake of a 'complete' ending, or for bringing a conclusion to a thematic statement.
If you like this collection, I recommend W. Trevor's short novel The Story of Lucy Gault (2002).
November 20, 2012
William Trevor is an astonishing writer. These stories really are - for lack of a better word - sad. These characters discover something about their lives and end up having to accept their fate. The sense of heavy resignation - the steady hopelessness of live - is hard at times to read. But Trevor does it so well and so honestly that he makes it hard to not go forward. His stories are hard to put down. And his pacing matches the gradual realization of his characters and their fate - deliberate, slow, forceful.
January 31, 2013
I love William Trevor's stories - spare, yet with such emotion packed into a few short words. I was especially drawn to the title story, in which the widow O'Neill defies expectations with somewhat unexpected results. There's little enough happiness - or at least lasting happiness - in these stories, but they linger in my mind long after I move on to the next book.
February 15, 2012
A slender collection of short stories by a fine writer, the collection revolves around the theme of relationships (and yes, ‘love’). At once tender and taut, it is a great little book that covers the whole gamut of emotions. Recommended.
January 20, 2013
He writes so well. Little stories well told.
October 2, 2013
It's ok. Not too cerebral and wordy but not too deep either. I liked some aspects of the stories but not any one fully, weirdly.
February 1, 2014
Didn't really enjoy... it just seemed to ramble, ramble, ramble...
November 21, 2016
A series of short stories wherein the characters must make find a way to make do with the failure of romantic ideals to correlate with real life.
The first couple of stories were as unpleasant as stories about adultery always are, but the others were charming.
The first couple of stories were as unpleasant as stories about adultery always are, but the others were charming.
March 26, 2017
I loved the melancholy ordinariness of these stories. Palpable disappointment, resignation and thwarted love affairs are woven into little episodes and recollections. A joy .
Read
October 17, 2017The Day We Got Drunk on Cake
Lovers of Their Time
Bodily Secrets
Honeymoon in Tramore
In Love with Ariadne
After the Ball
Lovers of Their Time
Bodily Secrets
Honeymoon in Tramore
In Love with Ariadne
After the Ball
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews