Pictures and Conversations

by Elizabeth Bowen

This--Elizabeth Bowen's last book--is a collection of her writings that is wonderfully various in subject matter, yet bound together by the consistent sensibility, the precision of feeling, the special vision, and the unique style that were so unmistakably Elizabeth Bowen's. The first few chapters of her unfinished autobiography, along with her outline for the rest, make up the opening section. Then there are the beginning of a novel, in work at the time of her death (to have been called The Move-In); an essay on one of Proust's characters, the writer Bergotte; and a nativity play written for performance in an Irish cathedral. A re-issue of her highly valued and much-quoted "Notes on Writing a Novel" completes the book.

In a foreword, Miss Bowen's friend and literary executor, Spencer Curtis Brown, describes the writer he knew and tells something of her thoughts about the material collected here. She often discussed her writing with him, and he suggests how events in her life affeced her continual search for an mastery of new skills.

Those who already love Elizabeth Bowen will be fascinated by this collection. Others not yet familiar with her work will find it a delightful introduction and will be drawn--as will coming generations--to seek out her books just as they will continue to discover Jane Austen and the Brontës, whose enchantment outlives any whims of fashion or time.

193 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1975

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

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elizabeth Bowen is among my favorite British women authors, so I am delighted when I get to read one of her books. This is a book of short stories and the like, told in Bowen's sophisticates aristocratic Irish/British voice. Her descriptions of details, such as the flowers blooming in a garden, or the way a particular woman's skirts fall as she sits calmly in a teashop with her friends dissing a neighbor, please me to no end. If, like me, you enjoy Bowen's writing and style, and would like to read her short stories, this is an excellent one to begin with.

I had an interesting experience when I returned this book to the library. The gentleman behind the counter to whom I brought a stack of books that were due back at the library looked at this book and remarked, "Only English majors read Elizabeth Bowen!" And we both chuckled and then started talking about Bowen and her books. It turns out he runs a book club up north of here in Menlo Park, and he told me the day and time at which it meets. I plan on going up there for a meeting one of these days, when my fibromyalgia grants me the energy to do so. Should be fun - I enjoy book clubs mainly because I like to hear others' assessments of the books we read. Do you feel the same?

Final words: A wonderful book of short stories by Elizabeth Bowen. Enjoy!

[Flora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Her "Notes on Writing on a Novel," included here, is the best art-of-fiction essay I've read.