The Collected Stories of Elizabeth Bowen

Sylvia Plath interviewing Elizabeth Bowen. 

I usually don't read huge short story collections in their entirety.  Typically I dip in and out and after a year or two I realize I read all the stories I cared about and skipped all the bum ones.  Not only have I read nearly every story in The Collected Stories of Elizabeth Bowen but I've also read this collection twice (the first time in 2007).  I reviewed this collection the first time I completed it, but that -- alas -- was deleted in Drunk Delete of 2007.  I figured I would give a semi-review another go since my original is gone.  Rather than review the collection as a whole, I thought I would highlight my very favorite stories.

• "Making Arrangements" -- in this story a jilted husband receives a letter from his wayward wife requesting that he send her trunk of clothing.  He does, but he does it with flair.
•  "The Working Party" -- a newlywed bride is finally hosting her small town's working party (think church ladies with sewing baskets) everything is going perfectly..... until it doesn't in a very big way.
• "Telling" -- Teddy just knifed Josephine to death in the garden and he is trying to tell his family but they brush him aside.  
• "The Cat Jumps" -- The Harold Wrights are very modern and forward thinking and not suspicious in the least so they eagerly grasp the chance to buy the beautiful house Rose Hill despite the gruesome murder that occurred at Rose Hill in the past.
• "Reduced" -- Two little girls are loyal to their governess... a governess with a shadowy past.
• "Look at all Those Roses" -- A stranded motorist gets creeped out by an invalid girl, an odd woman, and a beautiful rose garden that may or may not be fertilized by the odd woman's missing husband.
• "The Inherited Clock" -- a vindictive relative manipulates a pair of children well into adulthood and it all centers on an odd clock.  

There are 81 stories in the collection and the seven above represent my very favorite.  I think there were about 4 or 5 stories that I didn't care for, but for the majority they are gold.  For anyone who enjoys Elizabeth Bowen or other British authors from 1920- 1960 I can assure you will enjoy this collection of beautifully crafted, imaginative, deftly written tales.  

Hells yeah, I love man-eating Geisha puppets!

Burning Your Boats: The Collected Short Stories

by Angela Carter

Published by Penguin Books , 1996

462 Pages

Angela Carter is one of my most favorite authors EVER. Her prose is both wry and sultry, the plots of her novels and short stories surprising and exact, and her descriptions of people and places convey perpetual hauntedness. Normally, my problem with reading entire short story collection is that about half the stories are "okay", about a quarter are riveting, and the other quarter painfully dull. Not so with Carter. Every story had me enthralled, enchanted and otherwise utterly engaged.

It was a difficult decision, but I picked out 5 favorites that I urge you to go out and read straight away.

• "The Loves of Lady Purple": My favorite short story ever written. This story was originally included in her short story collection Fireworks: Nine Profane Pieces and this story collection is mostly set in Asia. "The Loves of Lady Purple" is about an old puppet master and his ferocious and beautiful Geisha puppet, Lady Purple. In the puppet show, Lady Purple plays a murderous harlot and then goes back to her puppet box. One night, however, she comes to life, devours the old puppet master, and sets out to consume and destroy men. Hells yes.


• "The Bloody Chamber": From Carter's famous fairy tale collection by the same name comes this retelling of Bluebeard's last wife. However, in this tale the wife is not left murdered with the corpses of past wives, but finds redemption and love.
  
• "The Fall River Axe Murders": Published in 1985 in her short story collection Black Venus, "The Fall River Axe Murders" Imagines the life and perhaps mental illness of Lizzie Borden. An interesting psychological study that imagines some of the tense undercurrents of family life that may have existed.
  
• "Gun for the Devil": This short story has an old western / folklore feel and concerns a young pianist bargain with the devil. He bargains for a gun that will not miss a shot, but with the caveat that the last bullet will be fired at the discretion of the devil. Full of murder, lust, and revenge, this story was originally published in the American Ghosts and Old World Wonders collection in 1993.
  
• "The Snow Pavilion": An uncollected story, "The Snow Pavilion" is the story of an arrogant young poet engaged in an affair with a society woman. One night he is trapped outside in the snow and wanders into a mysterious house filled with giggles and really creepy dolls. That cry. That may, in fact, be trapped humans.... dum dum dum DUMMMMMMM...

All in all, an excellent collection of short stories from one of the best authors of Magical Realism.