Look at All Those Roses.: Short Stories.

London: Victor Gollancz Ltd,, 1941. The short story, as I see it, allows for what is crazy about humanity First edition, first impression; a scarce work even without the dust jacket, here retained. The spectres of war and ghosts haunt these tales: several are inspired by the author's experiences living in London during the Blitz, while the title story and "Love" contributed to Bowen's reputation as "one of the most sophisticated and mature writers" of supernatural fiction (Wilson, p. 91). The acclaimed novelist Bowen first earned literary recognition for her short stories, which are marked by the fantastic: in Bowen's words, "the short story, though it highlights what appears to be reality, is not [realistic]. The short story, as I see it, allows for what is crazy about humanity: obstinacies, inordinate heroisms, 'immortal longings'" (cited in Thurston, pp. 147-8). This collection includes "Summer Night", which has been described as "perhaps the best" of Bowen's stories (Glendinning, p. 111). Octavo. Original blue cloth, spine lettered in dark blue. With dust jacket. Ownership inscription in blue marker on front free endpaper, "James M. Christie, Morton, June 1942". Spine and edges faded, book block edges lightly foxed, contents toned but clean; jacket toned, front panel marked, rubbing and a few edge tears neatly reinforced on verso with tape, unclipped: a very good copy in like jacket. Victoria Glendinning, Elizabeth Bowen: Portrait of a Writer, 1997; Luke Thurston, Literary Ghosts from the Victorians to Modernism, 2012; Neil Wilson, Shadows in the Attic: A Guide to British Supernatural Fiction, 1820-1950, 2000.