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I Introduction: Elizabeth BowenA Story of Sorts A novel which survives, which withstands and outlives time, does do something more than survive. It does not stand still. It accumulate s roun d itsel f th e understandin g o f al l thes e persons who bring to i t something of their own . It acquire s associations, i t become s a for m o f experienc e i n itself . . . . And lik e al l experiences , i t i s adde d t o b y th e powe r o f different kind s o f people , i n differen t times , t o fee l an d t o comment and to explain. —"Truth an d Fiction" One spend s one' s lif e objectifyin g one' s inne r life , an d projecting one' s though t an d emotio n int o a form—a book . Which, onc e one' s insid e difficultie s ar e overcome , i s th e exercise of an unchecked power. . .. I t is hard for me (being a write r befor e I a m a woman ) t o realiz e tha t anything — friendship o r lov e especially—i n whic h I participat e imaginatively isn' t a boo k too . Isn't , I mean , somethin g / make what it is by my will that it shall be like that. —Elizabeth Bo wen to Humphrey House The Anglo-Iris h write r Elizabet h Bowe n (1899-1973 ) considere d herself t o b e i n th e mos t eligibl e positio n t o writ e a boo k abou t Elizabeth Bowen . Sh e di d no t liv e to complet e th e se t o f autobio graphical sketche s tha t wer e t o becom e suc h a book . Entitle d Pictures and Conversations, he r retrospective self-inscriptions wer e 1 2 Introduction posthumously publishe d i n 1975 . However, undaunte d b y the au thor 's clai m t o "unchecke d power " ove r th e stor y o f he r self , several person s hav e brough t "somethin g o f thei r own " t o Eliza beth Bowen . Sh e ha s bee n th e subjec t o f a fe w (biographicall y informed) critica l studies , one full-length an d on e short biographi cal work , an d divers e memoirs . Commente d o n an d explained , "added t o b y the power o f differen t kind s of people," the story of Elizabeth Bowe n appear s t o hav e s o fa r "withstoo d an d outlive d time." Bowen wa s no t onl y wel l known , widel y read , an d greatl y ad mired durin g he r lifetime ; he r novel s ar e stil l regularl y bein g reissued i n paperback today . I f only in its prolificness an d th e span of time i n whic h i t wa s produced , he r oeuvr e i s remarkable : i n th e course of nearly fifty years, she published te n novels, almost eight y short stories , a chronicl e o f he r family , an d a substantia l bod y o f (major an d minor ) critica l an d othe r nonfictiona l work . Still , he r reputation a s a writer ha s not kep t u p with th e times, nor ha s he r work receive d th e seriou s critica l attentio n i t deserves . Ofte n un easily linked to other neglecte d women writer s with whom sh e has little mor e i n commo n tha n tha t the y wer e contemporaries , Bowen's nam e generall y survive s a s tha t o f a mino r writer , hov ering i n th e margin s o f th e Grea t Tradition s tha t mak e u p th e landscape of twentieth-century Englis h literature . Although he r autobiograph y ultimatel y remaine d unfinished , Bowen's lif e i s well documented . Sh e herself publishe d th e histor y of he r famil y mentione d above , Bowen's Court (1942) , whic h contains a wealt h o f...

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