Love and Loss: Stories of the Heart - Softcover

This fine collection of short fiction brings together such venerable 20th-century women writers as Virginia Woolf, Edith Wharton, Elizabeth Bowen and Dorothy Parker as well as some of their lesser-known--and more contemporary--sisters in the English-speaking world, from Africa to New Zealand to Ontario to Surrey to Manhattan. Though all 21 stories explore and illuminate the subject of love and loss, Hammick ( People for Breakfast ) applies the theme loosely, thus allowing a richer and more complete picture of human life in general and the experiences of women in particular. In "Lappin and Lapinova," Woolf limns a married couple whose elaborate fantasy world dissipates as the marriage crumbles. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala examines disillusionment in the wrenching "Miss Sahib," about a retired English teacher dowager in India and her friendship with a younger and selfish Indian woman. Some of the most moving pieces here are by less established writers: Rahila Gupta's tale of a middle-aged Indian woman infatuated with her son-in-law ("Untouchable") and Shena Mackay's story about an affair ("Evening Surgery") are small gems that will leave readers eager to peruse more of the authors' work. A solid, durable anthology.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.