Elizabeth Bowen is widely considered to be one of the greatest novelists of the twentieth century. While her novels masquerade as witty comedies of manners, set in the lavish country houses of the Anglo-Irish or in elegant London homes, they mine the depths of private tragedy with a subtle ferocity and psychological complexity reminiscent of Henry James.

"...she’s as good as anyone: better than Woolf, who’s enshrined at the heart of the canon. Bowen is more confidently passionate, without Woolf’s debilitating doubt; her apprehension is more acute; she’s funnier; the flow of her words is more elegantly sure and more original." - Tessa Hadley

"Bowen's works ‘show the awesome capabilities of the English language and the surprise and mystery of the human soul." - Anne Tyler

"She startles us by sheer originality of mind and boldness of sensibility." - V.S Pritchett