Before Martin McDonagh’s Beauty Queen of Leenane, which involved implements of fire, Bowen wrote ghost stories, novels with secrets, 'life with the lid on and what happens when the lid comes off.' This book shows that in Bowen's short stories the lid comes off, and the dark violence of humanity roars underneath.... This book tracks through the violence in Bowen’s short fiction, much of it eerie and aimed at women. Bowen lived in a world controlled by men. In spite of her affairs with men and women, her stories uncover the violence in the patriarchy. Recommended.

Choice Reviews

This fascinating analysis of violence in Elizabeth Bowen’s shorter fiction reveals her focus on the suffering of perpetrators, which implicates readers in suicide, murder and mayhem. With precision, clarity and wit, Levy demonstrates how Bowen’s narrative strategies keep the gore offstage while scrutinizing the motives of those who commit violence. The volume includes a special pleasure for Bowen readers—seven story fragments published for the first time.

Elizabeth Lambert, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts