Book description
This volume contains sixteen examples of the English short story at
its best: immediately captivating and hugely entertaining.
Some stories are classics, such as James Joyce s The Dead ; others
like Mr Loveday s Little Outing by Evelyn Waugh are relatively
unknown and a joy to discover. The collection also includes Charles
Dickens premonitory tale, The Signalman which was inspired by his
own horrific experiences in a train crash. Katherine Mansfield s The
Voyage , meanwhile, is a sensual narrative centring on a boat journey
and set in her native New Zealand. Virginia Woolf s Kew Gardens is
different again, dramatically evoking its setting, awash with colour
and light.
Tragic or comic, traditional or modernist, each and every piece
demonstrates perfectly how the short story form can be as engaging and
satisfying as a novel, if not more so.
