THE LAST BOUQUET: SOME TWILIGHT TALES.
London: John Lane The Bodley Head Limited, [1933]. Octavo, pp.[i-iv] v [vi-viii] 1-348 [349-352: ads], original black cloth, front and spine panels stamped in green, top edge stained green. First edition. Bowen’s own selection of her best supernatural and horror stories, fourteen in all, many reprinted from earlier volumes that are virtually unobtainable but four original to this volume -- “The Last Bouquet,” “The Lady Clodagh,” “Madam Spitfire,” and “The Fair Hair of Ambrosine.” Regardless of the time periods in which her stories are set, Bowen’s supernatural fiction situates horror within the complex interplay among sexuality, desire, and romance. Focusing on women who find themselves at the mercy and whims of a patriarchal culture, Bowen’s protagonists are primarily repressed spinsters, abused wives, jilted lovers, and vengeful widows, characters whose frustrated passions often result in madness and violence. Highlights in THE LAST BOUQUET: SOME TWILIGHT TALES include “The Avenging of Ann Lette” (murderer brought to justice by his own astral projection), “Kecksies” (a horrific tale of rape perpetrated by a reanimated corpse), “Florence Flannery” (brilliant reworking of the demon lover theme involving a carnivorous giant fish), and “Madam Spitfire” (villainous widow’s evil plans thwarted by the ghost of her husband). Aside from being championed by Edward Wagenknecht and Jessica Amanda Salmonson, Bowen has never quite received the attention or the critical acclaim that is her due. She is one of the finest writers of supernatural fiction of the first half of the 20th century, and she belongs on the shelf beside M. R. James, Oliver Onions, and Edith Wharton. [Reference: Barron (ed), Horror Literature 3-33. Clute and Grant (eds), The Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997), p. 131. Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, pp. 50-1. Wilson, Shadows in the Attic, p. 96. Bleiler (1978), p. 28. Reginald 01702]. Offsetting to free end papers, a fine copy in a fine price clipped dust jacket with mild toning to the spine and slight creasing at the ends. A lovely copy. Among the most elusive horror high spots, this book is rarely found in jacket. (28727). Item #28727
Price: $10,000.00