A great anthology of twentieth-century short fiction by women, assembled by Hermione Lee.

Lee’s selection is specific to her intent, moving between writers separated by nationality, generation and style. Consequently, the line-up is frankly ridiculous: Katherine Mansfield, Dorothy Parker, Willa Cather, Gertrude Stein, Elizabeth Bowen, Katherine Anne Porter, Eudora Welty, Doris Lessing, Nadine Gordimer, Grace Paley, Jean Rhys, Flannery O’Connor, Alice Munro, Alice Walker, Angela Carter, Janet Frame, Margaret Atwood and others. The stories range from Mansfield’s The Daughters of the Late Colonel and Porter’s Rope through to Atwood’s Happy Endings, giving the collection the feel of a compact genealogy of the modern short story rather than a simple sampler.

Everyman / J. M. Dent & Sons, London, 1991. First Everyman edition. Paperback. Moderate rubbing and shelf wear to covers and edges; light creasing and age toning. Internally clean and unmarked; binding firm. Good to very good condition.