ELIZABETH BOWEN
1121
apparently an accepted form of discourse and whenever the subject
under discussion is a woman writer we can always expect to pass
th~
time of day with chatter about Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte and
George Eliot.
[ Just where Elizabeth Bowen "belongs" I cannot say. Readable,
giftea, the very equanimity of her work makes criticism difficult. In
a relaxed mood, she offers one the satisfaction of unabashed tears,
an emotional evening in which love retains all its old sovereign rights,
and the final pleasure of witnessing the bad end to which the in–
constant come.
As
in an opera libretto you must take the roles on
faith-a grunt of satire or a shiver of commonsense on the specta–
tor's part, would be enough to disrupt the performance and bring
the pretty scenery down upon the soprano's head]
