The Beauty of the Dead (Jonathan Cape, 1940) featuring fifteen stories, was released to critical acclaim. Pamela Hansford Johnson wrote in John O'London's Weekly that "e;all have that delicate luminosity by which visions are seen more clearly than in the bright sunlight."e; 'Old' is a snapshot of an elderly man no longer appreciated or respected by his children and extended family during a Sunday tea. He finds a companion in his seven-year-old grand-niece, making animal shapes out of biscuits and eventually falling into a "e;mesmeric peace"e; as she brushes his hair. There is a glimpse of Bates's childhood experiences in 'Quartette', written through the eyes of a music director. The story accounts the attraction between two of the singers which the director worries is breaking up the group, yet on their last song he can feel "e;the passionate quality of their singing transcending the small hot room and the small bewildered minds"e;. Bates had much personal knowledge of choirs and singing through his father, who was a choir director.'The Bridge' is narrated by a twenty-two-year-old woman while she and her older sister vie for the attention of the same man. The Spectator praised it as "e;a masterly short story...courageously conceived thick with symbolism, it is a triumphant display of control."e;For the first time, this collection features the comic bonus story 'Obadiah'. After a tough, poverty-stricken childhood, Obadiah's scheme to make his fortune begins with a pig. He wanted neither children nor romance, but a partner in business, so when he meets a widow with similar values, he wins her over in what becomes a comic sketch of a bickering couple a rare and brilliant piece of caricature in Bates's canon. Published in the New Clarion (1933), and not republished since.
| ISBN: | 9781448215119 |
| Publication date: | 15th March 2016 |
| Author: | Bates H.E. Bates |
| Publisher: | Bloomsbury Publishing |
| Format: | Ebook (Epub) |