The Springs of Affection
Stories of Dublin
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
The twenty–one stories collected here—the very best stories of one of The New Yorker's most celebrated writers—trace the patterns of love within three Dublin families. Love between husband and wife, which begins in courtship and laughter, loses all power of expression and then vanishes forever. The natural love of sister for brother and of mother for son is twisted into the rage to possess. And love that gives rise to the rituals of family life—those "ordinary customs that are the only true realities most of us ever know"—grows solid as rock that will never give way.
In his introduction, William Maxwell, who was for twenty years Maeve Brennan's editor, writes of the special quality of her work, and especially of the title story, which he places among the great short fiction of the twentieth century.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A much-loved writer on fashion, books and city life for the New Yorker from 1949 through the early 1970s, the Irish-American Brennan (who died in 1993) deserves to be remembered for her short stories, which were among the magazine's best. These 21 stories--culled from two previously published collections and with an eloquent, affectionate introduction by William Maxwell--should accomplish that. In the first of three sections, Brennan warmly recalls scenes from her Irish girlhood. The other two sections chronicle the lives of the Derdons and the Bagots, middle-class, middle-aged Dublin couples locked in unhappy matrimony. A writer of miniaturist precision, Brennan exquisitely captures the outward signs of happy childhoods and sad, mismatched marriages; one can almost feel the heat emanating from the ubiquitous cottage stove. In general, the women suffer tragedies and disappointments but are resilient; the men are insensitive to their wives and outlive them. In "Stories of Africa," an aging priest with the natural curiosity of a celibate presses Mrs. Bagot for details of her simple life. As Brennan observes: "She was talking about herself, and she was amazed to find out how much there was to be said about this person, herself, who had come into the conversation from nowhere and who was now becoming more real, although still invisible, with every word that was spoken." FYI: A collection of Brennan's prose sketches (written under her nom de plume, The Long-winded Lady) is scheduled for reprint in 1998.
