Elizabeth Bowen, The House in Paris

Genevieve Brassard (University of Portland)

Ed. by Cristina Sandru, The Literary Encyclopedia
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Gina Lyle (University of York), Graham MacPhee (University of Manchester), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1935

Places

Ireland, Republic of (Eire) (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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Reminiscent of Henry James’s

What Maisie Knew

The Turn of the Screw

, Elizabeth Bowen’s

The House in Paris

has been described as a French novel in English, and not only for its obvious geographical setting. Interiority, attention to the unsaid or the barely articulated, and the power of passion to transform lives all play key roles in this rich and emotionally absorbing story, a favorite among devoted Bowen fans.

As she would do later in The Death of the Heart, Bowen expertly imagines children as entities separate from, and as psychologically complex as, the supposedly mature adults in control of their destiny. The novel opens and ends with the young Henrietta and Leopold in transit in Paris, and in the space of a single day their lives are changed irrevocably. They have been

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909 words

Citation: Brassard, Genevieve. "The House in Paris". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 04 June 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=10654, accessed 22 November 2024.]

Elizabeth Bowen, The House in Paris

Dates

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