Elizabeth Bowen is widely considered to be one of the greatest novelists ofthis century. While her novels masquerade as witty comedies of manners set inthe lavi... » 

Elizabeth Bowen is widely considered to be one of the greatest novelists ofthis century. While her novels masquerade as witty comedies of manners set inthe lavish country houses of the AngloIrish or in elegant London homes theymine the depths of private tragedy with a subtle ferocity and psychologicalcomplexity reminiscent of Henry James.The Death of the Heart a story of adolescent love and the betrayal ofinnocence is perhaps Bowens bestknown book. When sixteenyearold Portiarecently orphaned arrives in London and falls for an attractive cad aseemingly carefree young man who is as much an outsider in the sophisticatedand politely treacherous world of 1930s drawing rooms as she is theircollision threatens to shatter the carefully built illusions of everyone aroundthem. As she deftly and delicately exposes the cruelty that lurks behind thepolished surfaces of conventional society Bowen reveals herself as a masterfulnovelist who combines a sharp sense of humor with a devastating gift fordivining human motivations. «