Published in 1992
325 pages
What is this book about?
The twenty-seven women writers included here have certainly done their jobs well. You are sure to shiver while reading these well-told tales. A. S. Byatt, A. L. Barker, Richmal Crompton, Celia Fremlin, Penelope Lively, Daphne du Maurier, Ruth Rendell, and Jean Rhys are among the writers whose stories reveal the extraordinary range and development of a genre that has thrilled readers for over two hundred years. Featuring some of the finest writers of the twentieth century, this is an absorbing, unsettling, and irresistible read.
Helpful review from Bailey on goodreads:
Having read my fair share of spooky anthologies, my expectations were quite meh going in. I was prepared for many duplicates of stories from other anthologies (lookin’ at you, Oxford Editions), and just overall retread from story to story, given the niche subject of ghosts. But this had it all: gory gems, murder by spirit, Russian nesting dolls (AKA: a story within a story), humor and heart, each written in a style all her own; some were old, some new. I suppose you could deem my list minuscule, but they all left me uneasily sifting through the shadows once finished:
“With or Without Buttons” – Mary Butts
“Don’t Tell Cissie” – Celia Fremlin
“The Book” – Margaret Irwin
“The Grey Men” – Rebecca West
“The Station Road” – Ann Bridge
“Prelude” – Pamela Sewell
“I Used to Live Here Once” – Jean Rhys
“Who’s Been Sitting in My Car?” – Antonia Fraser
“The House of Shadows” – Mary Elizabeth Counselman
“Rosalind” – Richmal Crompton
“The Dream of a Fair Woman” – A.L. Barker
“The Landlady” – Elinor Mordaunt
