A Few Days in the Country: And Other Stories
by Elizabeth Harrower
The short story, with its tight formal constraints, proves to be a fruitful medium for Harrower’s Gothic sensibilities. At the same time, she uses the short form to offer her imprisoned characters a glimpse of freedom—even if the cynical reader will recognize that the promise of escape is ironic…Artful short-form fiction best for Harrower’s dedicated fans.’—Kirkus
‘I can’t recommend this brilliant, austere writer strongly enough…Harrower is funny and elegant and devastating.’—James Wood, New Yorker‘Wide-ranging in mood and style, this is a virtuoso but warm-hearted display of the genre.’—The Lady [UK]
‘These are wise and serious stories about deep feelings. Harrower is one of those writers you can’t believe you’ve missed – but what a joy to discover her.’—Daily Mail [UK]
‘Watchful, witty, unillusioned, exultant…There’s a note of elegy in all of Harrower’s work, even as the adrenaline flows, and a lyricism reminiscent of F. Scott Fitzgerald at his desperate best.’—Times Literary Supplement
‘Harrower can pierce your heart.’—Michael Dirda, the Washington Post
‘Utterly hypnotic.’—Eimear McBride, author of A Girl is a Half-formed Thing
‘Like a treasure from an unearthed time capsule….Harrower’s fearsome objectivity and her bristling, beautiful prose come from modernist masters like Katherine Mansfield and Elizabeth Bowen.’—The Wall Street Journal
Internationally acclaimed for her five brilliant novels, Elizabeth Harrower also wrote a number of extraordinary short stories. Some have been previously published, but others are released here for the first time.
A Few Days in the Country is a stellar collection, which underlines Harrower’s standing as one of the great post-war Australian writers.
Elizabeth Harrower is the author of Down in the City, The Long Prospect, The Catherine Wheel, and The Watch Tower—all republished as Text Classics—and In Certain Circles, which was published in 2014 and in early 2015 was a BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime.
