I really loved the short story I read by Elizabeth Parsons a few weeks ago--so much so that while I could not find much about her life, I did find a collection of stories, An Afternoon, by her and indulged in a copy which happily arrived in today's mail.
I'm afraid it is long out of print, but my copy began its journey in the hands of another reader--Agnes McCarthy back in 1946 when this collection of seventeen stories was first published. There was a time when I would have been disappointed to find only a used copy and not a nice, shiny new one, but now I am very fond of books like this. Considering its age it is in very good condition and I like the idea that Agnes, whoever she was and wherever she lived enjoyed the stories before me.
There is not much in the way of biographical information but here is a bit from the back cover:
"The seventeen stories here collected are related in mood, pervaded with the shimmering air of a summer afternoon, each story capturing deftly a sensitive and lonely person in a heightened moment when the whole inner life has reached a climax. Particularly in her portraits of women and children and young girls does the author give us a sharp vision of the life that is lived in private."
Doesn't that sound wonderful? It does to me and I want to crack open the book right this minute and begin reading!
"Elizabeth Parsons adds a new name to that interesting list of women writers who have made the short story their special and effective medium. Katherine Mansfield, Katherine Anne Porter, and Eudora Welty, among others, would recognize her kinship."
I know the other writers who are mentioned and at least two of the three are still widely read, but how did Elizabeth Parsons fade from view? I am eager to see if her others stories are as good as the story I have read by her. Maybe she is someone who deserves to be rediscovered? Maybe she would even be a candidate for Persephone Books? Hmm. Whatever her fate, I know I am happy to have this book in my hands!
Next really good find--my library has a copy of 40 Best Stories from Mademoiselle 1935-1960 edited by Cyrilly Abels and Margarita G. Smith. I had it so long on my desk I thought it would be worth just owning my own copy to have on hand at home. This collection is a sampling of stories from the now defunct magazine covering twenty-five years by female and male authors. Is there such a thing these days as a women's magazine that actually has short stories in it? Or have short stories fallen by the wayside and become a thing of the past--how sad.
Mademoiselle published some heavy-weights by the way--Alberto Moravia, Shirley Jackson, James Baldwin, Elizabeth Bowen, William Faulkner, Nadine Gordimer among others. I've had the collection for a short time but have not yet read from it. Soon, I hope, since I am moving around in my short story collections each weekend once again.
And lastly two easy to find short story anthologies. I love these sorts of collections. I did a little browsing and came up with Great American Short Stories edited by Wallace and Mary Stegner, which is a survey of American short stories and might be fun to read in order since they are presented by publication date--". . . .twenty-six of America's most celebrated writers provides a comprehensive survey of the origin and growth of this literary form"--from Washington Irving to Hortense Calisher.
American Short Story Masterpieces edited and with an introduction by Raymond Carver and Tom Jenks is a heavier sampling of more modern short story writers like--Anne Beattie, E.L. Doctorow, Richard Ford, Gail Godwin, Grace Paley and John Updike. Lots of authors I "know" but have never read. I have always thought short stories are an excellent introduction to a new-to-me writer.
I'm still waiting on one more anthology, which is out of print but looked like it had a nice selection of stories, too--Twenty Grand Short Stories edited by Ernestine Taggard and published in 1962.
Now I have lots of new material to choose from. You can expect to hear about one (or maybe even more) stories next weekend!