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The only novel by avant-garde literary star Jane Bowles, the
highly influential wife of legendary writer Paul Bowles, Two
Serious Ladies is a modernist cult classic, mysterious, profound,
anarchic, and funny, that follows two "respectable" women as they
descend into debauchery--updated with an introduction by Claire
Messud, bestselling author of The Emperor's Children and The Woman
Upstairs.
Christina Goering, eccentric and adventurous, and Frieda
Copperfield, anxious but enterprising, are two serious ladies who
want to live outside of themselves. Old friends, each will take a
surprising path in search of salvation: during a visit to Panama,
Mrs. Copperfield abandons her husband, finding solace in a
relationship with a teenage prostitute; while Miss Goering, a
wealthy spinster, pursues sainthood via sordid encounters with the
basest of men. At the end the two women meet again, each radically
altered by her experience.
'My favourite book. I can't think of a modern novel that seems more
likely to become a classic' Tennessee Williams 'The book I give as
a gift . . . It feels like giving someone an exotic fruit' Sheila
Heti 'A modern legend . . . A very funny writer' Truman Capote
'Profoundly witty, genuinely unusual in its apprehensions, and
bracingly, humanely true' Claire Messud I am going on a trip. Wait
until I tell you about it. it's terrible. Miss Goering, an
eccentric, impulsive New York heiress, resides in her house and
tries not to be unhappy. Mrs Copperfield, an anxious, dutiful
married woman, has a great fear of drowning, of lifts, of intruders
in the night. Two serious ladies, nothing is natural for them and
anything is possible. For Mrs Copperfield - a trip to Panama, where
she abandons her husband for love of a local prostitute. For Miss
Goering - a move to a squalid little house on an island and a
series of sordid encounters with strangers. Both go to pieces -and
both realise this is something they've wanted to do for years. With
an introduction by Naoise Dolan A W&N Essential
WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY CHRIS POWER 'Readers who've not yet read
Jane Bowles are almost to be envied, like people who've still to
read Austen or Mansfield or Woolf' Ali Smith 'The most important
writer of prose fiction in modern American letters' Tennessee
Williams 'A modern legend' Truman Capote 'Bowles is a master of the
unforgettable phrase that no one else could have written' William
S. Burroughs 'A dizzyingly original stylist' New York Times "It's
the truth," the women said from their mattress "Everything is
nice". Alva, a widow, states a preference for plain ordinary
pleasures - only to get drunk and flirtatious, and pass out in a
strange bed when she is asked out for the evening. Sadie, a
spinster, goes to a holiday resort complete with pine groves,
marshmallows and respectable clientele - to bring her nervous
sister home, but instead comes to an eerie end herself. Mary, a
little girl, spends her days in a clay pit leading an imaginary
army of hard-muscled men. But hen a strange boy invades her
headquarters, Mary abandons her soldiers to follow him home.
Disturbing, unforgettable, totally unique - Jane Bowles' short
stories explore the hidden lives of women that only appear
ordinary. A W&N Essential
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