Favours (A Five Year Sentence) – Bernice Rubens

A novel about a woman who intends to literally end her life after retiring, but instead finds herself locked into an obligation of pleasure fulfillment. 1978. 

The Vet’s Daughter – Barbara Comyns

A novel about a young woman who has a desperately ill mother, a violent father, and yet in the midst of never-ending hardship possesses a secret of her own. 1959. 

A Meaningful Life – L.J. Davis

A novel about a failed writer who wakes up one day and realizes his life has no meaning, so he goes in search of some. 1971.  

The Web of Days – Edna Lee

A gothic historical novel about a Yankee governess who goes to work on a decaying plantation during the early Reconstruction period. 1947. Continue reading →

The Feast – Margaret Kennedy

A novel about a group of people at a cliffside hotel on the Cornish coast in the days leading up to the hotel’s destruction. 1949. Continue reading →

Wish Her Safe at Home – Stephen Benatar

First published in 1984; reissued by the NYRB in 2010

 

A novel about a middle-aged woman who inherits a house and is thrilled by the prospect of a new life, but somehow lets her enthusiasm carry her a bit too far. 1984. Continue reading →