Anyone have any thoughts on Molly Keane?

Thanks for starting this thread sarajill and looking for more neglected women.

I like the Molly Keane I have read. (You should see the dicussion going on about her in the Virago group). There is a subtle brutality under the veneer of interpersonal relationships that could be difficult to take but I suspect has the right edge for NYRB.

Actually, the subtle viciousness of some of her characters reminds me of The Slaves of Solitude

Don't know her, but I'd love to see NYRB publish Honor Tracy's The Straight and Narrow Path, a hysterically funny and satiric novel about Ireland, the Catholic church, English newspapermen and much more. (In fact, I suggested this to NYRB via their web site.) It is sadly out of print and my copy, which was my mother's, is falling apart from age and multiple rereadings.

I have said it ad nauseam (and probably, by now, someone would like to hit me on the head with a very heavy book), but I would love to see NYRB publish House of Liars by Elsa Morante, which has been out of print for quite a while and is too wonderful a book to be neglected.
Another author I would like to see published is Annie Vivanti, an Anglo-Italian writer who lived between the end of 19th and the beginning of 20th centuries. She wrote extensively both in English (her mother tongue) and Italian, novels and some fine short stories. If you think it might be interesting, sarajill, I shall be happy to tell you more about her. I know the Italian editor of her works, which have been published by Sellerio. Her works have been out of print for a very long time in the US and Britain, and she has been re-published in Italy only recently, and with great success. Oh, and as far as I heard from her editor, the copyright on her works has expired.

I'll mention again (I think it was in this group...) the turn-of-the-century Hungarian Margit Kaffka, contemporary of Mansfield and Woolf.

Anna Maria Ortese doesn't seem to have been widely translated into English, and she's a marvellous, unclassifiable writer.

Anna Seghers must be due for a revival.

What about Silvina Ocampo?

That is interesting Lola. Who is Silvina Ocampo?

Message edited by its author, Nov 19, 2008, 6:10pm.

An Argentine writer from the circle around the 'Sur" magazine (founded by her sister, Victoria Ocampo). She was married to Borges' friend and collaborator Bioy Casares. Wrote lovely strange stories and poetry.

Even MORE interesting! And, I forgot to mention before, Margit Kaffka sounds like someone who should definitely be reprinted.

Message edited by its author, Nov 19, 2008, 6:14pm.

I have had great trouble finding books by Vera Cacciatore translated into English - could her works be considered for publication or is she too contemporary?

mrspenny, I confess my ignorance, but I have never heard of Vera Cacciatore!

aluvalibri - I have a book of three short stories by VC called The Swing. The other stories are The Bridge and Demetrio. This was translated by W.J. Strachan and published in 1959 by Eyre & Spottiswoode. In the flyleaf the author is described as an Italian writer of distinction. However, she is not included in the Companion to Italian Literature. I liked her style of writing in the short stories. I have just ordered a copy of another book by VC called A Room in Rome. Apart from those two, there doesn't seem to be many of her works available.

My first vote goes to women writers in translation: I feel unqualified to offer suggestions here because if they're not translated, I haven't read them (unless they happen to be written in French). One American writer who has been unjustly neglected is Jean Stafford. I would recommend her Boston Adventure. It's a quirky, bizarre novel peopled by enough eccentrics to fill an asylum. It also has a mean edge to it. One Argentine writer (fantasy but literary fantasy--no elves and such) of whose work I would like to read more is Angelica Gorodischer. Small Beer Press has published one of her novels Kalpa Imperial translated by Ursula Le Guin. Judging from the lyrical prose, Le Guin either added a lot or has an excellent feel for Gorodischer's work. I have no idea what the quality of Gorodischer other works. I was unsuccessful in locating any other work of hers. Helena Parente Cunha, author of Woman Between Mirrors, might be interesting to pursue. Woman Between Mirrors was excellent.

#11> Interesting.....I will do some research and let you know. However, as I said, I have never heard of her and, as you can imagine, my knowledge of Italian lit and fiction is quite good (show off!!!!).
;-)

Message edited by its author, Nov 20, 2008, 8:22am.

Thank you - you are too modest!!! - I would describe your knowledge of Italian lit and fiction as excellent - I'm keen to know what your research may discover about the mysterious VC - maybe she discovered she was a better cook than a writer and created chicken cacciatore:-))))))

Message edited by its author, Nov 20, 2008, 8:30am.

My dear mrspenny, you have me in stitches!!!!!!
Thank you for bringing a laughter into my day.
:-))))))

Thanks for all of this. Interesting and not run-of-the-mill suggestions.

Will re-read all of this over more carefully. But a few quick responses. We looked at Anna Seghers several years ago. But another publisher bought up the rights at the time. (Edited: Just realized that I was confusing her with Anna Kavan. We DID look at Seghurs, though. The book I read was Transit. Wasn't convinced. Any other of her books worth looking at?)

We've just bought Jean Stafford's The Mountain Lion. So look for that in about a year and a half.

Message edited by its author, Nov 20, 2008, 12:48pm.

The Mountain Lion is good, but it doesn't hold a candle to Boston Adventure. I've read everything Jean Stafford has written. Boston Adventure is amazing.

Message edited by its author, Nov 20, 2008, 1:14pm.

>17 I like Jean Stafford, too, and think she is unjustly neglected. I haven't read everything by her but agree with you on Boston Adventure.

>16 I am so glad that something she wrote will be back in print!

Message edited by its author, Nov 20, 2008, 1:39pm.

Thank you Marise for reminding me that I should be glad that anything by Stafford is returning to print. Thanks to NYRB for this.

I've just started reading Susan Glaspell's 1929 novel Fugitive's Return, which has been described as "a modernist tour de force." It is evidently out of print, and only one copy is available on Amazon. Persephone publishes two of Glaspell's novels (Fidelity and Brook Evans). Does NYRB want to snatch up Fugitive's Return?

Excellent idea, Rob! She needs to be republished in the US, her books are just too hard to find!

I've blogged my review of Fugitive's Return. It really should be reprinted. What a wonderful novel!

I just finished School of the Sun (aka Primera Memoria) by Ana Maria Matute and loved it. The copy I have was published by Quartet Encounters; I think they are currently out of business. It's a lushly written, tragic coming-of-age story set during the Spanish Civil War. Also, the book is the first in a trilogy - the others being The Soldiers Cry at Night and The Trap. I think Matute's short stories are regularly used for Spanish classes (I read a couple back in high school, and my friend, who was a Spanish major, said they also read some at the university). It looks like most of her books are out of print on Amazon; it would be great if NYRB could reprint some of her work.

I liked Elinor Glyn's early books--The Visits of Elizabeth, The Reflections of Ambrosine, The Vicissitudes of Evangeline (aka Red Hair), and Elizabeth Visits America. I would also like to read 'It' and Other Stories but haven't found a copy yet. I think her books are in the public domain and are available at gutenberg.org.

http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/...

Message edited by its author, Sep 21, 2009, 12:36pm.

I just finished The Hour of the Star by Brazilian author Clarice Lispector (died in 1977). She is definitely NYRB material.

Message edited by its author, Sep 29, 2009, 7:03pm.

Is the Mitford family still keeping Nancy Mitford's Wigs on the Green out of print? I'd like to read that.

Did Elizabeth Hardwick write fiction other than Sleepless Nights?

#27> The Ghostly Lover and Simple Truth, for example.

I did a simple search and can answer my own question: The Ghostly Lover and The Simple Truth.

Anyone have an opinion about Isabel Colegate? particularly the Orlando novels? She is/was published by Virago, so I thought there might well be some readers of her work here.

@inaudible We have a collection of Elizabeth Hardwick's short stories coming out next year. Most of them were published in the New Yorker, a few others in the New York Review, and handful of oddballs. Her close friend Darryl Pinkney is writing the introduction.

I am getting ready to read Colegate's novel The Shooting Party. I will let you know what I think.

31> Fabulous! I wish there was more here in Lexington celebrating her.

Not just neglected women authors but another LT friend sent me a link to this neglected book blog. It seems like it might be a dangerous thing for many here.

http://www.neglectedbooks.com/

Very dangerous site! But having just read the NYRB edition of Lolly Willowes, I certainly would love to read more by Sylvia Townsend Warner.

I recently read an inter-library loan copy of If It Prove Fair Weather by Isabel Paterson and think she would be an excellent candidate for NYRB publication. Her novels have never been reprinted, to my knowledge and it is very hard to find her fiction.

I learned about her on the neglected books site Marensr linked above in #34.

I love Isabel Colegate's work, especially Deceits of Time and The Summer of the Royal Visit. She's an author who never fails to challenge and surprise me.

Message edited by its author, Oct 15, 2009, 11:19pm.

>37: I just may check those other Isabel Colgate books out. I feel the same about the Orlando Trilogy. What an interesting and engaging writer. Surprised to find so little discussion of her, even in the Virago forum.

>38: Winter Journey is another Colegate book I admire.

Message edited by its author, Oct 16, 2009, 9:26pm.

S. T. Haymon's two books about her childhood are quite wonderful: Opposite the Cross Keys and The Quivering Tree

I just finished Voltaire in Love by Nancy Mitford and liked it as much as I liked Madame de Pompadour. It is not only written by a woman but Voltaire's mistress, the Marquise du Châtelet, was better than Voltaire at math and science--she translated Isaac Newton into French. Voltaire in Love is not a traditional love story at all and Nancy Mitford is excellent at bringing historical figures to life and making them interesting.