The Second Persephone Book of Short Stories

416pp
ISBN 9781910263228

The Persephone Book of Short Stories (PB No. 100) celebrated our one hundredth book; in 2019, The Second Persephone Book of Short Stories (PB No. 132) celebrated twenty years of publishing, and we hope that it brings the same pleasure to thousands of readers. Again, there are thirty stories, spanning nearly a century (from 1896–1984). Twelve are taken from the twelve volumes of stories we have published over the last few years; nine were previously published in our magazine during the last decade; and nine have been selected especially for this collection. They are presented in the order they were written. A quarter are by North American women writers. Our proofreader wrote: ‘VERY ENJOYABLE, though some of the stories eg. “Monkey-Barges” by Emma Smith are exceedingly painful. It seems to me the common themes are grief over the two World Wars. This is stronger in the earlier part of the book, how to cope with a new order being stronger in the latter. Completely fascinating. Book Groups will love it.’ Some of our favourite short stories in this collection include "The Bedquilt' by Dorothy Canfield Fisher (1906), "The Casualty List" by Winifred Holtby (1932), "Miss Anstruther's Letters" by Rose Macauley (1942), "The Proof" by Mary Rickwood (1954), "Sunday Morning" by Dorothy Whipple (1961), and "Gilbert" by Rosamunde Pilcher (1984), after whom the Persephone office dog is (in part) named. 

Endpaper

The front endpaper (above) is 'Tiger Lily', 1986 by Lindsay Butterfield for GP & J Baker. The back endpaper is 'Havana', a screen-printed cotton fabric design by Susan Collier and Sarah Campbell for Fischbacher Ltd.  Both © V&A Images

Picture Caption

Roger Fry, 'Lady Seated in an Omega Interior', date unknown