The House in Paris (Penguin Modern Classics) [Mass Market Paperback]

Elizabeth Bowen (Author), A. S. Byatt (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1996 | Series: Penguin Modern Classics

Two children, strangers, wait in a house in Paris: Leopold for his mother, whom he has never seen; Henrietta for a train. Upstairs an old woman lies dying and her sad unfulfilled daughter flutters hopelessly round her...

Slowly exposing the apprehensions of the children and the reasons for their presence in the house, Elizabeth Bowen releases all her psychological insight, her charmed prose and unerring feel for atmosphere into a masterpiece of delicacy and restraint.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This 1935 novel is considered among Bowen's best. Eleven-year-old Henrietta is visting the Fisher family in Paris. The character of the city, however, has nothing on the characters inside the residence, including Leopold, a child; his unusual mother; a dead father who has as much presence as any of the living; and an old man dying in bed. There's something dark about the goings-on here, which Henrietta learns firsthand.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

“Her most atmospheric book . . . very eerie and richly descriptive.” –Daily Telegraph (London)

“Bowen has flashes of the authentic Jamesian subtlety . . . [and] her own disturbing, searching presentation of complex human relationships. . . . Strikingly terse and original.” –The Christian Science Monitor

“A compelling story, inspired with a deep insight into human nature.” –Times Literary Supplement (London) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (May 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140005358
• ISBN-13: 978-0140005356
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,958,102 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Between Romance and Convention, September 27, 2005

By 

Roger Brunyate "reader/writer/musician" (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The House in Paris (Paperback)

Magnificent! An altogether more mature novel than The Last September, leaner and richer at the same time. It is one of those books one wants simultaneously to speed through for the sake of the plot, and to linger over for the elegance and economy of the author's style and acuteness of her psychological insights. The Anchor edition serves it ill, I fear, by printing the revealing but otherwise excellent essay by A.S. Byatt as a preface rather than afterword, and by implying on the back jacket that the narrative is focused on the child Henrietta who, though brought to brilliant life, turns out to be a peripheral character. So one is at first confused by the shifts in viewpoint and authorial tone which are one of Bowen's strengths. And her subtlety in teasing out questions of personal identity between the competing powers of romance and convention is a delight from start to finish.

43 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is inspiring and thought provoking., April 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The House in Paris (Penguin Twentieth Century Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

The House in Paris is about making choices.

It starts by introducing the reader to 11 year old Henrietta who passes through the House in Paris while on her way to visit her Grandmother in Mentone. We are later introduced to Leopold. He is a nine year old boy, going to visit his mother in the House in Paris, whom he has never met. The house belongs to Madame Fisher and her daughter Naomi.

The story then goes backwards, we find out how Leopold came to be. His mother had a tryst with Max while being engaged to someone else. Leopold's Father Max was Naomi's Fiance, whom he would have married had he not killed himself. I will not give the ending away, but the threads of the story come together and everyone has a connection to the house. Bowen's descriptive style of writing is evident throughout the chapters. I can guarantee readers that they won't want to put this book down. You wish the story wouldn't end.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Moment before Adulthood, September 28, 2007

By 

Nadine A. Swahnberg "Unicat" (Lakewood, CO United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The House in Paris (Paperback)

This is a charming saga of young Henrietta, 11, on her trip through Paris, changing trains and sent to stay with a grandmother's friend. She finds herself in the middle of a classic family drama involving Leopold, another child also at the house who turns out to be the love-child of a yound woman who lived there during a Paris stay some years ago. As the family's pathetic attempt to cover this up unravels, Henrietta--who is at that Carol Gilligan moment of moral clarity before sexual motives unfold in her own experience--finds out for herself what motivates the adults in the House.

A surprising ending occurs, that some of you will like in this book primarily about women, and others will find a deus ex machina.