{"product_id":"strange-bliss-isbn-9781782277125","title":"Strange Bliss","description":"\u003cb\u003eA beguiling new selection of Katherine Mansfield's finest stories, focused on her mysterious, complex portrayals of relationships between women\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKatherine Mansfield was one of the true pioneers of the short story. Her style shifts subtly between the comic and the tragic, as calm surfaces are punctured by moments of disruption, insight and strange beauty.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis new collection gathers together the best of Mansfield's work exploring different facets of relationships between women. From complex expressions of desire and connection to shared experiences of frustration and release, these stories capture fleeting movements of feeling with unmatched precision.\"One of the genuine, if frequently under-recognized, geniuses of 20th-century literature\" – \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e on Katherine Mansfield\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A great writer and a tragic one\" Irish Times\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The only writing I have ever been jealous of\" Virginia WoolfThe only writing I have ever been jealous of. -- Virginia WoolfKatherine  Mansfield (1888-1923) was one of the foremost writers of the 20th  century. Born and raised in colonial New Zealand, she left for England  at 19 and eventually settled there, often spending time in Continental  Europe. Her first collection of stories, \u003ci\u003eIn a German Pension\u003c\/i\u003e,  appeared in 1911 and she went on to publish widely in avant-garde  magazines. Diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1919, Mansfield wrote many of  her most famous works while plagued with ill health. She spent her final  years seeking treatment in Switzerland and France, where she died aged  34.Prelude\u003cbr\u003eI\u003cbr\u003eThere was not an inch of room for Lottie and\u003cbr\u003eKezia in the buggy. When Pat swung them on top\u003cbr\u003eof the luggage they wobbled; the grandmother’s lap\u003cbr\u003ewas full and Linda Burnell could not possibly have held\u003cbr\u003ea lump of a child on hers for any distance. Isabel, very\u003cbr\u003esuperior, was perched beside the new handy-man on the\u003cbr\u003edriver’s seat. Hold-alls, bags and boxes were piled upon\u003cbr\u003ethe floor. ‘These are absolute necessities that I will not\u003cbr\u003elet out of my sight for one instant,’ said Linda Burnell,\u003cbr\u003eher voice trembling with fatigue and excitement.\u003cbr\u003eLottie and Kezia stood on the patch of lawn just\u003cbr\u003einside the gate all ready for the fray in their coats with\u003cbr\u003ebrass anchor buttons and little round caps with battleship\u003cbr\u003eribbons. Hand in hand, they stared with round\u003cbr\u003esolemn eyes first at the absolute necessities and then at\u003cbr\u003etheir mother.\u003cbr\u003e‘We shall simply have to leave them. That is all. We\u003cbr\u003eshall simply have to cast them off,’ said Linda Burnell.\u003cbr\u003eA strange little laugh flew from her lips; she leaned back\u003cbr\u003eagainst the buttoned leather cushions and shut her eyes,\u003cbr\u003eher lips trembling with laughter. Happily at that moment\u003cbr\u003eMrs Samuel Josephs, who had been watching the scene\u003cbr\u003efrom behind her drawing-room blind, waddled down\u003cbr\u003ethe garden path.\u003cbr\u003e‘Why nod leave the chudren with be for the afterdoon,\u003cbr\u003eBrs Burnell? They could go on the dray with the storeban\u003cbr\u003ewhen he comes in the eveding. Those thigs on the path\u003cbr\u003ehave to go, dod’t they?’\u003cbr\u003e‘Yes, everything outside the house is supposed to go,’\u003cbr\u003esaid Linda Burnell, and she waved a white hand at the\u003cbr\u003etables and chairs standing on their heads on the front\u003cbr\u003elawn. How absurd they looked! Either they ought to be\u003cbr\u003ethe other way up, or Lottie and Kezia ought to stand on\u003cbr\u003etheir heads, too. And she longed to say: ‘Stand on your\u003cbr\u003eheads, children, and wait for the storeman.’ It seemed\u003cbr\u003eto her that would be so exquisitely funny that she could\u003cbr\u003enot attend to Mrs Samuel Josephs.\u003cbr\u003eThe fat creaking body leaned across the gate, and the\u003cbr\u003ebig jelly of a face smiled. ‘Dod’t you worry, Brs Burnell.\u003cbr\u003eLoddie and Kezia can have tea with by chudren in the\u003cbr\u003edursery, and I’ll see theb on the dray afterwards.’\u003cbr\u003eThe grandmother considered. ‘Yes, it really is quite\u003cbr\u003ethe best plan. We are very obliged to you, Mrs Samuel\u003cbr\u003eJosephs. Children, say “thank you” to Mrs Samuel\u003cbr\u003eJosephs.’\u003cbr\u003eTwo subdued chirrups: ‘Thank you, Mrs Samuel\u003cbr\u003eJosephs.’\u003cbr\u003e‘And be good little girls, and—come closer—’ they\u003cbr\u003eadvanced, ‘don’t forget to tell Mrs Samuel Josephs when\u003cbr\u003eyou want to. . . .’\u003cbr\u003e‘No, granma.’\u003cbr\u003e‘Dod’t worry, Brs Burnell.’\u003cbr\u003eAt the last moment Kezia let go Lottie’s hand and\u003cbr\u003edarted towards the buggy.\u003cbr\u003e‘I want to kiss my granma good-bye again.’\u003cbr\u003eBut she was too late. The buggy rolled off up the road,\u003cbr\u003eIsabel bursting with pride, her nose turned up at all the\u003cbr\u003eworld, Linda Burnell prostrated, and the grandmother\u003cbr\u003erummaging among the very curious oddments she had\u003cbr\u003eput in her black silk reticule at the last moment, for\u003cbr\u003esomething to give her daughter. The buggy twinkled\u003cbr\u003eaway in the sunlight and fine golden dust up the hill and\u003cbr\u003eover. Kezia bit her lip, but Lottie, carefully finding her\u003cbr\u003ehandkerchief first, set up a wail.\u003cbr\u003e‘Mother! Granma!’\u003cbr\u003eMrs Samuel Josephs, like a huge warm black silk tea\u003cbr\u003ecosy, enveloped her.\u003cbr\u003e‘It’s all right, by dear. Be a brave child. You come\u003cbr\u003eand blay in the dursery!’\u003cbr\u003eShe put her arm round weeping Lottie and led her\u003cbr\u003eaway. Kezia followed, making a face at Mrs Samuel\u003cbr\u003eJosephs’ placket, which was undone as usual, with two\u003cbr\u003elong pink corset laces hanging out of it. . . .\u003cbr\u003eLottie’s weeping died down as she mounted the stairs,\u003cbr\u003ebut the sight of her at the nursery door with swollen eyes\u003cbr\u003eand a blob of a nose gave great satisfaction to the S. J.’s,\u003cbr\u003ewho sat on two benches before a long table covered with\u003cbr\u003eAmerican cloth and set out with immense plates of bread\u003cbr\u003eand dripping and two brown jugs that faintly steamed.\u003cbr\u003e‘Hullo! You’ve been crying!’\u003cbr\u003e‘Ooh! Your eyes have gone right in.’\u003cbr\u003e‘Doesn’t her nose look funny.’\u003cbr\u003e‘You’re all red-and-patchy.’\u003cbr\u003eLottie was quite a success. She felt it and swelled,\u003cbr\u003esmiling timidly.\u003cbr\u003e‘Go and sit by Zaidee, ducky,’ said Mrs Samuel\u003cbr\u003eJosephs, ‘and Kezia, you sid ad the end by Boses.’\u003cbr\u003eMoses grinned and gave her a nip as she sat down;\u003cbr\u003ebut she pretended not to notice. She did hate boys.\u003cbr\u003e‘Which will you have?’ asked Stanley, leaning across\u003cbr\u003ethe table very politely, and smiling at her. ‘Which will you\u003cbr\u003ehave to begin with—strawberries and cream or bread\u003cbr\u003eand dripping?’\u003cbr\u003e‘Strawberries and cream, please,’ said she.\u003cbr\u003e‘Ah-h-h-h.’ How they all laughed and beat the table\u003cbr\u003ewith their tea-spoons. Wasn’t that a take in! Wasn’t it\u003cbr\u003enow! Didn’t he fox her! Good old Stan!\u003cbr\u003e‘Ma! She thought it was real.’\u003cbr\u003eEven Mrs Samuel Josephs, pouring out the milk and\u003cbr\u003ewater, could not help smiling. ‘You bustn’t tease theb on\u003cbr\u003etheir last day,’ she wheezed.\u003cbr\u003eBut Kezia bit a big piece out of her bread and dripping,\u003cbr\u003eand then stood the piece up on her plate. With\u003cbr\u003ethe bite out it made a dear little sort of a gate. Pooh!\u003cbr\u003eShe didn’t care! A tear rolled down her cheek, but she\u003cbr\u003ewasn’t crying. She couldn’t have cried in front of those\u003cbr\u003eawful Samuel Josephs. She sat with her head bent, and\u003cbr\u003eas the tear dripped slowly down, she caught it with a\u003cbr\u003eneat little whisk of her tongue and ate it before any of\u003cbr\u003ethem had seen.","brand":"Pushkin Collection","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44885008842981,"sku":"NP9781782277125","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781782277125.jpg?v=1767737396","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/strange-bliss-isbn-9781782277125","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}