Bowen, Elizabeth

Bowen, Elizabeth

▪ British author
in full  Elizabeth Dorothea Cole Bowen  
born June 7, 1899, Dublin, Ire.
died Feb. 22, 1973, London, Eng.
 British novelist and short-story writer who employed a finely wrought prose style in fictions frequently detailing uneasy and unfulfilling relationships among the upper-middle class. The Death of the Heart (1938), the title of one of her most highly praised novels, might have served for most of them.

      Bowen was born of the Anglo-Irish gentry and spent her early childhood in Dublin, as related in her autobiographical fragment Seven Winters (1942), and at the family house she later inherited at Kildorrery, County Cork. The history of the house is recounted in Bowen's Court (1942), and it is the scene of her novel The Last September (1929), which takes place during the troubles that preceded Irish independence. When she was 7, her father suffered a mental illness, and she departed for England with her mother, who died when Elizabeth was 12. An only child, she lived with relatives on the Kentish coast.

      With a little money that enabled her to live independently in London and to winter in Italy, Bowen began writing short stories at 20. Her first collection, Encounters, appeared in 1923. It was followed in 1927 by The Hotel, which contains a typical Bowen heroine—a girl attempting to cope with a life for which she is unprepared. The Last September (1929) is an autumnal picture of the Anglo-Irish gentry. The House in Paris (1935), another of Bowen's highly praised novels, is a story of love and betrayal told partly through the eyes of two children.

      During World War II, Bowen worked for the Ministry of Information in London and served as an air raid warden. Her novel set in wartime London, The Heat of the Day (1949), is among her most significant works. The war also forms the basis for one of her collections of short stories, The Demon Lover (1945; U.S. title, Ivy Gripped the Steps). Her essays appear in Collected Impressions (1950) and Afterthought (1962). Bowen's last book, Pictures and Conversations (1975), is an introspective, partly autobiographical collection of essays and articles.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Bowen,Elizabeth Dorothea Cole — Bowen, Elizabeth Dorothea Cole. 1899 1973. Irish born British writer best known for her novels, notably The House in Paris (1935) and The Heat of the Day (1949). * * * …   Universalium

  • Bowen, Elizabeth — ► (1899 1973) Novelista irlandesa en lengua inglesa. Obras: El hotel, La casa en París, La muerte del corazón y Mujercitas, entre otras …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Bowen, Elizabeth (Dorothea Cole) — born June 7, 1899, Dublin, Ire. died Feb. 22, 1973, London, Eng. Irish born British novelist and short story writer. Among her novels are The House in Paris (1935), The Death of the Heart (1938), and The Heat of the Day (1949). Her short story… …   Universalium

  • Bowen, Elizabeth (Dorothea Cole) — (7 jun. 1899, Dublín, Irlanda–22 feb. 1973, Londres, Inglaterra). Novelista y cuentista británica de origen irlandés. Entre sus novelas se cuentan La casa en París (1935), La muerte del corazón (1938) y El calor del día (1949). Entre sus obras… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Bowen — Bowen, Elizabeth …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Elizabeth Bowen — Elizabeth Dorothea Cole Bowen (7 June 1899 ndash; 22 February 1973) was an Anglo Irish novelist and short story writer. Bowen was born in Dublin and later brought to Bowen’s Court in County Cork where she spent her summers. When her father became …   Wikipedia

  • BOWEN (E.) — BOWEN ELIZABETH (1899 1973) Née à Dublin, Elizabeth Bowen est pourtant moins marquée par ses origines irlandaises que beaucoup de ses compatriotes qui comme elle se sont tournés vers la littérature. C’est que très jeune elle quitte l’Irlande pour …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Elizabeth — /i liz euh beuhth/, n. 1. Douay Bible. Elisabeth. 2. (Elizaveta Petrovna) 1709 62, empress of Russia 1741 62 (daughter of Peter the Great). 3. (Pauline Elizabeth Ottilie Luise, Princess of Wied) ( Carmen Sylva ) 1843 1916, queen of Rumania 1881… …   Universalium

  • Elizabeth — ► C. de E.U.A., en el estado de Nueva Jersey; 110 000 h. Universidad de Princeton. * * * (as used in expressions) Agassiz, Elizabeth Cabot Elizabeth Cabot Cary Anderson, Elizabeth Garret Julia Elizabeth Wells Arden, Elizabeth Bishop, Elizabeth… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Elizabeth Bowen — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Elizabeth Bowen Nombre Elizabeth Dorothea Cole Bowen Nacimiento 7 de junio de 1899 Dublín (Irlanda) Defunción …   Wikipedia Español

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