Part of Series
For many, Walter de la Mare is as great a writer of fiction as of poetry. Sadly, the majority of his short stories have been unavailable for some time. Now this welcome volume, the second of three, brings together more stories written between 1927 and 1956, including "On the Edge, The Wind Blows Over, A Beginning and Other Stories, " as well as four uncollected stories and four unpublished stories. <>Contents of Short Stories 1927-1956: (1) On the Edge: Short Stories (1930): A Recluse; Willows; Crewe; At First Sight; The Green Room; The Orgy; An Idyll; The Picnic; An Ideal Craftsman. (2) The Wind Blows Over (1936): What Dreams May Come; Cape Race; Physic; The Talisman; In The Forest; A Froward Child; Miss Miller; The House; A Revenant; A Nest of Singing-Birds; The Trumpet. (3) A Beginning and Other Stories (1955): Odd Shop; Music; The Stranger; Neighbours; The Princess; The Guardian; The Face; The Cartouche; The Picture; The Quincunx; An Anniversary; Bad Company; A Beginning. (4) Uncollected stories: The Lynx; A Sort of Interview; The Miller's Tale; A:B:O. (5) Unpublished stories: The Orgy: an Idyll, part II; Late; Pig; Dr Iggatt.
Author
Walter John de la Mare was an English poet, short story writer and novelist, probably best remembered for his works for children and The Listeners. He was descended from a family of French Huguenots, and was educated at St Paul's School. His first book, Songs of Childhood, was published under the name Walter Ramal. He worked in the statistics department of the London office of Standard Oil for eighteen years while struggling to bring up a family, but nevertheless found enough time to write, and, in 1908, through the efforts of Sir Henry Newbolt he received a Civil List pension which enabled him to concentrate on writing; One of de la Mare's special interests was the imagination, and this contributed both to the popularity of his children's writing and to his other work occasionally being taken less seriously than it deserved. De la Mare also wrote some subtle psychological horror stories; "Seaton's Aunt" and "Out of the Deep" are noteworthy examples. His 1921 novel, Memoirs of a Midget, won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction.
