The 20 stories in this collection, which have been freshly assembled from Sylvia Townsend Warners archives, have never before been published in book form. They are, therefore, an exceptional and wholly unexpected treasure trove.
In these stories the author of the classic Lolly Willowes is at her most witty and beguiling. Written over five decades, from 1929 to 1977, they are crowded with vivid, irrepressible characters from the nymph hunting chorister to the garrulous mother warding off her daughters unwanted suitors and equally animated objects and incidents. There are tales of romantic love, of the mysteries of marriage, of gardens and houses, of possessions and those that fancy they own them. The centerpiece of the collection is a series of five linked episodes concerning one singular establishment, the Abbey Antique Galleries, its eccentric proprietor, Mr Edom and his erratic staff, clientele and wares.
With a foreword by William Maxwell, her long time editor at theNew Yorker, and edited by Michael Steinman,The Music at Long Verneyis both an important supplement to Sylvia Townsend Warners legacy and the perfect introduction to her light wit and spry social observation.
Sylvia Townsend Warner was born at Harrow-on-the-Hill in London in 1893. Her first novel, Lolly Willowes (1926) brought her instant recognition and succes, but she is best known for her short stories, some 150 of which were published in the New Yorker between 1936 and 1977. Her works included seven novels, 14 collections of stories, a volume of poems and a biography of T. H. White. She died in 1978 in the village of Maiden Newton in Dorset.
