cover image A Party for the Girls: Six Stories

A Party for the Girls: Six Stories

H. E. Bates. New Directions Publishing Corporation, $21.95 (243pp) ISBN 978-0-8112-1050-8

""The girls'' in the title story of this collection by the late British writer ``were no longer quite so young. Some were early-to-bedders; many of them played bridge in the afternoon or had sleeps and later went out to tea.'' When an unexpected male guest arrives at the afternoon party, the women are transformed and the atmosphere becomes charged with memories of youth, reawakened passions and competitive flirtation. The author of A Month by the Lake & Other Stories continues to display a mastery of understatement, whether the setting is a remote island or the subject is an illicit liaison between a middle-aged man and a young girl. ``A Great Day for Bonzo'' gives pristine expression to the innocent adventure of three young children. Although the British writer has not achieved here the reputation he enjoyed in England, American readers will find much to admire in these carefully composed stories. (April)