Elizabeth Bowen: as good as Henry James

Tessa Hadley in the Times

Bowen’s solemn attentiveness to things is almost religious, but on the other hand she’s wry and realistic, full of the comedy and irony of those same things. In its stretch of expression and penetration of thought, Bowen’s writing seems to me as rare as Henry James’s; the ambition of her novels and stories is like his too. As with James, her intelligence can’t be separated from her sensuous apprehension. Her work reassures the reader that life is as intricate, and amusing, and profound, as she makes it out in her sentences.

From this piece by Tessa Hadley in The Times. Perhaps we should say she’s as good as James at his best. When he is dull, he is very very dull, but when he is good he’s extraordinary.