The Oxford Book of English Love Stories

by John Sutherland (editor)

Adulterous love, marital love, virginal love, religious devotion, agape, lust, there are an infinite variety of meanings that can be packed into the four letters that spell love, and writers of fiction have been trying for centuries to plumb its depths. We turn to literature in large part to learn what love is and what it should be, and readers of The Oxford Book of English Love Stories will find consolation and inspiration in equal measure from some of the sharpest observers of this most essential human emotion.
From the bittersweet ending of Trollope's ultra-Trollopian "The Parson's Daughter of Oxney Colne;" to the intricate rituals of courtship in Sylvia Plath's "Stone Boy with Dolphin;" to Paul Theroux's sardonic study of innocence in "An English Unofficial Rose," this collection is a looking glass into the many moods of love. Editor John Sutherland has searched two centuries of English literature to select twenty-eight wholly original works, choosing those that best represent the rich and varied nature of love itself. Readers will find stories by Mary Shelley, W. M. Thackeray, Thomas Hardy, H. G. Wells, John Galsworthy, Virginia Woolf, Aldous Huxley, Graham Greene, and many others, all of which explore the infinite varieties of love and its shifting rules. Indeed, the rules of the game of love tend to change with every new set of players and with each generation. In D.H. Lawrence's "Samson and Delilah," the game is violent and fraught with physical injury. In Katherine Mansfield's
"Something Childish but very Natural," love is more reminiscent of two people playing chess blindfolded. And, in Joyce Cary's "The Tunnel," it seems that the lovers cannot, tantalizingly, even get themselves on to the same playing field.
Bittersweet endings, ironic angles on traditional platitudes, and other surprises make the insights of writers such as Elizabeth Bowen, W. Somerset Maugham, or V. S. Pritchett always fresh and challenging. Simple or sophisticated, sometimes hilarious and often very moving, The Oxford Book of English Love Stories brings a delightful perspective to the mysteries of love.

Genres: Short Stories, Anthologies

464 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

John Andrew Sutherland is an English academic, newspaper columnist and author. He is Emeritus Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at University College London.

Reviews

[Annabelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pity Goodreads doesn't do half stars. Because this review is for 4 1/2 stars. Arranged chronologically, I didn't quite take to some two or three tales; the first one, by Aphra Behn, I didn't get at all (it was too archaic for this dense reader), ditto with The Wish House by Kipling, some of whose short stories I hold dear. Add to this Elizabeth Bowen's A Love Story--what was that all about?

In the hope that I may still be moved by some of the engaging to very powerful stories in this collection, below is my list of future recommended re-readings to myself:

- The Parson's Daughter of Oxney Colne by Anthony Trollope
- To Esther by Anne Ritchie (my first time to come across this lady writer, who intrigues me, as her plot and prose sound like Maugham's)
- Olive's Lover by C.C.K. Gonner
- Miss Winchelsea's Heart by H.G. Wells
- A Long-Ago Affair by John Galsworthy (these days, this delightful encounter would be filed under flash fiction)
- Episode by W. Somerset Maugham (having already devoured so many of his short, delectable treats, this one included, I can imagine the difficulty John Sutherland had in choosing only one Maugham love story to share here)
- Fifty Pounds by A.E. Coppard
- The Legacy by Virginia Woolf (my favorite from this selection)
- Love and Money by Phyllis Bentley
- Blind Love by V.S. Pritchett
- The Blue Film by Graham Greene (along with a handful of other stories, Sawi introduced this piece of flash fiction to me some summers ago; a summer or two later, I would discover Graham Greene's masterful and pointed wit on my own)
- An English Unofficial Rose by Paul Theroux
- A Small Spade by Adam Mars-Jones (the longest story here, this one's almost a novella)

[Jeff Hobbs]

Read so far:

The adventure of the Black Lady / Aphra Behn --2
The picture / William Hazlitt --
The trial of love / Mary Shelley --3
The heart of John Middleton / Elizabeth Gaskell --
*Dennis Haggarty's wife / W.M. Thackeray --
The parson's daughter of Oxney Colne / Anthony Trollope --3
To Esther / Anne Ritchie --
*Enter a dragoon / Thomas Hardy --
Olive's lover / C.C.K. Gonner --
*The wish house / Rudyard Kipling --
*Miss Winchelsea's heart / H.G. Wells --
*A long-ago affair / John Galsworthy --
Claribel / Arnold Bennett --3
*Episode / W. Somerset Maugham --
Fifty pounds / A.E. Coppard --3
The legacy / Virginia Woolf --4
*Samson and Delilah / D.H. Lawrence --
The tunnel / Joyce Cary --3
Something childish but very natural / Katherine Mansfield --2
Love and money / Phyllis Bentley --
*Hubert and Minnie / Aldous Huxley --
*A love story / Elizabeth Bowen --
*Blind love / V.S. Pritchett --
*The blue film / Graham Greene --
Stone boy with dolphin / Sylvia Plath --
An English unofficial rose / Paul Theroux --
The loveliness of the long-distance runner / Sara Maitland --
*A small spade / Adam Mars-Jones--

[Laura B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly not The Oxford Book of Requited English Love Stories.