World Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Elizabeth Bowen

エリザベス・ボーエン

Erizabesu Bōen

Aliases: Elizabeth Dorothea Cole Bowen

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1899-06-07 (Dublin)
Died
1973-02-22 (London) age 73
Nationality
Anglo-Irish, British
Languages
English
Religion
Anglican (Church of Ireland) Baptized in 1899 Baptismal Name: Elizabeth Dorothea Cole Bowen
Residence History
Dublin, Ireland → Bowen's Court, County Cork, Ireland → Hythe, Kent, England → Near Oxford, England → Regent's Park, London → Bowen's Court (again) → Hythe, Kent (final)

Career

Occupations
novelist, short story writer
Active Years
1923-1973
Affiliations
Irish Academy of Letters, British Ministry of Information
Memberships
Irish Academy of Letters (1937)
Influenced By
Bloomsbury Group, Rose Macaulay
Influenced
Anthony Burgess, Robert Aickman
Nominations
Nobel Prize in Literature nomination (1958), Booker Prize shortlist (1970)

Education

Downe House School
General Education
Period: 1910年代
Country: England
Under headship of Olive Willis

Awards

Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
1948
Organization: British Government
Result: 受賞
James Tait Black Memorial Prize
1969
Work: Eva Trout
Organization: University of Edinburgh
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Last September

1929 Novel

Story set in an Irish Big House.

Big HouseShadows of war
Adaptations
  • [Film] The Last September / デボラ・ウォー (1999)

The House in Paris

1936 Novel

Psychological drama set in Paris.

SecretsBetrayal
Adaptations
  • [TV] The House in Paris / :null (1959)

The Death of the Heart

1938 Novel

Innocent girl's coming-of-age and betrayal.

InnocenceBetrayal
Adaptations
  • [TV] The Death of the Heart / :null (1987)

The Heat of the Day

1949 Novel

London during WWII.

WarEspionage
Adaptations
  • [TV] The Heat of the Day / :null (1989)

Eva Trout

1968 Novel

Story of an eccentric woman.

IdentityChange

Bibliography

  • The Hotel (1927)
  • The Last September (1929)
  • Friends and Relations (1931)
  • To the North (1932)
  • The House in Paris (1935)
  • The Death of the Heart (1938)
  • The Heat of the Day (1949)
  • A World of Love (1955)
  • The Little Girls (1964)
  • Eva Trout (1968)

Adaptations

  • The Last September (1999 film)
  • The Death of the Heart (1987 TV)
  • The Heat of the Day (1989 TV)
  • The House in Paris (1959 TV)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Highly wrought modernist styleSubtle psychological insightFilm-influenced techniques
Recurring Motifs
Big HouseSecrets and betrayalWar's impactGhosts

Health

  • Lung cancer
    1972-1973
    Led to her death; impacted late writing.

Legacy

Key Anglo-Irish writer known for Big House novels and wartime fiction. Multiple blue plaques.

Archives

  • Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas

In Popular Culture

  • Cited as classic depiction of WWII London.

Trivia

  • Nominated for Nobel Prize.
  • Her marriage was described as sexless but happy.
  • Inherited and sold Bowen's Court.