SOURCE: Caless, B. W. Review of A Traveller's Room, by Elspeth Davie. British Book News (April–May 1985): 361.

In the following review of A Traveller's Room, Caless regards Davie's stories as excellent works of fiction that are imaginative and intelligent.

This [A Traveller's Room] is Elspeth Davie's fourth collection of short stories and surpasses her previous work—excellent as that was—in skill and poise. She is a writer who uses traditional narrative methods but extends the range of short fiction with the sheer scale of her imagination. There are nineteen stories here, and each one is a gem. ‘Lines’ is written from a child's perspective and concerns a thoughtless group of teenagers who plan a revenge on an old lady only to have the tables uncomfortably turned on them. ‘The Gift’, ‘In the Train’ and ‘A Field in Space’ are stories that demonstrate succinctly how misleading impressions can...