SOURCE: An introduction to The Stories of William Sansoni, The Hogarth Press, 1963, pp. 7-12.

Bowen was an Anglo-Irish fiction writer and critic. Her novels and short stories are often compared with the fiction of Virginia Woolf and display similar stylistic control and subtle insight in the portrayal of human relationships. Bowen is also noted for her series of supernatural stories set in London during World War II. Here, she asserts that two of Sansom's greatest strengths are his ability to convey hallucination and to depict scenes. She also comments on Sansom's ability to achieve "a compulsive hold on the reader."

Rare is the writer with command of his powers who absolutely cannot write a short story—if he so desire, or if (as may happen) it be desired of him. Few there must be who have not, at one time or another, wanted to try the hand at...