The purple swamp hen, survivor and keen-eyed observer of passion and turbulence, escapes the volcanic eruption to settle in a quieter future landscape “where things are done differently but it is not for me to proclaim progress, or otherwise”. Even as the bird introduces himself – “Porphyrio porphyrio, if you are into taxonomy and Latin binomials” – a line is drawn down the centuries to the world of Lively’s clever, circumspect, thoughtful old age. It is narrated by a small but exotic bird ornamenting an ancient garden in the lethal shadow of Vesuvius, which is “unlike any you have ever known … It hosted fornication, rape, child abuse, grievous bodily harm”. At first glance her fifth collection, The Purple Swamp Hen, appears modest on a number of fronts: with the exception of the title story, their territory is the familiarly English, the bookish, the intellectual, the middle-class and their language is precise and careful.Īnd yet the story that looks at first like the odd one out turns out to set the tone for this immensely enjoyable collection. Compare Standard and Premium Digital here.Īny changes made can be done at any time and will become effective at the end of the trial period, allowing you to retain full access for 4 weeks, even if you downgrade or cancel.A cross Penelope Lively’s long and productive writing career – over five decades, writing novels for adults and children as well as autobiography – she has at regular intervals found space for that most deceptively unassuming of forms, the short story.
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