“The first flash of fiction arrives without words.”

Mavis Gallant


“Originally published in 1973, and sadly out of print for several years, this book contains the title novella – representing the author’s most daring use of contemporary fictional techniques – and five short stories. Their common subject is post-war Germany and the Germans, both at home and abroad. As in all of Mavis Gallant’s work, the characters vibrate not only with the minutely observed details of their own existences, but also with the history and mores of their milieu.”

The Pegnitz Junction (May 1)

The Old Friends (May 8)

An Autobiography (May 15)

Ernst in Civilian Clothes (May 22)

O Lasting Peace (May 29)

An Alien Flower (June 5)


A slim collection, under 200 pages, this promises to be a quick but rewarding session in this reading project.

This is the fourth of Mavis Gallant’s collections discussed here, with two more planned for later this year (The End of the World and From the Fifteenth District).

If you’d like to join in, with the collection, or a single story, please do: reading in company always adds to the enjoyment of good writing.