"Bliss, and other stories" by Katherine Mansfield (Aeterna Classics, 2015)

First published in 1920.

• "Prelude" - an extended family move out of town. We learn (rather non-linearly) how most of them feel about it. When invited boys play with the girls they cut off a duck's head. It's a novella.
• "Je ne parle pas français" - A would-be writer, 26, sits in a Parisian cafe. Women like him. He meets Dick, an Englishman researching into French literature, at a party. They become friends. The narrator's angry when Dick suddenly returns home. Months later Dick returns with his girlfriend, but has decided during the journey that he can't upset his mother by marrying. The narrator wonders whether to help the girl, but then leaves the couple, never to see them again. At the end we're back in the cafe.
• "Bliss" - A Hampstead young mother who's never sexually fancied her husband hosts an evening. One guest she's invited is a beautiful girl who her husband says is a dumb blonde. Amid the idle, arty banter, the hostess and the girl share a wordless moment staring out into the garden. At the end the hostess desires her husband but as they help the guests leave she notices hints of intimacy between the girl and her husband. The final paragraph is "But the pear tree was as lovely as ever and as full of flower and as still."
• "The Wind Blows" - She's in bed. There's a storm. She goes (has gone?) to a music lesson where she cries. She goes for a walk by the sea with Bogey. She sees a ship. She imagines she's on that ship with Bogey years later, looking towards the shore, remembering the music lesson and their walk.
• "Psychology" - A male psychologist (31) and woman (30) discuss books and the future of the novel. She thinks that their friendship suffices for a long-term relationship. He suddenly gets ready to leave her to meet a mutual male friend at 6. She's angry but doesn't say so. At the doorstep is an old spinster friend of the woman (presumably an image of how the woman fears she'll become).
• "Pictures" - 8am. Penniless Ada Moss is in bed in Hampstead staring at the ceiling. The landlady comes in threatening to evict her. She spends the day looking for an acting/singing job, ending up at a club where she lets herself be picked up by a fat old man.
• "The Man Without a Temperament" - an invalid wife (TB?) and husband are staying at a pension with a General, a Honeymoon couple, etc. He goes off for a walk in the afternoon. Via flashbacks we learn that she vitally needed the holiday and she couldn't do it alone.
• "Mr Reginald Peacock's Day" - A singer/teacher is grumpy that his wife is trying to drag him down to her mundane level. He regrets being talked into marrying her. After a day of giving admiring women singing lessons he tries to win over his wife, lapsing into the kind of smarm he uses with his pupils.
• "Sun and Moon" - 2 little children sneak down to see their parents' party, puzzled by the mess of adult fun.
• "Feuille d'Album" - Women wonder about a quiet, blushing artist who they see in cafes of an evening. He has his eyes on a neighbour. He follows her one day, and awkwardly tries to make friends
• "A Dill Pickle" - A couple meet after 6 years. He's been to many places they'd planned to go together. They're still lonely. He (who speaks a lot) says it's because they're egoists and still are. She leaves.
• "The Little Governess" - It's her first time abroad. The ferry isn't too bad. A porter tries to take advantage of her at the train station. She copes. There are some noisy men on the train but an old man shares her carriage and helps her. He offers to show her around Munich. She has a few spare hours so she takes up his offer. At the end he shows her his room and tries to take advantage of her. She escapes, older and wiser.
• "Revelations" - A wife who has nerves in the morning rejects her husband's invitation to lunch. Instead she goes to her favourite hairdresser, who seems out of sorts. She finds out that his daughter died that morning.
• "The Escape" - A couple abroad miss a train and go by horse and cart instead. Tensions arise during the trip.

People easily split into selves - observer and observed - or they're surprised by their self in a mirror, etc. The PoV easily changes. Couples are in unhappy relationships, male arrogance or artistic ambition not helping. The characters, often lonely, have moments of inexpressible joy that they can't find a reason for or can't sustain. The women have bursts of affection for their partners. There are hints of homosexuality.

Other reviews

• Wikipedia