Author(s): Jane Bowles

FICTION

'My favourite book. I can't think of a modern novel that seems more likely to become a classic' TENNESSEE WILLIAMS 'The book I give as a gift... It feels like giving someone an exotic fruit.' SHEILA HETI 'A modern legend ... A very funny writer' TRUMAN CAPOTE '

 I am going on a trip. Wait until I tell you about it. it's terrible.'  Eccentric, impulsive New York heiress, Christina Goering meets the anxious but equally unpredictable Mrs Copperfield at a party.  Two serious ladies, for whom nothing is natural and anything is possible, they follow their singular paths in search of salvation.  Mrs Copperfield visits Panama with her husband, whom she abandons for love of Pacifica, a local prostitute, and her brothel home.  Miss Goering, for her part, seeks redemption by swapping her mansion for a squalid little house and relishing ever more extreme encounters with strangers.  At the end, the two women meet again.

First published in 1943, TWO SERIOUS LADIES is a true one-off - daring and original, with deadpan humour and devastating insights.