Elizabeth Bowen: the missing chapters

YOUR report on the inaugural Trevor/Bowen Summer School in Mitchelstown (County, August 14) says “the audience was thrilled to hear the voice of Elizabeth Bowen” from a recording that was part of Donnacha O’Dulaing’s lecture on the writer.

I assume the recording, or the lecture, did not explain aspects of Elizabeth Bowen such as “… the vehemence with which she said ‘I hate Ireland’ ”, as reported by Roy Foster in his 1993 book, Paddy and Mr Punch (page 122).

Neither, I assume, did it deal with her paid espionage activities here during World War II, which was her only real connection with Ireland and which produced her most valuable writing on the country, though 99% of it appears to have been destroyed because it was classified as ‘top secret’.

May I suggest that any future summer schools deal with these aspects of Bowen’s career as they tend to be ignored or explained away even though they were the central focus of her relationship with Ireland.

Exploring these would add some real value to Bowen studies.

Of course, there are several aspects of her Cromwellian family history that would also be useful to explore at such schools. These might also thrill audiences even more than Mr Ó Dualaing appears to have done.

Jack Lane

Aubane

Millstreet

Co Cork