Quotes from Stella Gibbons

She sat in a corner warm with sunlight, a copy of Home Notes open unread upon her knee, and watched the green meadows flying past while the business men in the carriage talked about news in the papers— awful, as usual— their golf, their gardeners, and the detective stories they were reading.

The party had now reached State Three, which is reached by most parties about three hours after they start. Stage Three (following on the Frozen and the Anecdotal Stages) is the Feats of Physical Strength Stage.

Bookshelves stood against the four walls. They were shapely and well made, but were all second-hand; Hetty had picked them up on visits to Chesterbourne. She liked her shelves to have personality, as well as the books on them, and thought it would have been simpler to order shelves to be fitted around the room, or to buy those bookcases that grow with the growth of their library, she had stood firm against the amusement of Victor and the irritation of her aunt, and had the shelves she wanted.

languidly.The party had now reached Stage Five, or Regrets For a Mis-Spent Past; this would be followed by Stage Six, the Belligerent, and Stage Seven, the Amorous or Final.

If you hate him, it was just a pash, and from now on I can begin to move in. Deathless adoration, eternal whatsit – and you hate him. Well, well. That isn't the way I love you, and it's not the way you're going to love me. One of these fine days. Some enchanted evening.

He supposed that he wanted her so much that it was making him fond of her;

You need what I call the Gentle Powers.' 'Oh, please tell me what they are!' 'Beauty, and Time, and the Past and Pity (their names sound like a band of angels, don't they?) Laughter, too – you need calming and lifting into the light, not plunging into darkness and struggle.' She

going to the kingdom of cocaine, it was going to Hollywood...

She did, now, want to escape. She had a lot to do; to get on with... there was so much, enjoyably much, to be done.

This means the literary effect is not the main concern here; the author is more concerned with plot. And that plot must be relatively straightforward, must involve, if at all possible, a twist or two, and must bring resolution.

fundamental difference in approach can make the short stories of Stella Gibbons seem somewhat obvious in their tone. And yet this is misleading: these stories are not obvious at all; they simply adhere to a storytelling convention that has been lost sight of in our quest for greater depth of characterization and psychological insight.

Bob, he's been crazy for weeks. A big job went wrong and he had to lie low and he got in with a man who put him on to some drug or other—Mary Warner, may be." She lowered her voice over the mobsman's name for the drug marihuana.

if only I had someone who belonged only to me, and didn't always have to go into other people's homes and share with them; I want someone for my very own.

and I wish I was dead." "Well, one day you will be, and so shall I; but meanwhile we may as well behave with courage and common sense.

not that I ought to grumble. I have money of my own, a luxurious home in excruciating taste, and all the clothes I want. All that is lacking is liberty, an aim to work for, and the conviction that my life is worth living. I am a most fortunate young woman.

By this time the Gentle Reader is thinking that people who go to church and sing in the choir should not make love in hayfields.

Miller had gone off on some affairs of his own, as he always did when the routine at Bryant's was interrupted, for he was a selfish dog who hated any break in his habits. His departure seemed the last straw

Miller had gone off on some affairs of his own, as he always did when the routine at Bryant's was interrupted, for he was a selfish dog who hated any break in his habits.

By god, DH Lawrence was right when he said there must be a dumb, dark, dull, bitter belly-tension between a man and a woman, and how else could this be achieved save in the long monotony of marriage?

Women are all alike - aye fussin' over their fal-lals and bedazin' a man's eyes, when all they really want is man's blood and his heart out of his body and his soul and his pride.

Like all really strong-minded women, on whom everybody flops, she adored being bossed about. It was so restful.