90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books

She drew a long, soft breath, as though the paper daffodils between them were almost too sweet to bear

Katherine Mansfield was a magician of the short story, whose work was described by Virginia Woolf as ‘the only writing I have ever been jealous of’. These eight tales show her gift for transforming fleeting moments – a chance meeting, a letter received, a careless remark – into small miracles of language and feeling.

Born in New Zealand in 1888, Katherine Mansfield Beauchamp was primarily a writer of short stories. She published Prelude and The Garden Party and Other Stories before her premature death from TB in 1923. Something Childish and her journal and letters were published posthumously.