Understanding anita brookner

Despite her aloofness from literary fashion, Brookner has from the first commanded critical respect. In her nineteen short novels to date, she develops themes that recall Henry James and an earlier time -- the elusiveness of contentment, the natural disposition of some to renunciation, the inescapability of feelings of loneliness and displacement. Analyzing these themes, Malcolm shows that the beauty of Brookner's novels is not in the message of isolation but in the telling of the story.