The Montana Stories | Persephone Books

Persephone Books is a publisher and bookseller in Bath, UK. It has been described as ‘The nearest thing British publishing has to a cult’ (Observer). Founder Nicola Beauman’s original concept was to publish a small number of ‘lost’ or out-of-print books every year, each with a grey cover and beautiful endpapers. When visiting England, literature lovers often make a special trip to Persephone Books' shop in Bath.

The Montana Stories contains all the short stories Katherine Mansfield wrote between July 1921 and her death in January 1923 while residing at Chalet des Sapins in Montana, Switzerland while seriously ill with tuberculosis.

These short stories have never before been published together with unfinished fragments and extracts from the Letters and Journals from those months, and new and detailed editorial notes. The endpapers in this edition are taken from 'Stems and looping tendrils with harebells', a fabric designed in 1921 by Constance Irving.

The critic John Carey chose Katherine Mansfield's short stories as one of his favourite books of the last century: 'Nearly half are set in the New Zealand of her childhood... Though death intrudes in almost every story, melancholy is debarred. The focus is on those starting life, not ending it.'

Find out more about the Montana Stories and see the endpapers design here or visit www.persephonebooks.co.uk.