The Death of the Heart is perhaps Elizabeth Bowen's best-known book.
As she deftly and delicately exposes the cruelty that lurks behind the
polished surfaces of conventional society, Bowen reveals herself as a
masterful novelist who combines a sense of humor with a devastating gift
for divining human motivations.
In this piercing story of innocence betrayed set in the thirties, the
orphaned Portia is stranded in the sophisticated and politely
treacherous world of her wealthy half-brother's home in London.There she
encounters the attractive, carefree cad Eddie. To him, Portia is at once
child and woman, and her fears her gushing love. To her, Eddie is the
only reason to be alive. But when Eddie follows Portia to a sea-side
resort, the flash of a cigarette lighter in a darkened cinema
illuminates a stunning romantic betrayal--and sets in motion one of the
most moving and desperate flights of the heart in modern literature.