The World My Wilderness, by Rose Macaulay (Virago, £6.99 in UK)

Virago Modern Classics have republished, or rediscovered, many neglected women writers - a few of them, it should be said, quite…

Virago Modern Classics have republished, or rediscovered, many neglected women writers - a few of them, it should be said, quite justly neglected. It has also helped to" revive certain major figures such as Willa Cather, who were not precisely neglected or half forgotten but whose books had simply gone out of print and were not easily obtainable. Where to place Macaulay? The Towers of Trebizond lives on as, a minor classic, but her other novels about territory which other writers, e.g. Elizabeth, Bowen, have exploited better than she. The World My Wilderness has the familiar English in France theme and the era is just after the second World War. Probably it is best placed in that dubious category," Good books of their time".