[ book tip by catherine carter ] In a German Pension, Katherine Mansfield's first published collection of short stories, is based on her experiences in a Bavarian spa after the collapse of a one day marriage in 1909, a pregnancy out of wedlock by another man and various 'close' relationships with women. She was sent there by her family for a bout of 'hydrotherapy'  (a regular hosing down in icy water) to bring her to her senses but instead produced this collection of snapshot stories on various themes of the day. Snobbery, class, nationalism, feminism, pregnancy, marriage: you name it, it's here. The stories laugh at the pension: the idea that such a place should exist is treated with humorous contempt. The narrator remains at arm’s length, seemingly sketching an early pilot for I'm a celebrity get me out of here! 'Opposite me was the brownest woman I have ever seen, lying on her back her arms clasped over her head. "How long have you been here today?" she was asked. "Oh, I spend the day here now," she answered. "I am making my own ''cure'' and living entirely on raw vegetables and nuts, and each day I feel my spirit is stronger and purer."'  

But these are not only stories poking fun at those Mansfield finds herself amongst. Her continual onlooker's status, the lack of activeness in her engagement with those around her, the assumptions made about her opinions and status by almost all the people she meets point to a woman at odds with the society in which she lives but whose voice and personality are either ignored or more frequently not given space to exist. The strength of the stories is their lack of self-pity. We aren't asked to feel sorry for the narrator – she can deal with whatever the world throws at her. Rather in a quiet, understated manner she lets us know that she is quite different to that which she is expected to be and that in her opinion what she is expected to be is quite ridiculous.

[ book info ] Mansfield, Katherine: In a German Pension. (Book language: English) Penguin, Middlesex, UK, 1999 (1911). ISBN: 0-14-018875-4.