A scandalous case of espionage inspired THE BIRDS FALL DOWN, the first crossbreeding between Dame West’s interest in crime and latent for fiction. The consequences are examined here in detail by Mrs. Ellmann, a teacher, writer, and critic.
Mrs. Ellmann has taught at Wellesley and Roosevelt University and has written for ENCOUNTER, COMMENTARY, and THE NATION.She now lives in Evanston, Illinois, and is at work on a book about “the peerless capacity of the novel for the reiteration of stereotypes, particularly stereotypes of women,” to be published by Harcourt, Brace & World.