The Basement Room

Henry Graham Greene was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century.
“The Basement Room” is a short story by Graham Greene first published as part of his 1954 collection, Twenty-One Stories. The story is widely considered a thriller and explores the experience and lifelong effects of trauma through the psychological experience of a young child.
Affairs, obsessions, ardors, fantasy, myth, legends, dreams, fear, pity, and violence—this magnificent collection of stories illuminates all corners of the human experience. Including four previously uncollected stories, this edition reveals Graham Greene in a range of contrasting moods, sometimes cynical and witty, sometimes searching and philosophical. Each of these stories confirms V. S. Pritchett’s declaration that Greene is “a master of storytelling.”