24/09/2024

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A 1923 collection of tales by the British author Stacy Aumonier (1877–1928), described by John Galsworthy as “one of the best short-story writers of all time.” This collection includes two of Aumonier’s best-known works, “The Octave of Jealousy” and “Where Was Wych Street?” (listener warning: includes two occurrences of the n-word). It opens with the very funny “Miss Bracegirdle Does Her Duty”, in which a deeply conservative middle-aged spinster checks in to a hotel in Bordeaux on her first trip abroad. She finds a man asleep on the bed and realises she is in the wrong room, but the door handle has come off in her hand, and she can’t get out. Then she makes another discovery. (Michael Maggs)