Thursday 22 December 1994

The Eavesdropper

Fiction ~ short story
Published 19th March 1924
Approx. 2,400 words
(First read 22/12/1994)

Elizabeth Alston, a lady in the full flush of middle age, is regretting having accidentally married a man fifteen years her junior ~ well, she was a widow, and flattered.  One day, during a house party, she inadvertently eavesdrops on a highly compromising conversation between him and a certain Dinah, herself trapped in a loveless marriage to a much older man ...  An entirely 'straight' story, slight but effective.  Benson had already covered the age-gap theme at full-length in his novel Sheaves (1907).  Available in Fine Feathers and Other Stories.
[To fans of this type of scenario I recommend Love (1925) by Elizabeth von Arnim ... oh and Sheaves (1907) and Adjustments (1923?) by E F Benson!]  

No comments:

Post a Comment