H.E. Bates Companion

An account by a former watchmaker-jeweler of the death of a neighbor, a former actress with the stage name of Miss Porteus, and of the damaging effect of waves of rumors regarding the woman, her life, and the role of the narrator. In commenting on the public's obsession with scandal and on journalists, the tale reflects Bates's early newspaper work at the Northamptonshire Chronicle. In John O'London's Weekly (July 16, 1937), The Flying Goat (1939), Twenty Tales (1951), Love in a Wych Elm and Other Stories (2009). Reprinted in Citadel (British Institute, Cairo, June 1943). Short Stories of Our Time (1963), Best Theatre Stories (1968), Methuen Book of Theatrical Short Stories (1992).