Adventures in reading
A young student falls in love with a postman, much to the consternation of her class-concious parents. Just as they are warming to him, however, he is imprisoned for theft — and the girl resolves to stand by him, whatever the consequence. ‘Episode’ has an effectively abrupt ending; but, on the w’hole, I don’t find it nearly as satisfying as Maugham’s previous entry in the anthology.
Rating: ***
Jane Fowler marries a man half her age; her cousin is convinced it won’t last, but it does — and Jane becomes the toast of London society. But then…
I’ve never read Maugham before, but really enjoyed this: crisp prose, and the sense of a story that is very well constructed, as apparently innocuous details established at the start are shown to be more significant towards the end. Maugham is another author with two stories in the anthology; I shall be pleased to read him again in due course.
Rating: ****
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