First published in 1938

This ebook edition first published in the UK in 2022

All rights reserved
© The Estate of Sylvia Townsend Warner, 1938, 1947, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 2011, 2022

Cover design by Faber

The right of Sylvia Townsend Warner to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly

The following stories appeared originally in the New Yorker: ‘Hee-Haw!’, ‘The Children’s Grandmother’, ‘Evan’, ‘Shadwell’, ‘A Kitchen Knife’, ‘Uncle Blair’, ‘Emil’, ‘A Second Visit’, ‘Idenborough’, ‘A Passing Weakness’ (under the title ‘There but for the Grace of God …’), ‘A Priestess of Delphi’ (under the title ‘Wherefore, Unlaurell’d Boy’), ‘Winter in the Air’ (under the title ‘Farewell, My Love’) and ‘The Reredos’ (under the title ‘Matthew, Mark, Luke and John’).

This is a collection of stories published from 1938 onwards. The language in these pages is a reflection of the historical period in which the book was originally written.

ISBN 978–0–571–37547–9