Mary Norton is probably far more familiar to most people as the author behind The borrowers series, or a book that I absolutely adored as a child - Bedknob and broomsticks. But she also wrote stories for magazines - her daughter in the introduction says that these were written to provide the "bread and butter" for the family, hence the name of this volume!
And what good stories they are. I am still wary of short stories but these hit the spot over a couple of busy days where my teabreaks were mainly spent trying to sort out some other things! If you enjoy any of the short story volumes published by Persephone books then I think these will appeal too - subjects range widely from cruise ships to new hats to visually impaired women on trains, all wonderfully executed.
It's been published twice by Virago - once with a green spine (as my copy above) and one more modern edition. Do look out for these.
Sounds delicious!
ReplyDeleteI've had this on my to-read list for ages! I think I put it in storage, but I may have to go forage amongst the boxes.
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