Collected here are 14 of Thyra Samter Winslow’s darker short stories. All but one of them originally appeared in The Smarter Set, but all of them deal with the darker side of life.
Thyra Samter Winslow might be forgotten for today’s audience but her stories make us wonder, what is so different now between her formative years, in the 1910s and 1920s that are so different from now?
Men and woman having affairs, running away from home, struggling with questions of work, sex, love and life.
The first story in this collection, Blueberry Pie, is a mystery, ending with the electric chair.
Love, sex, and everything in between.
These stories were mostly submitted to The Smart Set between 1917 and 1922, including her mystery story, Blueberry Pie, which was later published in a collection of the same name.
The stories in this collection deal with class, with prostitution, with chorus girls, murder and suicide.
The Pier Glass deals with consumerism while A Boy’s Best Friend tackles mommy issues. Hattie deals with a woman trying to leave prostitution while Cinderella’s 12-o-clock confronts class and the disparity between the rich and poor.
And murder! Courtesy of Blueberry Pie, which originally ran in Black Mask Magazine.
The stories (and one poem) are:
A Boy’s Best Friend
The Pier Glass
Hattie
The End of Anna
The Husband Inspirer
You Can Get Away With A Lot
Cinderella’s 12-o-clock
The First Bloom
Saturday
In the Case of Lou Terry
I.O.U.
The Wicked Mr. Atwood
Blueberry Pie
Freedom
A Small Town