Pretty creatures

Description

"The saga of Silver Bend" by J. E. Grinstead is a work of fiction written in the early 20th century. Judging from the opening provided, it reads like a satirical suite of social vignettes about vanity, romantic illusion, and self-deception, following figures such as the earnest American Mackintosh Beck and the grandstanding “Herr Direktor” Schulz amid salons, dances, and small human comedies. The opening of the work centers first on Beck’s infatuation with Irmgard Schulz in Salzburg: he takes waltz lessons, endures awkward teas, and is dazzled by her beauty while her father, a pompous would‑be man of letters, holds court and lives off adoration. At masked balls Beck flounders on the dance floor as Irmgard, clearly waiting for another suitor, thaws only when courted by local aristocrats; when she leaves him holding her vanity-bag, its contents—sweet powder, handkerchiefs, a strand of hair, and photos with a student—reveal her real attachment, prompting Beck to return the bag and flee town. At the station Schulz catches him, not to speak of marriage, but to pour out his grievance-filled need for a “kindred soul,” and Beck departs, half-amused, half-chastened. A subsequent sketch shifts to Innsbruck, where a dressmaker doubts her fiancé Otto, a timid big-drum player, until a rousing Strauss march lets his pounding lead the band, suddenly restoring him in her eyes. Another beginning introduces Proudfoot, a writer, and Weaver, a dentist, arguing about hate and hanging on a moorland walk; a careless jab of Proudfoot’s stick kills Weaver, and we follow Proudfoot’s stunned return, arrest, and the first grim steps toward trial. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Subjects

• Short stories, English
• English fiction -- 20th century
• PR