A Fruitful Sunday
Author: Agatha Christie
Dorothy, a housemaid, is out for a Sunday drive with her fellow, Edward. The car is old and in poor repair, but the pair are enjoying their Sunday outing nevertheless. They stop and buy a basket of fruit from a man at the roadside, who tells them they are getting more than their money's worth by buying one particular basket. What they discover inside nestled alongside the cherries sends them on quite the adventure!
This story was first published in the Daily Mail in August 1928 in the UK, and later included in the story collection, The Listerdale Mystery, in 1934. It was not published in the US until 1971 when it was included in The Golden Ball and Other Stories.
Cute story. Very entertaining. It was nice to get a break from stories that are all about the upper class where the characters make very judgmental comments about their servants or where the servants are the villains in one way or another. This time, the main characters are a servant out on her day off and her boyfriend who is a city clerk. The plot doesn't center around rich, spoiled people this time. I liked Dorothy. She's enjoying a day out where she doesn't have to please anyone but herself and doesn't have to feel like a servant, and she vents a bit about her job. And also gets tempted to make a poor decision, but learns a lot about herself -- and Edward -- in the process. Loved the story!
I like these little views into 1920s/1930s English society. Well, fictionalized society, but a peek into the mindset of the time, nevertheless....or people would not have gravitated to Christie's writing like they did. A housemaid, out enjoying a Sunday drive with her man, is caught up in thoughts that she is just like everyone else out enjoying a car ride that day and not just a servant. And then fate poses her a question about her character....and she learns a lesson about herself and her man. Christie really did possess great storytelling powers! This tale was fun to read, and it had a nice lesson in the end!
On to the next!
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