In Queer Street

A cramped Victorian boarding house, self‑styled as the “Home of the Muses,” opens its doors to a motley collection of lodgers. Its proprietor, Mrs. Tesk, is a retired schoolmistress whose genteel manners and love of lofty language clash dramatically with the shabby, pattern‑laden surroundings she has preserved. The rooms are a museum of faded wallpapers, mahogany furniture, and curious curiosities that hint at a life once lived in respectability and modest ambition.

Enter Mr. Spruce, a sharply witty newcomer educated at Winchester and Cambridge, whose sarcasm and practical greed set him at odds with Mrs. Tesk’s idealistic veneer. Their banter over the house’s lofty name and the promise of “wealth in virtuous ways” spark a gentle rivalry that draws other eccentric characters into the mix. As the boarding house settles into its daily rhythm, listeners will find humor, social satire, and the subtle stirrings of secrets hidden among the old textbooks and embroidered samplers.