Table d'Hôte

A quirky banquet of short fiction, each story presented as a separate course on a literary menu. The writer serves up everything from light‑hearted domestic sketches to sharper social commentaries, letting ordinary moments glow with wit and irony. The collection moves through bustling city scenes, country conspiracies, and fleeting romances, all linked by a keen ear for dialogue and a talent for turning the mundane into something deliciously amusing.

The opening tale plunges listeners into a cramped kitchen where Mr. Baynes attempts to regulate his wife’s behavior with a ledger of fines for every imagined offence. Their heated banter over boots, money, and a mysterious inheritance crackles with humor while exposing the absurdities of power in marriage. As the story unfolds, the listener is treated to a vivid portrait of early‑twentieth‑century domestic life, delivered with the same sprightly tone that runs through the rest of the collection.