A Bird of Passage, and Other Stories

A quiet Swiss salon becomes the stage for a charmingly odd encounter, where a seemingly carefree young girl arrives drenched, luggage‑free, and armed with a tuning hammer. She slips into the room, offers a few haunting piano notes, and then sets to work restoring the instrument’s harmony, sparking curiosity and bewilderment among the assorted guests. The scene swirls with subtle humor, from the aristocratic Miss Blake’s sharp commentary on “unfeminine” pursuits to the bemused tennis players watching the girl’s gentle play with a wandering goat.

The story hints at a larger world of eccentric travelers and unexpected talents that weave through the collection, each vignette revealing characters who balance propriety with hidden passions. Harraden’s prose captures the delicate tension between social expectation and individual whimsy, inviting listeners to linger over moments of quiet rebellion and the simple, mysterious joys that arise when strangers cross paths in an Alpine retreat.