The Closed Door and Other Stories

The ten short stories in 'The Closed Door and Other Stories' are a selection from the three volumes of stories that Dorothy Whipple published in her lifetime: 'On Approval' in 1935, 'After Tea and Other Stories' in 1941 and 'Wednesday and Other Stories' in 1961. Dorothy Whipple's key theme is ‘Live and Let Live’. And what she describes throughout her short stories are people, and particularly parents, who defy this maxim. For this reason her work is timeless, like all great writing. It is irrelevant that Dorothy Whipple’s novels were set in an era when middle-class women expected to have a maid; when fish knives were used for eating fish; when children did what they were told. The moral universe she creates has not changed: there are bullies in every part of society; people try their best but often fail; they would like to be unselfish but sometimes are greedy.