A Thoughtless Yes

A casual agreement can help keep an unjust custom alive. Helen H. Gardener builds this collection of American short stories around that concern, using fiction to question accepted rules in religion, economics, medicine and law. In her opening letter, she explains how stories can make readers feel the effects of poverty and consider the authority behind familiar institutions. Her stated purpose gives the collection a strong interest in public questions as well as individual lives.

The hotel scene in "The Boler House Mystery" gives that interest a concrete setting. John Boler gives an older guest his best room while brooding over a grudge against him. He assigns a timid young woman the cramped room next door. His handling of the two arrivals brings resentment, unequal treatment and superstition into ordinary business. Readers interested in fiction as social criticism will find both Gardener's explanation of her method and scenes that turn routine decisions into matters of fairness.