Miss Philly Firkin, The China-Woman
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- Pages
- 8
About this book
A thriving china shop and a noisy cattle yard share an awkward boundary in Belford Regis. Philadelphia Firkin keeps her glass and crockery business in the town's crowded Oriel Street, where her neat appearance and talent for gossip make her a familiar figure. Her neighbour Jem Tyler runs the Old Red Cow, an inn whose animals, customers and general commotion steadily try her patience.
Mary Russell Mitford builds this short story around the friction between these two local personalities. When a cow breaks through the dividing fence and a donkey joins the disruption, damaged wares and injured dignity give Miss Philly grounds to threaten legal action. The narrator's amused attention to shop assistants, street traffic and local habits makes the quarrel part of a wider portrait of provincial life. Readers of social comedy will find sharp character sketches and an eye for the small disturbances that become public business.
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Book facts
- Author
- Mary Russell Mitford
- Pages
- 8
- Language
- English
- Genre
- British Classics
- Formats
- PDF, EPUB, Read online