Susan Hill Susan Hill

The joy of short stories in these taxing times

issue 18 April 2020

From time to time, usually when things are quiet, the government brings on the dancing girls. David Cameron made Carol Vorderman the celebrity Head of Maths, Prue Leith was wheeled out to revolutionise hospital catering (again), and Mary Portas was to breathe life, excitement and renewed prosperity into our dying high streets. Nothing ever happens, of course, but perhaps Covid-19 does present a real opportunity.

In the past 20 years I have watched several small towns change radically. Shops selling things people actually needed — meat, fish, fruit and veg, bread and butter, ironmongery, postal and banking services — have closed. In their place have come coffee shops, delis, estate and holiday-home letting agents, overpriced clothing boutiques, nail bars and beauty salons, and gift emporiums — those I call £30 scented candle stores. Then there are the charity shops — nothing wrong with those, and they have become smarter with attractive professional displays, but there are too many, cheek by jowl.

The £30 scented candle stores are dreaming of re-stocking in ‘Pomegranate, Pepper and Peat’

Now, in the twinkling of an eye, all shops other than those selling essentials have been forced to close.

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