H.E. Bates Companion

In this first of many Uncle Silas tales, the narrator introduces his 93-year-old great-uncle, vigorously gardening at his idyllic country cottage, displaying a vast capacity for food and drink, and bickering with his cantankerous housekeeper. Only in the last two pages does the tale of the lily come out, revealing Silas's devilish humor and way with the ladies. In The Listener (February 22, 1933), The Woman Who Had Imagination and Other Stories (1934), My Uncle Silas (1939). Reprinted in Argosy (June 1941) and W. Somerset Maugham's Introduction to Modern English and American Literature (1943), Of Leaf and Flower (2001).

Online Full Text at Hathi Trust Digital Library.