Tenyaeva Anastasia

ЯА-43

Summary

of the Extract from the Short Story “W.S.” by L. P. Hartley

A novelist named Walter Streeter receives a postcard from Forfar with no return
address. The sender makes it seem like they are an admirer but implies that the author
doesn’t fully understand his own characters, which makes the latter wonder if it is true. The
next postcard forces Walter to start thinking about the identity of the correspondent and his
own insecurities as a writer.

He now struggles to continue his work and upon receiving the third postcard notices
yet again that the initials of the sender are identical to his own. He doesn’t rule out the
possibility that he is the one sending the postcards. However, his friend is convinced that
some mad woman blinded with love is responsible for that, and suggests that Walter forget
about the whole thing. This seems to reassure the author but this time he hides the postcard
and is now obsessed with the arrival of a new one.

Walter becomes panic-stricken after reading the fourth postcard, he clearly sees that
W. S. is getting closer, judging by the places the postcards have been sent from. He decides
against consulting an alienist and goes to the police instead; they consider it a practical joke
and advise him that he stay calm.

207 words