The Mother

A brief depiction of an aged mother, whose life revolves entirely around her youngest son, unmarried and living at home in his thirties. "He comes nearer. The warmth conquers her breast and throat. It assails her head. She is numb. She wonders dully why it is she can no longer see him."

One of four in Bates's first story collection that deals with the aged. In the Manchester Guardian (August 7, 1926), Day's End and Other Stories (1928), Thirty Tales (1934). Also in Capajon: Fifty-four Short Stories (London: Cape, 1933, reprinted as Fifty-three Short Stories in 1937).