Read by Finty Williams.

Originally titled 'The Wheel Spins', but after the success of the Alfred Hitchcock movie,
'The Lady Vanishes' it is now frequently known under the new title. The story concerns a
self absorbed young Englishwomen named Iris who is vacationing in eastern Europe during
the inter-war period (1936). On the train ride home to England she shares a compartment
with another English-women returning home after working in the employ of an aristocratic
family in the unnamed country (likely Yugoslavia). Iris falls asleep, and when she awakes
the lady is gone and nobody else on the train recalls seeing her. Iris suspects foul play,
and a conspiracy of silence among some of her fellow passengers, but she cannot persuade
any other English passengers, who suspect that she is either hallucinating due to illness
(at best), or a pathological liar (at worst). A fairly entertaining story preying on the
fears (and subtly satirising them) of the tourist in a strange land. Now a days, the story
would be about an American tourist in Africa. It's amusing to think that 75 years ago,
eastern Europe was the dark and mysterious place, and the English were the rich and
condescending tourists!

Download File Size:83.51 MB

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