A Chesterton (?) story where...nothing happens?

March 8, 2022 10:22 AM

I feel like I read somewhere about a short story that I *think* was by Chesterton that was kind of genre-subversive because it was about a family and it seemed like something was going to go wrong or there would be dysfunction or conflict but everything was fine and nothing much happened. Does anyone have any idea of what I am talking about?

I think the story was about a relationship between siblings, but, again, it is very foggy.

posted by virve to Writing & Language (2 answers total)

Since it's very foggy for you, I'm going to throw out Oscar Wilde's The Canterville Ghost, which involves a family that encounters a ghost and just isn't frightened.
posted by FencingGal at 10:36 AM on March 8, 2022 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Very on brand for Chesterton.

One I can come up with off the top of my head is a Father Brown with a women poet rumored to be having a torrid love affair with a wild romantic poet. Lots of misdirection but the kicker (spoiler) is that the young attractive man she's seeing is her husband and she's madly in love with him; the romantic poet is a doddering fool and the affair tabloid gossip to help his brand.
posted by mark k at 12:36 PM on March 8, 2022