The Grey Wig

Israel Zangwill was an English-born Zionist, humourist and writer. Born to a Russian migr who had escaped persecution and death in a Czarist military prison, he dedicated his life to championing the cause of the oppressed, and he spent years attempting to create a Jewish state. Educated at London University, he became friends with Jerome K. Jerome and H.G. Wells. His play "The Melting Pot" inspired the use of the term to describe the assimilation of immigrants in American society.

"The Grey Wig: Stories and Novelettes" is a collection of his fiction, including "The Big Bow Mystery," one of the earliest "locked-room" mysteries as well as a satire of late Victorian society. "The Grey Wig" is first a bond between two older women, and then a source of dischord. "Chass-Crois" deals wittily with politics and love, and demonstrates that some things don't change over time.

Other tales in the collection include "The Woman Beater," "The Eternal Feminine," "The Silent Sisters," "Merely Mary Ann," and "The Serio-Comic Governess," each executed with an eye for character and a sure sense of dialog.