Maiden Stakes

Maiden Stakes is a 1928 collection of short stories by the English author Dornford Yates (Cecil William Mercer) originally written for The Windsor Magazine.

Plot
The book largely consists of stand-alone short stories, but one ("Letters Patent") features the author's 'Berry' characters and references his 1928 novel Perishable Goods.

Background
The stories were originally written for The Windsor Magazine. Most had been published separately there before their collected publication in Maiden Stakes, but the final four appeared later.

Chapters
"Childish Things" and "Aesop's Fable" appeared in The Saturday Evening Post editions of 27 June 1925 and 10 September 1927 respectively. "St Jeames" appeared in Ladies' Home Journal in August 1927.

Critical reception
The book was written at a difficult time for Mercer, when relations between him and his wife Bettine were getting steadily worse. Nevertheless, the original dedication read "To the American girl who did me the lasting honour to become my wife."