dusty shop as a wedding present. He begins eating less and less, even forgoing meat for cheese, and refuses to go to the hospital to treat his undernourishment when the doctor and his wife insist that he does. All the while Elsie stands devoted to the couple, despite having problems of her own—she pines secretly for Joe, and pilfers food to binge eat at night. Their lives—in which Henry’s passion for money and his obstinacy finally consume himself and his wife—are contrasted to that of their loyal maid servant Elsie Sprickett, and it is the latter, despite her extreme poverty, who brings life and a future to the bittersweet tale. Characters Henry Earlforward Violet Arb (later Earlforward) Elsie Sprickett Joe Dr Raste The character of Elsie reappears in Elsie and the Child: A Tale of Riceyman Steps and Other Stories (1924). References Foreword to the 1953 Penguin edition by Frank Swinnerton Riceyman Steps, 1983 reprint (Twentieth Century Classics), Oxford Paperbacks External links The Amwell Society Local Clerkenwell society - click on 'history' and look for the slideshow relating to Riceyman Steps. This includes a set of slides with a guide to the area in which the novel is set and pictures of the steps today. London Fictions article on 'Riceyman Steps' 1923 British novels Fiction set in 1919 Fiction set in 1920 Novels by Arnold Bennett Novels set in London