Overlooked

"Overlooked" by Maurice Baring is a story set in the early 1900s, where Anthony Kay, urged by his friend Doctor Kennaway, decides to write a novel while vacationing in Haréville. There, Anthony meets a number of people, including James Rudd, a novelist struggling with writer's block who wants to write about the town's residents. Through their interactions and creative goals, the story looks at ideas of unrealized potential and the artistic process. Anthony's arrival in the quiet spa town leads to his meeting with James Rudd, who bemoans his creative struggles. As Anthony observes and forms relationships with the other residents—particularly through his philosophical talks about the lovely and mysterious Miss Brandon, a possible character for Rudd's novel—the story digs into topics of love, artistic expression, and the blending of dreams and reality as it builds the case for an exploration of these themes throughout their linked lives during what appears to be a boring summer in Haréville.