The Gap in the Curtain

The Thirty-Nine Steps, was a stealth writer of supernatural and Weird fiction. From the beginning of his career to his last works, he brought supernatural elements into his narratives to test his characters and thrill his readers.

His 1932 novel The Gap in the Curtain was his last full-length work devoted to exploring a supernatural theme: if you were able to see one year into the future, what would you do with that foreknowledge? And what would it do to you? The novel tells the story of five country-house guests who are trained by the ailing Professor Moe, an Einsteinian mathematician who has devised a way of seeing into the future.

These five guests gain one piece of knowledge from the experiment, and have to decide how to act on it. Five episodes ensue:

The story of the philanthropist who played the markets for too long

The story of the politician who changed sides too often

The story of the antiquarian book dealer in the clutches of a feminist capitalist

The story of the man who foresaw his own death

The story of the woman who would not let her lover die