Second Mortgage by Irwin Shaw. Short summary

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The author recounts an incident that happened when he was 17 years old. His family was very poor at the time. One day a respectable lady, Mrs. Shapiro, came to Shaw’s house and asked him for money.

1 minute

Shaw shares with readers a description of a situation that took place when he was 17 years old. The artist’s family at the time lived very poorly.

One day an unknown person appeared on the doorstep of the family estate. His father did not want to open the door to the aforementioned woman, fearing that she was a tax collector (according to the author’s recollection, his parents were persistent tax evaders). However, in the end the lady in question introduced herself as Mrs. Shapiro. The latter told the boy’s parents that she had a secondary mortgage, after which she added that she had lost her own money because of Mr. Meyer’s fraudulent actions.

A short time later, the woman asked Irwin’s mother and father for a small amount of financial resources. The young man’s father promised to give her some dollars in a week, but the mother, interrupting him, stated bluntly that they themselves had virtually no money.

Mrs. Shapiro later left and returned a week later, but this time she failed to get into the house.