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The Ballad of the Sad Cafe and Other Stories consists of the eponymous classic novella, alongside six short stories: "Wunderkind", "The Jockey", "Madame Zilensky and the King of Finland", "The Sojourner", "A Domestic Dilemma" and "A Tree, a Rock, a Cloud", by American author Carson McCullers, published in 1951. The Ballad of the Sad Cafe is set in a small town in the Southern US, and follows Miss Amelia Evans, a woman strong in body and character, meeting a hunchback man, Cousin Lymon, who claims to be a relation. When Miss Amelia takes the stranger into her home, rumours circulate that she has only done so to take the hunchback's possessions. A group of men enter the house and find the hunchback is well. Miss Amelia offers alcohol and crackers in hospitality. This is the beginning of the café, which becomes a popular gathering place. Miss Amelia falls in love with Cousin Lymon. But Miss Amelia was briefly married to a violent man, Marvin Macy, who returns from prison to wreak havoc, aided and abetted by Miss Amelia's new love.
