The Painted Door

Sinclair Ross (1908-1996) is a well-known Canadian author. His short stories first appeared in Canadian literary magazines. Ross joined the army during World War II and, after returning to Canada, moved from the prairies to Montreal. He is best known for his short story “The Lamp at Noon” and his novel As for Me and My House. He was made a member of the Order of Canada in 1992 for his work. Ross took criticism very hard and was known to have destroyed at least two and possibly even three manuscripts during his lifetime because he was unhappy with his work.

Ross was born and raised on the Canadian prairies, living on various farms between Saskatchewan and Manitoba. His firsthand experience of life on the prairies gave him intimate knowledge of the land, the people, and the challenges they faced. This familiarity is reflected in his fiction, where he often portrays the landscape and the hardships of rural life. The setting of “The Painted Door”—a remote farmstead during a harsh winter storm—mirrors Ross’s own childhood experiences. The story features detailed descriptions of the landscape as Ann looks out the window at the desolate, snowbound expanse of the prairies.