Mrs. Algernon Stitch, more familiarly known as Julia Stitch, is a character created by

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...

, best known for her role in the novel ''

Scoop Scoop, Scoops or The scoop may refer to: Objects * Scoop (tool), a shovel-like tool, particularly one deep and curved, used in digging * Scoop (machine part), a component of machinery to carry things * Scoop stretcher, a device used for casualt ...

''. The character was inspired by Waugh's friendship with the well-connected socialite,

Lady Diana Cooper Diana, Viscountess Norwich (née Lady Diana Olivia Winifred Maud Manners; 29 August 1892 – 16 June 1986) was an English actress and aristocrat who was a well-known social figure in London and Paris. As a young woman, she moved in a celebrat ...

.Mr. Wu and Mrs. Stitch
/ref> Mrs. Stitch appears as a "fixer", a well-connected member of British, and especially London society, who can make things happen for people. This activity is known to all as "The Stitch Service". In ''Scoop'', she is asked to find employment for a novelist by the name of John Courtenay Boot, and arranges for him to be sent as a journalist to cover a revolution in Africa. Due to a mixup, the distantly related and quite hapless

William Boot William Boot is a fictional journalist who is the protagonist in the 1938 Evelyn Waugh comic novel ''Scoop.'' Character Boot is the young author of a regular column on country life for a London newspaper named the ''Daily Beast''. His affected s ...

is sent instead. When he returns triumphant, the accolades go instead to John Courtenay Boot, who did nothing to deserve them, allowing William Boot to return to his peaceful life writing articles about the British countryside. In the ''

Sword of Honour The ''Sword of Honour'' is a trilogy of novels by Evelyn Waugh which loosely parallel Waugh's experiences during the Second World War. Published by Chapman & Hall from 1952 to 1961, the novels are: ''Men at Arms'' (1952); ''Officers and Gentl ...

'' trilogy, Mrs. Stitch appears briefly helping Guy Crouchback recover from his ordeal in Africa. In the novel ''

Put Out More Flags ''Put Out More Flags'', the sixth novel by Evelyn Waugh, was first published by Chapman and Hall in 1942. The title comes from the saying of an anonymous Chinese sage, quoted and translated by Lin Yutang in ''The Importance of Living'' (1937): ...

'', Mrs. Stitch is referenced when it is discovered Angela Lyne has been drinking profusely. The discovery "... could scarcely have been more surprising had it been Mrs Stitch herself."

References

Evelyn Waugh characters {{novel-char-stub