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London, 1920s. Sid Nichols is one half of the comedy duo, The Trojan Brothers, one of the city’s most celebrated shows. His role is as the back-end of a pantomime horse with his dear friend, Benny, leading from the front. Every night they take the music halls by storm, picking members of the audience to ridicule to the amusement of all present. Yet one night Sid meets his match when he spots his long-lost cousin, Betty Todd, sitting in the aisles. A battle of wits ensues and Sid becomes enamoured with his new sparring partner, much to the dismay of Benny and his wife. For them it is obvious that a woman of Betty’s social class will not take a man like Sid seriously. He will only be hurt and humiliated. However Sid is determined to pursue this dangerous affair, and as his infatuation for Betty grows, he is driven to the edge of insanity by this woman’s games. It soon becomes clear that what started out as a simple amusement will lead to the most devastating conclusion.
Über den Autor / die Autorin
Pamela Hansford Johnson was born in 1912 and gained recognition with her first novel, This Bed Thy Centre, published in 1935. She wrote 27 novels. Her themes centred on the moral responsibility of the individual in their personal and social relations. The fictional genres she used ranged from romantic comedy (Night and Silence, Who Is Here) and high comedy (The Unspeakable Skipton) to tragedy (The Holiday Friend) and the psychological study of cruelty (An Error of Judgement). Her last novel, A Bonfire, was published in the year of her death, 1981.
She was a critic as well as a novelist and wrote books on Thomas Wolfe and Ivy Compton-Burnett; Six Proust Reconstructions (1958) confirmed her reputation as a leading Proustian scholar. She also wrote a play, Corinth House (1954), a work of social criticism arising out of the Moors Trial, On Iniquity (1967), and a book of essays, Important to Me (1974). She received honorary degrees from six universities and was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. She was awarded the C.B.E. in 1975.
Pamela Hansford Johnson, who had two children by her first marriage with journalist Gordon Neil Stewart, later married C. P. Snow. Their son Philip was born in 1952.
Zusammenfassung
London, 1920s. Sid Nichols is one half of the comedy duo, The Trojan Brothers, one of the city’s most celebrated shows. His role is as the back-end of a pantomime horse with his dear friend, Benny, leading from the front. Every night they take the music halls by storm, picking members of the audience to ridicule to the amusement of all present.
Yet one night Sid meets his match when he spots his long-lost cousin, Betty Todd, sitting in the aisles. A battle of wits ensues and Sid becomes enamoured with his new sparring partner, much to the dismay of Benny and his wife. For them it is obvious that a woman of Betty’s social class will not take a man like Sid seriously. He will only be hurt and humiliated.
However Sid is determined to pursue this dangerous affair, and as his infatuation for Betty grows, he is driven to the edge of insanity by this woman’s games. It soon becomes clear that what started out as a simple amusement will lead to the most devastating conclusion.
