The Patrick Hamilton Appreciation Society discussion

Craven House was the first major novel by Patrick Hamilton and was published in 1926, and - so the introduction suggests - captures that moment when, following World War One, the certainties of the Edwardian way of life eroded until English society was changed for ever. Hamilton's own family experienced their own slow, inexorable slide down the social scale throughout Patrick's childhood.

Craven House is a boarding house in west London, similar to the one Hamilton's own family lived in at Chiswick. The whole idea of a boarding house feels unreal to me and I cannot imagine having to live in one - a few stays in family run bed and breakfasts have been plenty for me.

The book is currently published by Black Spring Press and this description is from their website:

In Craven House, among the shifting, uncertain world of the English boarding house, with its sad population of the shabby genteel on the way down – and the eternal optimists who would never get up or on – the young Patrick Hamilton, with loving, horrified fascination, first mapped out the territory that he would make, uniquely, his own.

Although many of Hamilton's lifelong interests are here, they are handled with a youthful brio and optimism conspicuously absent from his later work. The inmates of Craven House have their foibles, but most are indulgently treated by an author whose world view has yet to harden from scepticism into cynicism.

The generational conflicts of Hamilton's own youth thread throughout the narrative, with hair bobbing and dancing as the battle lines. That perennial of the 1920s bourgeoisie, the 'servant problem', is never far from the surface, and tensions crescendo gradually to a resolution one climactic dinnertime.

Patrick Hamilton was born in 1904, and achieved early success as a novelist and playwright, his first novel published in his early twenties. Craven House was his second novel, and he wrote several other novels and a play, Rope, before he was thirty. Both Rope and another play, Gaslight, were adapted for the big screen, the former by Alfred Hitchcock. His novels include The Midnight Bell, The Siege of Pleasure, The Plains of Cement (a trilogy later published together under the titleTwenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky), Hangover Square, The Slaves of Solitude and the three novels that form The Gorse Trilogy. He died in 1962, aged fifty-eight, alcoholism undoubtedly a factor in his early death. Keith Waterhouse called Patrick Hamilton 'a riveting dissector of English life up to and including the war'.

‘The entertainment value of this brilliantly told story could hardly be higher’
TIME OUT

'Hamilton is a master at reproducing the inflated talk of betrayed lives'
INDEPENDENT

'Hamilton has made himself the satirist and the poet of the semisubmerged, the second-rate and the shoddy.'
SUNDAY TIMES

‘His finest work can easily stand comparison with the best of his more celebrated contemporaries George Orwell and Graham Greene.’
SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

NIGEL JONES'S INTRODUCTION SETS THE SCENE, PLACING THE NOVEL IN THE CONTEXT BOTH OF ITS AUTHOR'S LIFE AND ITS HISTORICAL PERIOD. NIGEL IS AUTHOR OF THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY: THE LIFE OF PATRICK HAMILTON (ALSO PUBLISHED BY BLACK SPRING).

PAPERBACK 256PP, ISBN 978-0-948238-40-6; £9.95

Just finished. This book is a joy. Yes, Hangover Square and The Slaves of Solitude are Patrick Hamilton's masterpieces however this book is every bit as enjoyable. Playful, jaunty, and very sentimental, it is interesting to read Hamilton in a more positive mood - before the cynicism and darkness really took hold.

Craven House was the first major novel by Patrick Hamilton and was published in 1926, and captures that moment when, following World War 1, the certainties of the Edwardian way of life eroded until English society was changed for ever. Hamilton's own family experienced their own slow, inexorable slide down the social scale throughout Patrick Hamilton's childhood.

The Craven House of the title is a boarding house in west London, similar to the one Hamilton's own family lived in at Chiswick. The setting allows Hamilton to explore the shifting, uncertain world of the English boarding house. The characters that populate this house are lovingly chronicled with horrified fascination. On the surface each is well mannered and genteel. Scratch the surface and there is much more going on. As with other books by this wonderful writer, his acute powers of observation enrich all the characters with little phrases and idiosyncrasies that are clearly drawn from real life and so authentically evoke a sense of time and place, and are all described in Hamilton's gloriously atmospheric prose.

There is barely disguised tension between the occupants of Craven House, in addition to an intergenerational conflict being slowly fought between the young people and their elders. Like a slow pressure cooker, the tale slowly and inexorably builds to a memorable conclusion over the fifteen years that the story takes place (1911-1926). Patrick Hamilton was a master and this book, whilst not regarded as one of his more significant works, is funny, absurd, poignant, and downright wonderful.

Am I allowed to join your group?! I have finished The Slaves of Solitude and I am converted - adored and loved it. Why don't you mention this group on Bright Young Things?

Hi Susan, I would be honoured for you to join the group. I might mention it on BYT if "Slaves" is well received. I'm so glad you liked it.

I sent invites to Val/Beth who I know from other book clubs. I think they might be interested and I am sure other people would. I am hoping you can suggest another book which would be a good one to read next.

Susan wrote: "I sent invites to Val/Beth who I know from other book clubs. "

Great. Thanks.

Susan wrote: "I am hoping you can suggest another book which would be a good one to read next"

I'd go for either Craven House or The West Pier (which is part of The Gorse Trilogy: The West Pier, Mr Stimpson And Mr Gorse, Unknown Assailant). His masterpiece is Hangover Square which is pretty dark and I think worth saving once you've got more into his oeuvre. There's still quite a few I've not read. I've seen a BBC adaptation of Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky which was great and I'm sure it's a very good book too - and one I look forward to reading.

EDIT: On further reflection perhaps Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky* is the way to go. I could set up a thread on here and anyone who is interested could then comment as and when they feel inspired. What do you think?

*It's a trilogy (three books in one edition, so quite a chunky read and a bit of an undertaking - that could be tackled as separate books)

I am reading The Slaves of Solitude and enjoying it, so I would like to read more of his books.

Twenty Thousand Streets it is. Sounds great. Perhaps you should mention it on Bright Young Things. Or do you want to wait until after the Solitude discussion?

Oh, we posted at the same time. I think 3 constitutes a group, doesn't it :)
I LOVED The Slaves of Solitude, it was amazing.

Susan wrote: "I LOVED The Slaves of Solitude, it was amazing."

Hurrah.

Susan wrote: "3 constitutes a group, doesn't it :)"

Most certainly.

Susan wrote: "Twenty Thousand Streets it is. Sounds great. Perhaps you should mention it on Bright Young Things. Or do you want to wait until after the Solitude discussion? "

I think I'll mention it once the official BYT discussion thread for Slaves gets going in April.

Val wrote: "I would like to read more of his books."

Great news. I'll set up a Slaves Of Solitude and Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky threads on here so we can discuss as and when you read them.

Fantastic. Thanks for introducing a new author to me Nigeyb. You can tell your kids you are not posting to yourself now!

Susan wrote: "Fantastic. Thanks for introducing a new author to me Nigeyb. You can tell your kids you are not posting to yourself now!"

Yes, they won't believe it until I show them the evidence. I'm so please you enjoyed Slaves Of Solitude. I've set up a thread in this group if you want to wax lyrical about it. Needless to say, it's fine if you'd rather wait until we discuss it on BYT.

Jeff wrote: "Nice to feel amongst friends. There's one problem with Hamilton, and it's this: you run out of Hamilton. I've read everything I can get my hands on in conventional book form, but it's too early to despair as "Twopence Coloured" and "Impromptu in Moribundia" are available as e-books... :-) "

Welcome Jeff. I totally agree about there being too little Hamilton.

I have yet to read either Twopence Coloured or Impromptu In Moribundia though have both on my shelf waiting for the right moment.

Please do report back. I can set up separate threads if you'd like. Just say the word.

I'd also recommend Through A Glass Darkly by Nigel Jones which is the definitive Patrick Hamilton biography (though I haven't read the one by Patrick's brother Bruce). Have you read that?

Hi Jeff. I'd echo Nigey's view of the biography. It casts further light on Hamilton's own work and is extremely readable. If you look at my Goodreads profile I gave it a short review.

Jeff wrote: "it's too early to despair as "Twopence Coloured" and "Impromptu in Moribundia" are available as e-books... :-) "

Actually I have both of those in physical form. Published by an imprint called Faber Finds.

I think I will set up separate discussion thread and then, anyone who feels inspired, can read and discuss them.

My review of Craven House:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

^ It is, as you say, a joy. Thanks for sharing your enjoyable review Doug.

Well, I picked up a copy of Craven House with a much better cover than Doug's. Is that Audrey Custard at the window? Keep your hair on. Review at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

^ Thanks Peter - I enjoyed your review


The young Hamilton had already developed his ear for everyday speech and mannerisms, and these are skillfully deployed at boarding house meal times – an agony of respectability – and in the rather sparse society below stairs.

Quite so

Peter wrote: "Well, I picked up a copy of Craven House with a much better cover than Doug's. Is that Audrey Custard at the window? Keep your hair on. Review at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show......"

It's not her best angle, but yes I do think that lovely vision at the window is none other than Audrey Custard, The Maid Who Answered Back.

in my endless searching for rare editions, i came across a recent auction listing for Craven House. I hadn't seen the original jacket until now, and I think it's absolutely fantastic! However, as an original, unrevised, first edition it went for £400 despite an estimate of £70. just how much will the universe continue to undervalue old p-ham!

original page here

Lovely! I had never seen the US dustjacket. Many thanks!

Wonderful cover.

I am mulling over trying to design some t-shirts and, obviously, would create one for Patrick Hamilton (and a few ultra obscure glam bands). I'll keep you posted. Anyway, that Craven House cover might lend itself to the basis of a design.

Definitely suits it better than the awful cover on the paperback version I read.

I'll voluntarily be the voice of dissent by default. Not that I find the design disagreeable -- the typography and palette are fine -- but I don't particularly care for the illustrations, not least of all because they immediately assign a physical likeness to each character, in a fairly specific way, and I always prefer to let my imagination do that work for itself. The mind's private and personal visualization of a novel's characters is a big part of what I enjoy about the act of reading. For this reason, I've never gone for comic books or, as I believe the present term to be, graphic novels. Who's the cat that looks like a cross between Einstein and Twain? Mr Spicer?

All good points Mark. I'd agree that I prefer less prescriptive covers in the main. That said, this just has that period vibe which gives it a certain something. Still, the classic Penguin Books covers are right up there with the very best...

http://pictures.abebooks.com/NICKB/18...

FYI, they have just reissued Craven House, for Kindle as well!

Hurrah

I've just begun reading CRAVEN HOUSE my last unread Hamilton novel save one (IMPROMPTU,,,). Very much looking forward to it!

I really enjoyed Craven House... so much so, that I read it a second time. Good luck with it.

It’s an early gem

You’ll enjoy it. It’s a bit strange reading something from our man that doesn’t inevitably steer towards disappointment and darkness, but all the pointers and skills are there hinting at his future outlook and his scene-setting and characterisation skills.

My main memory of reading it is the young male protagonist miming cricketing actions as he walks along the street, and his “bowled him!” interjections making me tecall the great Christopher Martin-Jenkins’s superbly-insightful Test Match Special commentaries.

Enjoy.

You chose wisely when picking Craven House over Impromptu In Moribundia. Not to undersell the latter, but it scoops up the prize for being the outlier in Hamilton’s body of work.

Mark wrote: "You chose wisely when picking Craven House over Impromptu In Moribundia. Not to undersell the latter, but it scoops up the prize for being the outlier in Hamilton’s body of work."

Well, I have ordered IMPROMPTU and so I'll see. It does look like an outlier, but wasn't ANIMAL FARM an outlier? In any case, I will report when I'm reading it. Enjoying CRAVEN HOUSE very much so far.

I’m not very good at quantifying things, but I will say that Hamilton, at his worst, is still far better than many at their finest. That said, I liked Impromptu In Moribundia in a weird sort of way.

Thanks Michael, thanks Mark


I eagerly await your final conclusions on Craven House Michael

I've also revived the Impromptu In Moribundia discussion thread for when you get round to that one

Nigeyb wrote: "Thanks Michael, thanks Mark
I finished Craven House this afternoon, and I enjoyed it very much. The characters are not as jaded as in his later works and some of it was quite funny. (I especially liked Mrs. Hoare!) I will begin Impromptu in Moribundia and soon after that the Hamilton biography.

I eagerly await your final conclusions on Craven House Michael

I've also revived the Impromptu In Moribundia discussion thread for when y..."

Michael wrote: "I finished Craven House this afternoon, and I enjoyed it very much. The characters are not as jaded as in his later works and some of it was quite funny. (I especially liked Mrs. Hoare!) I will begin Impromptu in Moribundia and soon after that the Hamilton biography."

Thanks for the update Michael. I'm glad you enjoyed Craven House, though it was never really in doubt.

I am jealous of you as you complete your Hamiltonian journey

I hope we've suitably prepared your for Impromptu In Moribundia. It's a complete outlier.

Please keep us updated

Currently 99 pence in the Kindle edition in the UK