The Patrick Hamilton Appreciation Society discussion

Thanks to both Mark and Susan for alerting me to the joys of Anthony Quinn. Quinn wrote an article about Patrick Hamilton's Hangover Square - message 94 in the Hangover Square thread.

Here’s the article….

https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...

More about Hangover Square.....

Anthony Quinn was born in Liverpool in 1964. From 1998 to 2013 he was the film critic for the Independent. He is the author of six novels: The Rescue Man, which won the 2009 Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award; Half of the Human Race; The Streets, which was shortlisted for the 2013 Walter Scott Prize; Curtain Call, which was chosen for Waterstones and Mail on Sunday Book Clubs; Freya, a Radio 2 Book Club choice and Eureka.

https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/ant...

I have just started reading...

'Curtain Call' (2015) by Anthony Quinn

I’ve just started to read 'Curtain Call' by Anthony Quinn, which is set in the summer of 1936 and so far I am very impressed.

Quinn's novel plays out against the rise of homegrown fascists such as Oswald Mosley. There is something of Waugh in the acute observation, of Maugham in the sophistication of the world, a dash of John Buchan in the pace and action, and the comedy is a delight. This book is utterly pleasing from the first page to the last.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...

Here’s what it’s about...

On a sultry afternoon in the summer of 1936 a woman accidentally interrupts an attempted murder in a London hotel room. Nina Land, a West End actress, faces a dilemma: she’s not supposed to be at the hotel in the first place, and certainly not with a married man. But once it becomes apparent that she may have seen the face of the man the newspapers have dubbed ‘the Tie-Pin Killer’ she realises that another woman's life could be at stake.

Jimmy Erskine is the raffish doyen of theatre critics who fears that his star is fading: age and drink are catching up with him, and in his late-night escapades with young men he walks a tightrope that may snap at any moment. He has depended for years on his loyal and longsuffering secretary Tom, who has a secret of his own to protect. Tom’s chance encounter with Madeleine Farewell, a lost young woman haunted by premonitions of catastrophe, closes the circle: it was Madeleine who narrowly escaped the killer’s stranglehold that afternoon, and now walks the streets in terror of his finding her again.

Curtain Call is a comedy of manners, and a tragedy of mistaken intentions. From the glittering murk of Soho’s demi-monde to the grease paint and ghost-lights of theatreland, the story plunges on through smoky clubrooms, tawdry hotels and drag balls towards a denouement in which two women are stalked by the same killer. As bracing as a cold Martini and as bright as a new tie-pin, it is a poignant and gripping story about love and death and a society dancing towards the abyss.




'Curtain Call' (2015) by Anthony Quinn

I've just finished his Freya and truly enjoyed it. Before I was half-way through, I hauled myself online and bought the two other novels which, alongside Freya, comprise a sort of loose trilogy -- Curtain Call and Eureka!

Had I known that it was a trilogy, I probably would have begin with Curtain Call, although I'm not sure how much it matters.

Really looking forward to your thoughts on this one, Nige, and hoping that you enjoy it enough to move on to Freya.

And unless I'm mistaken, I think Anthony Quinn has written the introduction for the latest edition of Hamilton's Hangover Square. Makes sense -- reading Freya, I noticed shades of Patrick Hamilton, Lynne Reid-Banks, Nell Dunn, Alan Sillitoe, and many more.

Jimmy Erskine, by the way, plays a strong secondary roll in Freya.

That's really helpful and interesting Mark


Mark wrote: "Jimmy Erskine, by the way, plays a strong secondary roll in Freya."

Jimmy Erskine has just turned up in Curtain Call - quite an interesting character already

I am really enjoying 'Curtain Call' (2015) so far.

I look forward to the rest of the trilogy.... 'Freya' and 'Eureka'.

I notice both Mark and Susan both gave 'Freya' five stars (and, in Susan's case, a glowing review). Can't wait.

And wait until you discover Jimmy's favourite tipple, if you haven't already.

Taken as a whole, I found Freya to be quietly powerful. If I had to pick the nit, I found it perhaps overly ambitious in parts, but that's a very minor quibble, and one that I wouldn't shout out. In all, I think it was a remarkable achievement on Quinn's part, and it's certainly a novel that will stay with the reader for a very long time to come. Not least of all because of his talent, like Hamilton's, of bringing his characters to life in a very believable and natural sort of way. And, like the works of Phillip Kerr and Cathi Unsworth, the weaving-in of historical events lends an air of credibility whenever the the plot slightly loses it.

And yeah, cap doffed and jar raised to Susan and her superb review!

Thanks Mark - that's very encouraging. I am sure I will love it.


'Curtain Call' (2015) continues to delight and impress.

I now know who Freya is - 'Freya' being the second book in the loose ‘Curtain Call’ Trilogy - she is the daughter of philandering portraitist Stephen Wyley, one of the central characters in 'Curtain Call'

There are a few parallels with ‘Hangover Square’ given both were set in the 1930s when fascism was on the rise across Europe and, in this instance, in London. There’s a character in 'Curtain Call' called Gerard Carmody who is an MP and he leads the British People's Brigade. The British People's Brigade is clearly based on the National Socialist League (NSL). The NSL is the organisation which broke away from the British Union of Fascists (BUF) shortly after the 1937 elections. Gerard Carmody must therefore presumably be based on John Beckett. As Stephen Wyley walks out of their HQ with Gerard Carmody they even pass someone who perfectly matches the description of William "Lord Haw Haw" Joyce, another of the founder members of the NSL. Needless to say this kind of great detail is just another reason to love this book.

Anthony Quinn also penned the introduction to the 2016 seventy-fifth anniversary edition edition of Hangover Square

I look forward to the rest of the trilogy.... 'Freya' and 'Eureka'.

Thanks again to Mark for this recommendation.

I've finished ‘Curtain Call’ and it's a delight from start to finish. Although the activities of a serial killer hold the narrative together 'Curtain Call’ is not a crime novel. The Tie-Pin Killer is merely the strand that connects a disparate group of Londoners, and it is as a character study and a period piece that the book really succeeds. Indeed the era is so vividly evoked that it felt as though it was written in the 1930s. There are no hints of modern dialogue or other jarring intrusions. 'Curtain Call’ summons a world of nightclubs, boarding houses, pubs, and Lyons Corner House cafes and weaves in quite a bit of contemporaneous history. The clandestine London gay scene features and, along with the looming threat of war, is another memorable aspect of a really satisfying novel.

5/5

Very pleased indeed to learn that your experience stacks up nicely alongside my own expectations. I'm about two-thirds of the way through Eureka at the moment, with a resolute plan to get tucked into Curtain Call immediately after. Once the trilogy is behind me, I'm keen to check out his three earlier novels.

Nigeyb wrote: "I look forward to the rest of the trilogy.... 'Freya' and 'Eureka'."


I'm poised to start 'Freya'.

Huzzah

After the wonderful ‘Curtain Call’ I can't wait



The blurb....

‘A wonderful tale of female friendship… Elegant and compelling’ Mail on Sunday

Freya Wyley meets Nancy Holdaway amid the wild celebrations of VE Day, the prelude to a devoted and competitive friendship…

Freya, ambitious and outspoken, pursues a career on Fleet Street while Nancy, less self-confident, struggles to get her first novel published. Both friends become entangled with Robert Cosway, a charismatic young man whose own ambition will have a momentous bearing on their lives.

Flitting from war-haunted Oxford to the bright new shallows of the 1960s, Freya plots the unpredictable course of a woman’s life and loves in extraordinary times.

Cool news, I reckon you'll enjoy it. It's a wild ride, in all the best ways.

I’ve just finished Eureka and begun Curtain Call. Really liked Eureka a lot... maybe not quite as much as Freya, but enough to hope for an eventual fourth novel in the series.

Hadn’t realised until starting Curtain Call this morning that the cover image was lifted from an old London Underground poster designed by Verney Danvers [1895–1973]. A quick look online turned up the fact that some of his work is on view at MoMA here in NYC, which is less than a block away from my office. There's today's lunch break sorted.

How marvellous. We need a report Mark.

I hadn't thought about the possibility of a fourth novel. C'mon Quinn, your public demands it

Nigeyb wrote: "I hadn't thought about the possibility of a fourth novel. C'mon Quinn, your public demands it"

For me, he brings his characters to life in ways that not many authors are able to do. And with the historical arc of the trilogy, from the late 1930s through 1967, I'd love to see how they made it through the 1970s.

Nigeyb wrote: "And wait until you discover Jimmy's favourite tipple, if you haven't already."

Yet I’m on the receiving end of weird looks whenever I ask for Pernod.

Got to be fresh and warm. Yuk.

I'm about a hundred pages into Curtain Call, and absolutely loving it. While it may be true that there's three points of entry into the trilogy, I'm sort of left wishing that I'd gone in order -- the backstory of Jimmy Erskine in Curtain Call, for example, would've brought him to life even more so in Freya. As you'll see, it's the same as you follow Nat from Freya through Eureka.

Really happy that I stumbled upon and took a chance with Anthony Quinn, not least of all because he's proven to be very Hamiltonian, and that ain't no bad thing.

Mark wrote: "Really happy that I stumbled upon and took a chance with Anthony Quinn, not least of all because he's proven to be very Hamiltonian, and that ain't no bad thing. "

Couldn't agree more Mark and, I'd say, fairly rare too. Both are natural storytellers with great insight into human nature and the ability to get that down on the page.

Mark wrote: "I'm sort of left wishing that I'd gone in order -- the backstory of Jimmy Erskine in Curtain Call, for example, would've brought him to life even more so in Freya. As you'll see, it's the same as you follow Nat from Freya through Eureka. "

I had much the same thought as I work through Freya. Specifically that watching the character development through the chronological approach gives an extra level of pleasure with this trilogy. I can't wait to see how it all plays out.

I'm on page 232 of 576 of Freya and still thoroughly enjoying it.

One of the pleasures is trying to work out who the book's characters are based on, in addition to Rebecca West (here Jessica Vaux), I'm confident we also meet characters who share a lot in common with Francis Bacon, John Deakin and Nina Hamnett. There are other characters I have yet to work out, not least one called Nat Fane who, despite early promise seems to be failing as an actor. He might be based on Kenneth Tynan.

Anyway, it's all great fun and recommended.

Thanks again Mark and Susan.

My knowledge of these things is extremely limited, but I also suspected Bacon, Deakin and Hamnett, so there's probably something to it. If you work out the source for Nat, I'd love to be tipped off.

Really happy to hear that you're still enjoying Freya like I'd hoped you would. Meanwhile, at this end, Curtain Call is completely lighting up my life. You weren't lying when you said that it reads as if it were a product of 1936. I reckon Quinn spent years with his nose in all the right books, and shares a good amount of our enthusiasms.

I'll update the thread as and when I have any otters ideas about who is who

Mark wrote: "Curtain Call is completely lighting up my life. You weren't lying when you said that it reads as if it were a product of 1936. I reckon Quinn spent years with his nose in all the right books, and shares a good amount of our enthusiasms. "

Splendid. I agree that he seems to share a good amount of our enthusiasms

Have just finished Curtain Call and already have it in mind to revisit the whole trilogy again at some point, in chronological order, and am keeping all fingers crossed for the trilogy to eventually expand to a tetralogy. Or a pentalogy. Or a hexalogy. Perhaps even a heptalogy.

No prize for guessing what four words I learnt tonight.

In the meantime, though, I plan on reading the three other novels by Anthony Quinn, and very much look forward to doing so.

Splendid news Mark.

I am still thoroughly enjoying Freya and am looking forward to Eurerka.

Eureka, in my estimation, was as different from Freya as Freya was from Curtain Call, which bodes well in favour of each novel standing on its own outside of the trilogy tag. It's almost as if Anthony Quinn took great care to write each novel somewhat after the style of the era each novel is set in... particularly tricky business in Freya, as that novel spans a few eras in its course. To my mind, he achieved his aim -- if, indeed, that was an aim of his.

Eureka is, I think, more in line with Curtain Call, if only because of its finite and relatively short and focused scope, time-wise.

This is all very encouraging Mark.

And certainly based on Curtain Call, and 80% of Freya, your observation that "Anthony Quinn took great care to write each novel somewhat after the style of the era" is spot on.

I absolutely love the attention to period detail, and the way he incorporates real people and events into the narrative

I saw one reviewer describe his prose as pedestrian and clunky which is completely at odds with my own experience of his books. I think they're very well written and very immersive.

I should finish Freya tonight. I haven't got a copy of Eureka yet but will be putting that right very soon.

Anthony Quinn (sadly, not that Anthony Quinn) is also a journalist who shares my enthusiasm for the English writer Patrick Hamilton.

I've finished 'Freya'

Click here to read my review

Perhaps somewhat predictably, I loved it

5/5

Needless to say I am now impatient to get started on the trilogy's finale - 'Eureka'. I'm also looking forward to reading more of Anthony Quinn's bibliography.

Very pleased to see that you rated Freya so highly... as did I. It's rare when a novel leaves you feeling like you've been willingly hauled on a long journey, and Freya certainly did that for me.

Roll on Eureka!

Mark wrote: "Roll on Eureka!"


Yes indeed Mark. It will come as no surprise to you to discover that I am pressing straight on with ’Eureka', the third and final part of this hugely enjoyable 20th century trilogy.

I'm already reacquainted with Nat Fane and had the first mention of Freya, alongside a fun section about Michelangelo Antonioni's 'Blowup'

Ah, good news! Eureka is structured differently from the other two, flitting back and forth between the script that Nat is writing and the action surrounding the making of the film, but they do work well together in the end. Best to plod on and not give it too much thought, at least not initially.

Will be very keen to hear who you think Reiner Werther Kloss is modeled after, not least of all because my limited knowledge prevented me from nailing it down.

Here's hoping for a fourth, with Billie Cantrip at the centre of things!

Thanks Mark. Yes, it's a little confusing so far but I'll just roll with it


Mark wrote: "Will be very keen to hear who you think Reiner Werther Kloss is modeled after, not least of all because my limited knowledge prevented me from nailing it down."

From the name I'd instantly assumed Rainer Werner Fassbinder...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainer_...

Mark wrote: "Here's hoping for a fourth, with Billie Cantrip at the centre of things! "

I'm already a little bit in love with Billie (and have a soft spot for her mum too)

I love the way Quinn has already woven in references to the Tie Pin Murders and dear old Jimmy Erskine (RIP). These books are an absolute joy.

If anyone reading this is tempted then I'd strongly suggest you read them in order.

Fassbinder was my first thought, as well, but I wasn't able to base that on anything but the similarity in names.

Billie's mum is great! Luckily, she gets a few look ins throughout the novel, and becomes more likeable each time.

Mark wrote: "Fassbinder was my first thought, as well, but I wasn't able to base that on anything but the similarity in names."


Mystery solved.....


For the character of Reiner I decided to read Love is Colder Than Death, a life of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, the erratic, prolific and occasionally brilliant star of the new German cinema. And what a life: a dark-hued pageant of cruelty and suffering in which Fassbinder played lord of misrule over a sleazy, drug-addled court of rent boys, lovers and thieves. He was dead of an overdose in 1982, aged 37. I didn’t want to live with that character in my book - and I sensed the reader wouldn’t either - so I saved just a few details from RWF in a revised portrait composed of two other Germans, both essentially benign but with a lightning streak of craziness. One was Werner Herzog, the visionary director, and the other was Jurgen Klopp, the Liverpool FC manager (born June 1967) whose charm has just the right maniacal touch for the character I had in mind. Reiner Werther Kloss: see what I did there?

http://www.theartsdesk.com/books/eure...

Very very cool, Nigel. Will read the entire article this evening!

At just over halfway I am still revelling in Eureka.


Now I know that Reiner Werther Kloss in part based on both Jurgen Klopp and Werner Herzog I can’t them out of my mind when I read the sections featuring him. I mainly imagine him as Jurgen Klopp - which is v pleasing.

Meanwhile Nat’s dinner at Billie’s mum’s house goes v well despite the amusing misunderstanding at the event’s finale.

My only reservation is that Quinn seems to be over-egging the appalling Jeff, Billie’s moody and miserable boyfriend.

I can't praise Eureka highly enough. I'm into the final third and the plot is ridiculously compelling - so many wonderful twists and turns.

Nigeyb wrote: "I can't praise Eureka highly enough. I'm into the final third and the plot is ridiculously compelling - so many wonderful twists and turns."

It's quite a fun book, isn't it? Were it not for a handful of the same characters, it would stand miles apart from Curtain Call and Freya. I like Quinn's departure with this one, especially considering how easy it would've been for him to dish up a bit more of the same.

They are three very different books just linked by a few overlapping characters. Indeed Anthony Quinn, in that interview I link to above, doesn't even recognise them as a trilogy.

'Freya' is bloody brilliant!....


This is the last book in Anthony Quinn’s loose 20th century trilogy: (1) ’Curtain Call', (2) 'Freya' and (3) 'Eureka'. I have recently read and enjoyed both 'Curtain Call' and 'Freya' so was very excited to press straight on with this, the third and final part (so far).

I rated both both 'Curtain Call' and 'Freya' five stars and yet, if anything, 'Eureka' is my favourite of the three books.

Although each of the three books stands alone, and can be read without reference to the other two, I strongly recommend anyone considering reading all three to work their way through sequentially.

'Eureka' takes place primarily in London during the Summer of 1967 and, like the previous two novels, has a superb sense of time and place. Antonioni’s swinging London film 'Blow-Up' has just come out and The Beatles are poised to release Sergeant Pepper. German auteur Reiner Werther Kloss is in town to make a film called 'Eureka' based on a Henry James novel.

Nat Fane’s film screenplay for ‘Eureka’ is interspersed into the main narrative. This is a wonderful narrative device and a great way of telling two stories in one. The main plot is pacy: a compelling page-turner that very entertainingly captures the spirit of the times complete with bohemians, drugs, booze, gangsters, 60s fashion, kinky sex, and violence.

If you are interested in the late 1960s then you should love 'Freya'.

5/5

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

Very happy to hear that you enjoyed Eureka so much, though hardly shocked. The three novels, when combined, really do the job of taking you on an epic journey -- for me, a journey that I very much hope will continue with a fourth book. In the meantime, though, I can't see anything stopping me from buying and reading Quinn's three other novels, none of which, I assume, will leave me wanting to spank people and burn things as Eureka did!

Having put a big tick by the following....


Curtain Call
Freya
Eureka

....which Quinn book should I read next?....

The Rescue Man
Half of the Human Race
The Streets

....which Quinn book should I read next?...."

I’ll need to follow your lead this time round, so choose wisely! I want to read all three, and I will, but I was thinking about kicking it off with The Rescue Man, which sounds quite interesting. Truly, though, if The Erskine Trilogy is anything to go by, I don’t imagine you can go far wrong with Quinn. It's a nice dilemma to have.

Yes indeed Mark


I'm erring towards The Streets as I can get it out of my library service, although some reviews I've read suggest that our man was still finding his feet. Still even slightly sub-par Quinn (if that is also my perception) is surely better than most. I'll keep you posted.

I'm also acutely aware that I need to get back to Frank Norman too. I have a few lined up that I want to read, and - whilst on writers we've discussed in this group - I still want to read more of the early Derek Raymond books (before The Factory novels).

I've got four Frank Normans sat next to the bed, waiting to be devoured -- Norman's London, Dodgem Greaser, The Dead Butler Caper and Too Many Crooks Spoil The Caper. I guess I'm enjoying the anticipation!

I’m about 100 pages into Rescue Man, and am already able to highly recommend it. Quinn is very clearly influenced by Hamilton, and the story, set in Liverpool, 1939, is a hard one to put down. As he did throughout the trilogy, historical facts and figures -- as well as architectural details -- weave seamlessly throughout the fiction.

Wonderful. Thanks for the encouraging update Mark, and for reminding me that I must get back to Quinn.

I’ve got the remainder of his books stacked next to my side of the bed, and am looking forward to reading them all. A very pleasant contemporary discovery.

Agreed Mark. One of the best of the new breed.

Having now read his first three, I can recommend all of them. I absolutely loved his first, The Rescue Man, so it’s that one that I’d recommend with the most enthusiasm and confidence.

While I liked his second, Half Of The Human Race, I found it to be a bit more difficult to get into. It’s a very slow burn and, in the end, it seemed like the majority of the novel could be taken as the build up. I liked it a lot more in hindsight, but can still recommend it.

I’ve just finished reading his third, The Streets, and absolutely loved it. I wasn’t quite able to give it a full five stars, because it seemed to veer off in another direction towards the end... not quite disconnected, but... I don’t know... I remained engaged and invested, but in radically different ways.

So, in short, if you enjoyed the loose trilogy that followed after his first three novels, proceed without any caution. None of them disappointed, and none of them soiled my appreciation for the author. The Rescue Man, though, stood a bit apart as being something special.