Reading the Detectives discussion

Welcome to our buddy read of The Private Wound by Nicholas Blake
(Cecil Day Lewis)

This is our last book by the author and his last stand-alone mystery, published in 1968. Lewis died in 1972 and, having looked at his bibliography, this seems to have been his last published novel, although The Whispering Roots and Other Poems was his last published work in 1970, under his real name.

In the West of Ireland in 1939 a young novelist rents a lonely cottage to write his new book in peace.

Almost at once, and without great resistance, he is seduced by the wife of the local squire. Harriet's husband is an older man - hot-tempered, impoverished, gone to seed - who once fought famously against the Black and Tans. Soon this eternal triangle becomes a local scandal, and the atmosphere of threat and violence, intensified by the approaching war in Europe, leads to a horrific murder.

The Private Wound is Nicholas Blake's last book, written with such intensity of feeling and depth of character that it is widely regarded as his best.

"Really splendid. When they come round to having a Crime-writer Laureate, Mr Blake's brow is there for the wreathing" - The Times

Blake's mysteries are a bit up and down, so let's hope we end on a high! Please do not post spoilers in this thread. Thank you.

Can hardly believe we have finished Nicholas Blake. Cecil Day-Lewis appears in a book I am currently reading, Not Far From Brideshead: Oxford Between the Wars

Thank you for setting up all the buddy threads and opening them up, Susan. The link to the spoiler thread is below:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Who is joining in on this one? Must confess I haven't started it yet, but will do so over the long Easter weekend.

Yes, hard to believe we have got to the end of the Nicholas Blake novels!

He is a very emotive writer - sometimes oddly brilliant, at other times you feel he was just in a foul mood while writing particular books!

Yes, I agree he can be very uneven and at times seems embittered. On the whole I think I prefer the mysteries with Nigel Strangeways, as I (mainly!) enjoy his character, but, having said that, I think one or two of the standalones are among his best.

I think my favourites have been some of the Nigel Strangeways novels (especially the earlier ones), but his stand-alones have definitely been worth reading.

I also plan to read his children's mystery The Otterbury Incident, which was first published in 1948, under his real name - I had a peek at the start of it and it looks like a lot of fun.

I have also been up and down with Blake, but am very glad to have read this one!

I will be reading this one, but leaving it till later in the month. I really didn’t like the last book, I thought it was disturbing, but I do want to complete Blake’s books.

I've started this one and am finding myself immediately drawn in by the beginning. I was interested to see it is first-person narration, with a feeling of foreboding and romance so far, although it's early days.

He is definitely an author who could be disturbing and who is very up and down, as Sandy put it so well. I haven't looked at his children's book yet, Judy, but do want to read his biography.

I'm about halfway through now and think so far this is excellent - the intensity building steadily. I can see why it is thought to be one of his best, as the introduction you posted says, Susan.

I finished it last night - read almost the whole book in a day, as it was a very quick and compelling read. Overall, I really enjoyed it, and am glad to have finished our series of Blake buddy reads with one of his best novels.

So glad you liked it, Judy. It really was an unusual read, wasn't it? Like the central character, Day-Lewis was born in Ireland and was brought to England by his father at the age of two after the death of his mother. He so often used his own work.

Interestingly, Day-Lewis also featured in a book I finished recently, Not Far From Brideshead: Oxford Between the Wars. Maurice Bowra, one of the dons, complained that Rosamund Lehmann was always crying about her love affairs - one of which, of course, was with Day-Lewis.

Susan wrote: "So glad you liked it, Judy. It really was an unusual read, wasn't it? Like the central character, Day-Lewis was born in Ireland and was brought to England by his father at the age of two after the ..."

I would not have liked being involved with Day-Lewis. He did not seem a pleasant person.

No, probably not, Sandy. I would still like to read his biography. He was one of the 'Oxford poets,' but the author of Not Far From Brideshead suggests they were hardly/rarely together.

Judy wrote: "I also plan to read his children's mystery The Otterbury Incident, which was first published in 1948, under his real name - I had a peek at the start of it and it looks like a lot of..."

I read that book several times as a child and loved it. It's one of those books I hesitate to read again in case I don't enjoy it now!

Ruth, I will probably buy The Otterbury Incident in print as I see it has illustrations by Edward Ardizzone - I love his work. He did some drawings for one of his children's picture books based on the docks in my home town, Ipswich, and there is a plaque to him there.

Ardizzone was also the cousin of GA crime author Christianna Brand and illustrated some of her children's books - strange how everything connects!