![]() One of the episodes is a replication of that in The Midnight Bell, but told from Ella's perspective. We are also introduced to Ella's mother, trapped in a loveless marriage to Ella's violent stepfather. She is torn between a possible escape from her dull routine and a potential marriage to a man she does not love. Ella, still nursing a sublimated affection for Bob, has to deal with the increasingly unwelcome (and not always comprehensible) advances of the lower-middle class Ernest Eccles, an elderly customer of the pub. The Plains of Cement is set during the events in The Midnight Bell, with Ella as the focus. Bob and Ella do not feature at all in this novel. The following morning, having spent the night in the home of one of the men, she determines not to go back to the sisters' employ. She elects to stand her erstwhile boyfriend up, gets drunk and is involved in a car accident where there is a possible fatality. She gets a new job as a housemaid to two elderly sisters, but later the same day along with her friend encounters three men in a bar. The Siege of Pleasure is the shortest of the three stories, and recounts a little over twenty-four hours in Jenny's earlier life. Eventually, Jenny loses all interest once Bob has spent all his savings on her. In one of the most autobiographical narratives Hamilton ever wrote, Bob squanders his life savings on Jenny, whose lack of interest in Bob (beyond his money) is painfully evident to all but Bob. Ella, the barmaid at the pub, is secretly in love with Bob. The Midnight Bell tells the story of Bob, a sailor turned bar waiter who becomes infatuated with Jenny, a prostitute who visits the pub. The trilogy was published in paperback by Vintage in 2004 ( ISBN 0-09-947916-8). The books are also notable for their portrayal of working class London in the inter-war period. The first book in particular contains autobiographical elements-Hamilton worked in London pubs before becoming a successful writer, was infatuated with a prostitute at that time, and eventually died of liver failure caused by alcoholism. They focus on three of the people who populate The Midnight Bell pub in London the stories interconnect. ![]() The three books are The Midnight Bell (1929), The Siege of Pleasure (1932) and The Plains of Cement (1934). 20,000 Streets Under the Sky is a trilogy of semi-autobiographical novels by Patrick Hamilton.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |