The week of the Official Publication of Bless ' em All by Allen Saddler (link below) commences today. And we have another review from the great Joe Cushley of What's On in London, turn to page 62:
'Sarah Waters take note. This is how to write a Blitz novel. In last year's disappointing Night Watch, Waters tried to portray both the drama and the drabness of war-time London and ended up simply writing drably. Saddler successfully interweaves the tales of a collection of lower class Londoners, and their connections - through work, love and lust - with a pair of relatively well-to-do brothers in the book trade. The bombs begin to fall. Some characters end badly, some well and some, literally, soldier on. Saddler has a touch of the Orwells about his pure, clear prose-style, which is particularly effective in painting London itself as a living backdrop to this moving story of a mundane world suddenly run mad.' ****
Marvelous stuff. It's a great start and hopefully over the next two weeks there'll be more. You can find copies in all good bookstores (hee hee!) but special mention goes to the Royal Festival Hall bookshopn the Britain at War museum and the Harbour Bookshop in Dartmouth all of whom will have displays of the book.
Links:
Bless 'em All Page:
http://www.peterowen.com/pages/fiction/bless'emall.htm
Allen Saddler's website
http://www.allensaddler.co.uk
Dove Grey Reader's Review:
http://dovegreyreader.typepad.com/dovegreyreader_scribbles/2007/02/theres_nothing_.html
In other news it looks like we're going to publishing one of the great Turkish writers: Orhan Kemal.
http://www.orhankemal.org
More as and when . . .
1 comment:
Hi. I'm just back from Tangier, and found your blog. Would love to know what you made of that waspish Colm Toibin piece on Paul Bowles in the LRB recently. Rather unfair, I thought...
Any chance you could reprint the 'Portable Bowles Reader'?
Excellent Modern Classics range, by the way.
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