Book description
The First World War is over. Eric Vernon is on the cusp of adulthood.
Tall, bony and awkward he finds himself torn between a desire to
emulate his heroic father, who led a life of quiet sacrifice, and
resentment toward his father's roguish friend Edward Blake, who
survived the war only to throw himself into gay life in Berlin. With
subtle wit and trademark irony, Isherwood's second novel evokes a
society in flux.
Christopher Isherwood was born in 1904. He began to write at
university and later moved to Berlin, where he gave English lessons to
support himself. He witnessed first hand the rise to power of Hitler and
the Nazi party in Germany and some of his best works, such as
Mr.
Norris Changes Trains
and
Goodbye to Berlin,
draw on these experiences. He created the character of Sally Bowles,
later made famous as the heroine of the musical
Cabaret
. Isherwood travelled with W. H Auden to China in the late 1930s before
going with him to America in 1939. He died on 4 January 1986. His novel
A Single Man
was recently made into an award-winning film by Tom Ford, starring Colin
Firth and Julianne Moore.
