BOOK DETAILS
Hardcover with dust jacket ISBN-13: 978-1948405102 List Price: $34.99 U.S. Pages: 182 Published: 2018 BOOK DETAILS Trade paper ISBN-13: 978-1948405096 List Price: $16.99 U.S. Pages: 182 Published: 2018 |
Benighted (1927)
J.B. Priestley With a new introduction by Orrin Grey Hardcover / Paperback
Book Description
A torrential downpour forces Philip and Margaret Waverton and their friend Roger Penderel to seek shelter in an ancient, crumbling mansion inhabited by the strange and sinister Femm family. Determined to make the best of the circumstances, the benighted travellers drink and talk to pass the time while the storm rages outside. But as the night progresses and tensions rise, dangerous and unexpected secrets emerge. On the house’s top floor are two locked doors: behind one of them is the mysterious, unseen Sir Roderick Femm, while the other conceals something terrifying and deadly ... Benighted (1927), a classic ‘old dark house’ story of psychological terror, was the second novel by one of the most prolific and beloved British authors of the 20th century, J.B. Priestley (1894-1984). This edition includes an introduction by Orrin Grey, who discusses the connections between the novel and its film adaptation, James Whale’s The Old Dark House (1932). |
reviews
‘There are none too many stories comparable with this one.’ - The New York Times
‘Priestley is one of the finest and most popular storytellers of the last hundred years.’ - Margaret Drabble
‘J.B. Priestley is one of our literary icons of the 20th century. And it is time that we all became re-acquainted with his genius.’ - Judi Dench
‘Priestley is one of the finest and most popular storytellers of the last hundred years.’ - Margaret Drabble
‘J.B. Priestley is one of our literary icons of the 20th century. And it is time that we all became re-acquainted with his genius.’ - Judi Dench
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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
John Boynton Priestley was born in 1894 in Yorkshire, the son of a schoolmaster. After leaving Belle Vue School when he was 16, he worked in a wool office but was already by this time determined to become a writer. He volunteered for the army in 1914 during the First World War and served five years; on his return home, he attended university and wrote articles for the Yorkshire Observer. After graduating, he established himself in London, writing essays, reviews, and other nonfiction, and publishing several miscellaneous volumes. In 1927 his first two novels appeared, Adam in Moonshine and Benighted. In 1929 Priestley scored his first major critical success as a novelist, winning the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for The Good Companions. Angel Pavement (1930) followed and was also extremely successful. Throughout the next several decades, Priestley published numerous novels, many of them very popular and successful, including Bright Day (1946), and Lost Empires (1965), and was also a prolific and highly regarded playwright.
Priestley died in 1984, and though his plays have continued to be published and performed since his death, much of his fiction has unfortunately fallen into obscurity. Recently, some of his most famous novels have been reprinted in England by Great Northern Books; Valancourt Books is republishing Benighted and Priestley’s excellent collection of weird short stories The Other Place (1953).
For more information on J.B. Priestley, visit the official website at http://www.jbpriestley.co.uk/JBP/Home.html or the website for the J.B. Priestley Society at http://www.jbpriestleysociety.com/.
Priestley died in 1984, and though his plays have continued to be published and performed since his death, much of his fiction has unfortunately fallen into obscurity. Recently, some of his most famous novels have been reprinted in England by Great Northern Books; Valancourt Books is republishing Benighted and Priestley’s excellent collection of weird short stories The Other Place (1953).
For more information on J.B. Priestley, visit the official website at http://www.jbpriestley.co.uk/JBP/Home.html or the website for the J.B. Priestley Society at http://www.jbpriestleysociety.com/.