BOOK DETAILS
Trade paper ISBN-13: 978-1939140197 List Price: $15.99 U.S. Pages: 136 Published: 2013 |
The Dark Glasses (1954)
Francis King With a new introduction by Jonathan Fryer Book Description
After ten years of marriage, Patrick and Iris Orde have become complacent and passionless in their marriage and in their lives. When they inherit Iris’s father’s estate in Corfu, the change of scenery and the warmth of the Mediterranean sun seem just what they need. Patrick is able to devote himself to his hobbies, while Iris, a doctor, opens a clinic to treat the impoverished peasants. But when a meeting with a former lover reawakens old memories for Iris, and Patrick finds himself drawn to Soula, a village girl whose brother Stavro has a strange fondness for Patrick, a sequence of terrible events is set in motion that will lead to tragedy. . . . Francis King (1923-2011) ranked The Dark Glasses (1954), the fifth of his more than forty volumes of fiction, as one of his favourites among his own works and believed it was one of his most underrated. This edition, the novel’s first-ever republication, features a new introduction by Jonathan Fryer and the original jacket art. |
reviews
“A beautifully constructed, beautifully modulated and balanced story. To say that this is a haunting book seems a cliché, but it is true.” – Pamela Hansford Johnson
“[T]he writing is taut and precise, generating a sustained emotional tension . . . a book of distinctive quality.” – The Observer
“Characters and situations are delineated with fine simplicity and economy, but also with telling vividness. Francis King commands a noteworthy talent; he is one of a number of contemporary British novelists who deserve the best attention here.” – N.Y. Herald Tribune Book Review
“[T]he writing is taut and precise, generating a sustained emotional tension . . . a book of distinctive quality.” – The Observer
“Characters and situations are delineated with fine simplicity and economy, but also with telling vividness. Francis King commands a noteworthy talent; he is one of a number of contemporary British novelists who deserve the best attention here.” – N.Y. Herald Tribune Book Review
ALSO AVAILABLE THROUGH ONLINE RETAILERS
MORE TITLES BY THIS AUTHOR
|
|
|
|
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Francis King was born in Switzerland in 1923 and spent the first eight years of his life in India before being sent back to England to a boarding school. A bright student, he earned a Classics scholarship to Balliol College, Oxford, but later changed to English literature, and published his first novel, To the Dark Tower (1946) while still an undergraduate. This novel, and his next two, Never Again (1947) (an autobiographical novel based on King’s childhood) and An Air That Kills (1948), were published by Home and Van Thal, which then went bankrupt, but not before King had established himself as a promising young novelist.
Beginning in 1949, King worked for the British Council and travelled extensively, including to Italy, Greece, and Japan, all of which would provide settings for his novels. His next book, The Dividing Stream (1951), set in Florence, won the Somerset Maugham Award and cemented King’s status as one of the bright young literary stars of his generation. During the 1950s and 60s, King published a string of excellent works, including The Dark Glasses (1954), The Man on the Rock (1957), The Widow (1957), The Custom House (1961), and The Waves Behind the Boat (1965).
In 1966, King resigned from the British Council to devote himself to writing full-time and supplemented his income by writing book and theatre reviews and working as a literary adviser to the publishing house of Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
He continued to write prolifically, and notable highlights include the gay-themed novel A Domestic Animal (1970), which drew a threat of a libel action, The Action (1978), which narrowly missed the Booker shortlist, and Act of Darkness (1983), which, unlike many of King’s books—which were always well-received critically—was relatively successful commercially.
King went on writing until his death in 2011, making the Booker longlist with The Nick of Time (2003) and publishing a revised 60th anniversary edition of An Air That Kills with Valancourt Books in 2008; his final novel, Cold Snap, appeared in 2010.
Beginning in 1949, King worked for the British Council and travelled extensively, including to Italy, Greece, and Japan, all of which would provide settings for his novels. His next book, The Dividing Stream (1951), set in Florence, won the Somerset Maugham Award and cemented King’s status as one of the bright young literary stars of his generation. During the 1950s and 60s, King published a string of excellent works, including The Dark Glasses (1954), The Man on the Rock (1957), The Widow (1957), The Custom House (1961), and The Waves Behind the Boat (1965).
In 1966, King resigned from the British Council to devote himself to writing full-time and supplemented his income by writing book and theatre reviews and working as a literary adviser to the publishing house of Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
He continued to write prolifically, and notable highlights include the gay-themed novel A Domestic Animal (1970), which drew a threat of a libel action, The Action (1978), which narrowly missed the Booker shortlist, and Act of Darkness (1983), which, unlike many of King’s books—which were always well-received critically—was relatively successful commercially.
King went on writing until his death in 2011, making the Booker longlist with The Nick of Time (2003) and publishing a revised 60th anniversary edition of An Air That Kills with Valancourt Books in 2008; his final novel, Cold Snap, appeared in 2010.