The Wrong People (1967)
Robin Maugham
Introduction by William Lawrence
Book Description
Set against the seedy backdrop of 1960s Tangier, The Wrong People (1967) is the story of Arnold Turner, a repressed English schoolmaster on holiday in Morocco, where he meets Ewing Baird, a wealthy American expat with a dark secret. Ewing lavishly entertains him and even provides him with a young lover, but as Arnold becomes more and more involved with Ewing he realizes only too late that he has been lured into a dangerous trap – and his only chance of escape is by helping Ewing to carry out a sinister plan.
Drawing in part on the author’s real-life efforts to expose the African sex trafficking trade, Robin Maugham’s first explicitly gay-themed novel was both a critical and a commercial success, being reprinted several times – including in the important Gay Modern Classics series – and was optioned for a film version by Sal Mineo (Rebel Without a Cause). This edition includes a new foreword by Maugham’s longtime partner William Lawrence.
Robin Maugham
Introduction by William Lawrence
Book Description
Set against the seedy backdrop of 1960s Tangier, The Wrong People (1967) is the story of Arnold Turner, a repressed English schoolmaster on holiday in Morocco, where he meets Ewing Baird, a wealthy American expat with a dark secret. Ewing lavishly entertains him and even provides him with a young lover, but as Arnold becomes more and more involved with Ewing he realizes only too late that he has been lured into a dangerous trap – and his only chance of escape is by helping Ewing to carry out a sinister plan.
Drawing in part on the author’s real-life efforts to expose the African sex trafficking trade, Robin Maugham’s first explicitly gay-themed novel was both a critical and a commercial success, being reprinted several times – including in the important Gay Modern Classics series – and was optioned for a film version by Sal Mineo (Rebel Without a Cause). This edition includes a new foreword by Maugham’s longtime partner William Lawrence.
reviews
‘I can only think of a handful of novelists who can play the reader like a hooked fish with comparable ingenuity and suppleness.’ – Francis King, Sunday Telegraph
‘A very well-told story, every move nicely calculated and undeniably shuddery.’ – Daily Telegraph
‘A gripping thriller. Storytelling at its best.’ – Sunday Express
‘A very well-told story, every move nicely calculated and undeniably shuddery.’ – Daily Telegraph
‘A gripping thriller. Storytelling at its best.’ – Sunday Express
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BOOK DETAILS
ISBN: 1948405261 ISBN-13: 978-1948405263 $16.99 US, 196 pp. Trade paper Published 2019 |
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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Robin Maugham was born Robert Cecil Romer Maugham in 1916, the son of Frederic Maugham, 1st Viscount Maugham, and Helen Romer, and nephew of the famous author W. Somerset Maugham. Educated at Eton and Cambridge, Maugham trained as a barrister but instead decided to follow in his uncle’s footsteps and pursue a career in literature.
Maugham served with distinction in World War II in North Africa, where he reportedly saved the lives of 40 men and sustained a head injury that resulted in blackouts. While convalescing from his wounds, Maugham wrote his first book, Come to Dust (1945), which drew on his war experiences. The book was praised by Graham Greene and sold well, convincing Maugham to continue writing full time. Over the next thirty years, Maugham would be one of England’s most popular writers, publishing some twenty volumes of fiction and a dozen nonfiction works, including travel writing, biographies of his uncle, and the autobiography Escape from the Shadows (1972), which dealt frankly with the three “shadows” over Maugham’s life: his father, his uncle, and his own homosexuality. Maugham was also a prolific playwright, writing scripts for stage, radio, and television.
Among his many works, highlights include the classic novella The Servant (1948), memorably filmed by Joseph Losey in 1963; Line on Ginger (1949), filmed as The Intruder (1953); The Wrong People (1967), a controversial novel dealing with pederasty and initially published pseudonymously, and The Link: A Victorian Mystery (1969), loosely based on the real-life Tichborne case.
On the death of his father in 1958, Maugham succeeded to the viscountcy, becoming the 2nd Viscount Maugham. His first speech in the House of Lords drew attention to the subject of human trafficking and led to a book on the subject, The Slaves of Timbuktu (1961). He traveled widely, living for ten years on the island of Ibiza, but towards the end of his life his health deteriorated due to diabetes and alcoholism. He died in Brighton in 1981.
Maugham served with distinction in World War II in North Africa, where he reportedly saved the lives of 40 men and sustained a head injury that resulted in blackouts. While convalescing from his wounds, Maugham wrote his first book, Come to Dust (1945), which drew on his war experiences. The book was praised by Graham Greene and sold well, convincing Maugham to continue writing full time. Over the next thirty years, Maugham would be one of England’s most popular writers, publishing some twenty volumes of fiction and a dozen nonfiction works, including travel writing, biographies of his uncle, and the autobiography Escape from the Shadows (1972), which dealt frankly with the three “shadows” over Maugham’s life: his father, his uncle, and his own homosexuality. Maugham was also a prolific playwright, writing scripts for stage, radio, and television.
Among his many works, highlights include the classic novella The Servant (1948), memorably filmed by Joseph Losey in 1963; Line on Ginger (1949), filmed as The Intruder (1953); The Wrong People (1967), a controversial novel dealing with pederasty and initially published pseudonymously, and The Link: A Victorian Mystery (1969), loosely based on the real-life Tichborne case.
On the death of his father in 1958, Maugham succeeded to the viscountcy, becoming the 2nd Viscount Maugham. His first speech in the House of Lords drew attention to the subject of human trafficking and led to a book on the subject, The Slaves of Timbuktu (1961). He traveled widely, living for ten years on the island of Ibiza, but towards the end of his life his health deteriorated due to diabetes and alcoholism. He died in Brighton in 1981.