Open Prison
The Head of House at a minor public school, Robin Hayes, has to break the news that his solicitor father has been found guilty of embezzlement and sentenced to two years in an open prison. He now feels he needs to prove himself afresh, but complications arise when another junior pupil turns out to be the grandson of the judge who passed sentence on his father. Nonetheless, the boys do form a relationship. A strange intervention in Robin’s life comes with generous gifts of cash from his uncle, who is also seemingly similarly supporting his father. This, however, is only the background to a typical Stewart mystery. There occurs a double kidnapping, the father suddenly and inexplicably rejects his son, the son goes to pieces and there are sufficient sub-plots to provide enough twists and turns to grip the reader as the final twist in the tale develops.
Palace of Art
Gloria Montacute is in Venice, having temporarily removed herself from England following the death of her mother and inheriting a great collection of art treasures. The monetary value of these is of no consequence to her – she has previously worked in a lowly capacity in a London hospital and possesses a strong sense of social responsibility which outweighs any material wealth. This is in stark contrast to her dead mother who did not really appreciate the ‘art’, but viewed the treasures as rapidly soaring investments. Dealers gather and salivate, and one of them sends a handsome young man to Venice. Jake, Gloria’s cousin, and Henry, a neighbour, also pursue her. Gloria harbours suspicions that this be because of her inheritance. The conclusion is as much a surprise as we have come to expect from Stewart’s novels, on this occasion weaved by Gloria herself in a splendidly romantic manner. With wit and humour, yet with a vein of seriousness running throughout, Stewart manages to bring all of the characters to life and grip the reader right to the end.
Parlour Four and Other Stories
A small boy is kind someone disabled, with unexpected consequences. A young lover presents a ring found on a French beach to the girl of his dreams, but doesn’t appreciate its history and value. Meanwhile in Oxford the Bodleian Library is mysteriously empty, whilst one of the dons very unwisely turns to writing fiction, but becomes a bestselling author. And in yet another tale, a cruel ending brings the absurdity of death into sharp focus. All of the stories in this collection focus on life’s ironies and absurdities and are told with Stewart’s usual wit and wisdom, with due attention to detail.
Non-Fiction
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy was considered a Victorian sage, but not everyone fully appreciated his worth and genius. T.S. Eliot stated that Hardy wrote ‘as nearly for the sake of self-expression as a man well can’ and that the outcome was not to be described as ‘particularly wholesome or edifying’. J.I.M. Stewart famously defended Hardy against these charges in a paper and has now expanded his views in this comprehensive biography. Stewart’s work is not, however, any form of apology for Hardy; he critically examines the life and work of the genius that emerged from humble origins and notes that he often wrote sensationally and outside of his own social experience. This volume describes the genesis of Hardy’s more famous works, along with the minor ones, and shows how the biographical background influenced his writing. What emerges is a picture of Hardy the artist, carefully building a symmetry in his works, along with immense narrative powers, and developing a deep understanding of rural life and community. Attention is also given to Hardy’s poetry and the manner in which this is distinguished from others poets of the age. This is a masterful biography from a man who in turn was an author and scholar of high literary ability and reputation.
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