Hard Facts

by Howard Spring

In a celebrated essay, Macaulay sums up Bacon's career as a "chequered spectacle of so much glory and so much shame." The words may fitly enough be applied not only to Bacon's life but to most men's lives and to most large experiments of human action. In 1942 I began to write a novel whose purpose was to trace the course of one such experiment from its beginnings in the eighties of last century up to our present time. I intended to call this novel, which would have been very long, So Much So Much Shame. It seemed to me as time went on that the war years, with the paper shortage, were not the best for the publication of so long a book as I had in mind. And, too, my writing during the war is so sporadic and occasional that progress was slow, and it might be years before the book as I conceived it (or at any rate as my conception worked out in practice) was finished. Things being thus, I decided that it would be better to publish the book piecemeal. In my plan, it was divided into three parts called Hard Facts, Dunkerley's and The Banner. The first of these is the present volume, which makes, I think, a rounded and self-sufficient story. I hope that, in due course, the other volumes will do so, too; and that finally it may be possible to publish the three as one book bearing the title originally chosen for it.

Genres: Fiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1944

About the author

HOWARD SPRING was an immensely popular and successful writer, who enjoyed a large following of readers from the 1940s to the 1960s; and though, since his death in 1965, he has become rather neglected, his books are still worth seeking out for their terrific storytelling and the quality of the writing. He was certainly painstaking and professional in his approach. Every morning he would shut himself in his study and write one thousand words, steadily building up to novels of around one hundred and fifty thousand words. He rarely made major alterations to his writings (all completed with a dip-in pen!).
Howard Spring started out as a journalist, but from 1934 produced a series of best-selling novels, the most successful of which were My Son My Son and Fame is the Spur.
He was born in Cardiff in 1889 in humble circumstances, one of nine children and the son of a jobbing gardener who died while Howard was still at school. He left school at the age of 12 to begin work as an errand boy, later becoming an office boy at a firm of accountants in Cardiff Docks, and then a messenger at the South Wales Daily News. Spring was keen to train as a reporter, and was largely self-taught --he spent his leisure time learning shorthand and taking evening classes, where he studied English, French, Latin, mathematics and history. He mastered English grammar by studying a book on the subject by William Cobbett.
He worked his way up to become a reporter on the South Wales Daily News, and then in 1911 he joined the Yorkshire Observer in Bradford. By 1915 he was on the Manchester Guardian –proof that he was a young man with much talent. Soon afterwards he was called up for the Army Service Corps, where he served as a shorthand typist. After the war, he returned to the paper in Manchester and worked as a reporter on a paper that allowed journalists to write and express themselves. In 1931, after reporting on a political meeting at which Lord Beaverbrook was the speaker, Beaverbrook was so impressed by Spring's piece (he described the man as ‘a pedlar of dreams’) that he arranged for Spring to be offered a post with the Evening Standard in London, where he eventually became a book reviewer –a successor to Arnold Bennett and J.B. Priestley.
At the same time, Spring was developing his ambition to become a full-time writer. He thought he could do a lot better than many of the so-called authors whose books he was asked to review! His first book, Darkie and Co, came out in 1932 (in this period he wrote a number of children’s books for his sons), followed by his first novel, Shabby Tiger (September 1934) and a sequel, Rachel Rosing (1935).
His first major success came in February 1938 with My Son, My Son (originally titled O Absalom, but, happily, changed when William Faulkner used a similar title in the United States), and in 1939 he was able to move to Cornwall to become a full-time writer (he and his wife, Marion, eventually settled at The White Cottage in Fenwick Road, where they remained for the rest of their married life). In 1940, his best-known work, Fame is the Spur, the story of a Labour leader's rise to power, was published. This is without doubt a superb novel, and probably the one book by Spring that is still being read more than 40 years after his death.
During the war years Spring wrote two other novels, Hard Facts (1944) and Dunkerley's (1946), and, subsequently he published There is No Armour (1948), The Houses in Between (1951), A Sunset Touch (1953), These Lovers Fled Away (1955), Time and the Hour (1957), All The Day Long (1959) and I Met a Lady (1961). Spring also produced three volumes of autobiography--Heaven Lies About Us (1939), In the Meantime (1942); and And Another Thing (1946)—which were later published in one volume as The Autobiography (1972). His last book was Winds of the Day (1964).
It is relevant to note that many of his books had Manchester settings, which led to him being referred to as ‘The Manchester Man’, and

Reviews

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard Facts by Howard Spring



Hard Facts is about several characters and how their lives become involved with each other. The main character Theodore Chrystal is sent to be a curate to help a vicar in Manchester, England. He was the only character in the book I really didn't care for. He seemed ill- suited to his chosen profession, lacking compassion, judgmental, and selfish. He meets the Dunkersly family, who own a struggling printing company. Mr. Dunkersly has a good heart, hiring a young boy, Alec Dillworth, who is growing up in deplorable conditions with his sister Elsie, as a means to get them out of the slum and better their lives. Theodore Chrystal watches the birth of 'Hard Fact' paper the Mr. Dunkersly creates and ends up making the Dunkersly family immensely wealthy. Through the course of this, Theo believes he has fallen in love with Elsie Dillworth, not knowing the circumstances of her past, and once he does learn the facts-- cannot except Elsie. I thought it was a good book and enjoyed reading it, with good character development and about these people with intertwining lives through the passage of time.Howard Spring was a popular author, with his first book being published in 1932, and his popularity increased until his death in the '60's. Many of his books later were made into movies or t.v. series. In his early career as a journalist for the Guardian, editor C. P. Scott ' apparently regarded Spring's reporting skills highly; he wrote of Spring that: "Nobody does a better 'descriptive' or a better condensation of a difficult address." ' Wikipedia cites " he combined a wide understanding of human character with technical skill as a novelist. His method of composition was painstaking and professional. Each morning he would shut himself in his room and write one thousand words, steadily building up to novels of around 150,000 words. He rarely made major alterations to his writings." I look forward to reading more by him.I read this book for #Club1944 and twogalsandabook.com

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard Facts is about several characters and how their lives become involved with each other. The main character Theodore Chrystal is sent to be a curate to help a vicar in Manchester, England. He was the only character in the book I really didn't care for. He seemed ill- suited to his chosen profession, lacking compassion, judgmental, and selfish. He meets the Dunkersly family, who own a struggling printing company. Mr. Dunkersly has a good heart, hiring a young boy, Alec Dillworth, who is growing up in deplorable conditions with his sister Elsie, as a means to get them out of the slum and better their lives. Theodore Chrystal watches the birth of 'Hard Fact' paper the Mr. Dunkersly creates and ends up making the Dunkersly family immensely wealthy. Through the course of this, Theo believes he has fallen in love with Elsie Dillworth, not knowing the circumstances of her past, and once he does learn the facts-- cannot except Elsie. I thought it was a good book and enjoyed reading it, with good character development and about these people with intertwining lives through the passage of time.

Howard Spring was a popular author, with his first book being published in 1932, and his popularity increased until his death in the '60's. Many of his books later were made into movies or t.v. series. In his early career as a journalist for the Guardian, editor C. P. Scott ' apparently regarded Spring's reporting skills highly; he wrote of Spring that: "Nobody does a better 'descriptive' or a better condensation of a difficult address." ' Wikipedia cites " he combined a wide understanding of human character with technical skill as a novelist. His method of composition was painstaking and professional. Each morning he would shut himself in his room and write one thousand words, steadily building up to novels of around 150,000 words. He rarely made major alterations to his writings." I look forward to reading more by him.

I read this book for #Club1944 and for twogalsandabook.com

[Jean]

I'm sure this is a well-written book but I found it very slow-moving and the print was rather small for me. Unfortunately I could not finish reading it, although I might try it again if I find another edition with bigger print. My parents loved the writing of Howard Spring but I notice that his novels have gone out of fashion in recent years.

[Nicola Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters were interesting , the plot kept me turning the pages, and the writing style is thoroughly enjoyable. I must read (and re-read) more Howard Spring.

[Janet Bird · Rating 4 out of 5]

My copy was a hardback but it was a yellow cover. I first read it from the library. It was an excellent read. Read it at least twice over time. I find books set locally are fascinating.