Summon the Bright Water

by Geoffrey Household

Piers Colet, a British economic historian, investigates a cult of druidical devotees and their leader, the charismatic Simeon Marrin, with the help of Marrin's beautiful niece Elsa and the eccentric Major Matravers-Drummond

183 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

British author of mostly thrillers, though among 37 books he also published children's fiction. Household's flight-and-chase novels, which show the influence of John Buchan, were often narrated in the first person by a gentleman-adventurer. Among his best-know works is' Rogue Male' (1939), a suggestive story of a hunter who becomes the hunted, in 1941 filmed by Fritz Lang as 'Man Hunt'. Household's fast-paced story foreshadowed such international bestsellers as Richard Condon's thriller 'The Manchurian Candidate' (1959), Frederick Forsyth's 'The Day of the Jackal' (1971), and Ken Follett's 'Eye of the Needle' (1978) .

In 1922 Household received his B.A. in English from Magdalen College, Oxford, and between 1922 and 1935 worked in commerce abroad, moving to the US in 1929. During World War II, Household served in the Intelligence Corps in Romania and the Middle East. After the War he lived the life of a country gentleman and wrote. In his later years, he lived in Charlton, near Banbury, Oxfordshire, and died in Wardington.

Household also published an autobiography, 'Against the Wind' (1958), and several collections of short stories, which he himself considered his best work.

Reviews

[Rob Adey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this. Recently I read Rogue Male, and while I didn't expect Bright Water to come up to those standards (Rogue Male is the best thriller I ever read), I thought it would be at least solid. Also, there's a map in the front, always reassuring as it hints there are going to be more chases and hiding than emotions and subtext.

But oh man. This is basically a Scooby Doo plot - more complicated, barely any more believable. Very little anyone does or thinks makes any sense.

I won't give up on Household, though, I'm sure he must have written some more good titles.

[Jay Rothermel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant, modest thriller that delivers strong riparian action with a deep sense of history.