Crescendo

by Phyllis Bentley

A typical West Riding novel from the pen of Halifax-based Phyllis Bentley, author of Inheritance.

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

PHYLLIS ELEANOR BENTLEY, the Yorkshire author, was born in November 1894. Her father was a junior partner in a manufacturing concern located at Dunkirk Mills, Halifax. She was educated at Halifax High School for Girls and Cheltenham Ladies College. A munitions worker in London during the First World War, she returned to Halifax where she taught English and Latin at Heath Grammar School.From an early age her ambition was to be a novelist. After several rejections from publishers, in 1928 she started her long association with the Gollancz publishing house, who agreed to publish her novel ‘The Partnership’. Her masterpiece, ‘Inheritance’ was published in 1932. Telling the story of the Oldroyd family, set against the background of the development of the textile industry, the book received widespread critical acclaim. Two further novels continued the saga of the Oldroyd family, ‘The Rise of Henry Morcar’ and ‘A Man of His Time’. In 1967 Granada Television began the serialisation of the trilogy. The ten-part series featured John Thaw and James Bolam in leading roles.

Phyllis Bentley’s main works were: Environment (1922); Cat in the Manger (1923); The Spinner of the Years ( March 1928); The Partnership (1928); Carr (1929); Trio (August 29 1930); Inheritance (1932); A Modern Tragedy (1934); The Whole of the Story (1935); Freedom Farewell (1936); The Rise of Henry Morcar (1946); Life Story (1948); Quorum; Panarama (1952); The House of Moreys (1953); Noble in Reason (1955); Crescendo (1958); Kith and Kin; O Dreams O Destinations (autobiography, 1962); Tales of the West Riding (1965); A Man Of His Time (1966); Gold Pieces (children's novel, 1968). Many of these novels deal with West Yorkshire and its history.

In recognition of her talent, she received several awards. In 1949 she was awarded a honorary Doctor of Literature ( DLitt) from Leeds University. In 1958 she became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and in 1970 was awarded an OBE.

She died in late June 1977 at Ing Royde Home.

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the most interesting piece if close-to-pure litirary fiction I've read so far!

It starts with a seemingly inconsequential action and shows how that action affects other people each chapter. What makes the story so interesting is depth of every character's backstory and personality (not to mention the super creative structure and overall idea!) Every chapter is told from the perspective of a new character, and most of the book is character backstory (the main part that makes the book a little slow and even boring at times). At the end of each chapter, there's a burst of action as that chapter's character comes in contact with the next chspter's character and sets the stage for the new "victim's" life to be changed in some way.

Overall, I'd say that if you don't like literary fiction, you shouldn't read this...ever! But if you love that kind of writting, or don't mind wading through a few back stories to get to what I think is the truly interesting structure, get to it!