Carnforth's Creation

by Tim Jeal

Tim Jeal's sixth novel, first published in 1983, recreates the frenetic Britain of the 1960s for an enthralling tale of three people bound together by a risky experiment conducted amid the pop-cultural ferment of the era. Paul Carnforth is young, wealthy, titled, and alive to the opportunities of his times. 'You don't have to like pop to find it interesting', he tells his sceptical wife. He decides to fashion a pop star of his own - as a 'moral swipe', also proof of his individual brilliance. But the creation soon threatens to outgrow his creator. 'Pop music, working class heroes, record companies, music publishers and stately homes as settings for orgiastic settings, it's all here ... Mr Jeal writes comedy very well.' Irish Times 'In his well-organised narrative Jeal judges wittily the extra touches needed by a novel about our times.' Birmingham Post

258 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Tim Jeal is the author of acclaimed biographies of Livingstone and Baden-Powell. His memoir, Swimming with My Father, was published by Faber in 2004 and was shortlisted for the PEN Ackerley Prize for Autobiography. He is also a novelist and a former winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize.

Reviews

[Flob · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book, it was well written with a good storyline and an interesting set of characters. It presented the 'upper class' and 'educated' characters with some conviction but the most important character, the 'pop star' was much less convincing. I felt that there was a cultural gap between the author and this character, Roy, that could never be bridged. Roy was presented as a pop star when he must have been a rock star (I get the feeling that it is all 'pop' to this author). Roy is drawn as a 'yea man' character manipulated out of his depth by a cynical elite. I suppose that happened, but not I think to Bowie, the Stones or Pink Floyd and I did take this star to be as big as they were. At its core the story was not convincing.