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A Staircase in Surrey #5
Full Term
The final volume in the 'A Staircase in Surrey' quintet. Duncan Pattullo is coming to the end of his term as 'narrator' and is thinking of re-marrying, although his former wife continues to cause difficulties. His intended is also providing gossip for the college, but that is as nothing compared to the scandal caused by Watershute, an eminent nuclear physicist. His misdemeanours range from abandoning his family and conducting an affair in Venice, to being drunk at High Table. However, things get very serious when he appears to be involved in activities that might amount to treason. An interesting and convoluted plot, which is a fitting end to this acclaimed series, is carried forward with J.I.M. Stewart's hallmark skill and wit. Full Term can be read in order, or as a standalone novel.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
20 people want to read
About the author
J.I.M. Stewart
66 books9 followersFull name: John Innes MacKintosh Stewart
Published mysteries under the pen name of Michael Innes.
Stewart was the son of Elizabeth Jane (née Clark) and John Stewart of Nairn. His father was a lawyer and director of Education in the city of Edinburgh. Stewart attended Edinburgh Academy, where Robert Louis Stevenson had been a pupil for a short time, and later studied English literature at Oriel College, Oxford. In 1929 he went to Vienna to study psychoanalysis. He was lecturer in English at the University of Leeds from 1930 to 1935, and then became Jury Professor of English in the University of Adelaide, South Australia.
He returned to the United Kingdom to become Lecturer in English at the Queen's University of Belfast from 1946 to 1948. In 1949 he became a Student of Christ Church, Oxford. By the time of his retirement in 1973, he was a professor of the university.
Using the pseudonym Michael Innes, he wrote about forty crime novels between 1936 and 1986. Innes's detective novels are playfully highbrow, rich in allusions to English literature and to Renaissance art. Sinuous, flexible and effortlessly elegant, Stewart's prose is refreshingly free of all influence by Strunk & White. The somewhat ponderous writing style and analysis of character, particularly in the early novels, is frequently Henry Jamesian. The best-known of Innes's detective creations is Sir John Appleby (originally Inspector John Appleby) of Scotland Yard, who is a feature of multiple books. Other novels also feature the amateur but nonetheless effective sleuth, painter and Royal Academician, Charles Honeybath. The two detectives meet in "Appleby and Honeybath." Some of the later stories feature Appleby's son Bobby as sleuth.
Stewart also wrote studies of Rudyard Kipling, Joseph Conrad, and Thomas Hardy. His last publication was his autobiography Myself and Michael Innes (1987).
In 2007, his estate transferred all of Stewart's copyrights and other legal rights to Owatonna Media.
Published mysteries under the pen name of Michael Innes.
Stewart was the son of Elizabeth Jane (née Clark) and John Stewart of Nairn. His father was a lawyer and director of Education in the city of Edinburgh. Stewart attended Edinburgh Academy, where Robert Louis Stevenson had been a pupil for a short time, and later studied English literature at Oriel College, Oxford. In 1929 he went to Vienna to study psychoanalysis. He was lecturer in English at the University of Leeds from 1930 to 1935, and then became Jury Professor of English in the University of Adelaide, South Australia.
He returned to the United Kingdom to become Lecturer in English at the Queen's University of Belfast from 1946 to 1948. In 1949 he became a Student of Christ Church, Oxford. By the time of his retirement in 1973, he was a professor of the university.
Using the pseudonym Michael Innes, he wrote about forty crime novels between 1936 and 1986. Innes's detective novels are playfully highbrow, rich in allusions to English literature and to Renaissance art. Sinuous, flexible and effortlessly elegant, Stewart's prose is refreshingly free of all influence by Strunk & White. The somewhat ponderous writing style and analysis of character, particularly in the early novels, is frequently Henry Jamesian. The best-known of Innes's detective creations is Sir John Appleby (originally Inspector John Appleby) of Scotland Yard, who is a feature of multiple books. Other novels also feature the amateur but nonetheless effective sleuth, painter and Royal Academician, Charles Honeybath. The two detectives meet in "Appleby and Honeybath." Some of the later stories feature Appleby's son Bobby as sleuth.
Stewart also wrote studies of Rudyard Kipling, Joseph Conrad, and Thomas Hardy. His last publication was his autobiography Myself and Michael Innes (1987).
In 2007, his estate transferred all of Stewart's copyrights and other legal rights to Owatonna Media.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 8, 2018
Winds up the quintet, some things resolved and others not really. As ever, captures the atmosphere of Oxford and a certain grasping at the swiftly disappearing experience very well. Duncan remains in residence, on his old staircase but not his own old room: a friend from his past reappears and they are able to revisit both places and friendship, with brief expeditions to Italy and Scotland, in all cases laying past ghosts. Both of Duncan's love interests are resolved but not exactly as he might have hoped, and it seems that his godson will take the place of the children he might have had. The spy story is quite funny. This came out in the late 1970s, and catches the feel of the time but without being too specific, and with quite a lot of harking back to an earlier time (there may be less difference between the late 40s/early 50s and the late 70s than there would be, say, between the late 70s/early 80s and another 30 years on). All more or less resolved except for the story of the undergraduate Peter and his friend, who having been present at the accident are never seen again, which is a bit odd.
February 13, 2022
Not as strong as the first 4. Lots of wrapping up with leaps that could have done with some more explanation. Still solid.
I like this “genre”. Meaning English middle/upper class in the mid 20th century. It’s an alien time with an alien race and I find it fascinating.
I started with CP Snow’s Stranger’s and Brothers, graduated to Anthony Powell’s Dance, and now the Staircase in Surrey. Staircase i’d put somewhat closer to the the Dance but with a hyper focus on Oxford. I would have read more if there was more.
I also picked up and enjoyed William Boyd’s Any Human Heart which I quite liked. Similar but a little cruder.
When reading Goodreads reviews for Staircase I heard about another series called Alms for Oblivion by Simon Raven. Just picked up an omnibus of the first 3. We’ll see what’s up that.
I like this “genre”. Meaning English middle/upper class in the mid 20th century. It’s an alien time with an alien race and I find it fascinating.
I started with CP Snow’s Stranger’s and Brothers, graduated to Anthony Powell’s Dance, and now the Staircase in Surrey. Staircase i’d put somewhat closer to the the Dance but with a hyper focus on Oxford. I would have read more if there was more.
I also picked up and enjoyed William Boyd’s Any Human Heart which I quite liked. Similar but a little cruder.
When reading Goodreads reviews for Staircase I heard about another series called Alms for Oblivion by Simon Raven. Just picked up an omnibus of the first 3. We’ll see what’s up that.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews