The Reckoning

by Patrick Hall

Mick Marler - lapsed Irishman, successful London business executive, ardent womaniser - returns to Birmingham where his father is dying after a pub brawl. What can he do to avenge Old Joe Marler's death? In a frenzied week of asking questions and making love, Mick finds himself challenged and tested, as a lover and as a man.

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1967

Reviews

[M.R. Dowsing · Rating 4 out of 5]

I decided to read this as it was the basis for one of my favourite films. It's an intelligent, well-written and thoughtful book about a man caught between cultures trying to work out where he belongs. The Catholic aspects are much more to the fore than they were in the film, and I would definitely recommend this to anyone with an interest in Catholic literature along the lines of Graham Greene or Shusaku Endo. In some ways, however, I felt that the film managed to improve on the book by tightening things up a bit and making certain incidents more dramatic.