May Fair

by Michael Arlen

"May Fair" by Michael Arlen is an entertainment that delves into the lives of charming people in London during the fifteenth and sixteenth years of King George the Fifth's reign. The narrative follows the adventures, misadventures, and gallantries of these individuals in Mayfair, exploring themes of love, honor, and fate. Through a series of episodes like the battle of Berkeley Square and encounters with mysterious hands and flowers, the characters navigate societal expectations and personal desires, unraveling the complexities of human relationships. With a mix of romance, humor, and intrigue, the book offers a captivating glimpse into London's high society.

322 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1925

About the author

Original name Dikran Kouyoumdjian. Armenian essayist, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and scriptwriter, who had his greatest successes in the 1920s while living and writing in England. Although Arlen is most famous for his satirical romances set in English smart society, he also wrote gothic horror and psychological thrillers, for instance "The Gentleman from America", which was filmed in 1956 as a television episode for Alfred Hitchcock's TV series Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Near the end of his life, Arlen mainly occupied himself with political writing. Arlen's vivid but colloquial style came to be known as 'Arlenesque'.

Reviews

[Gina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael Arlen (1895~1956) was born Dikran Kouyoumdjian in Rustchuck, Bulgaria, to an Armenian merchant family who emigrated to England in 1901. Arlen was educated at Malvern college before attending the University of St Andrews, where he remained for only a brief period. Disowned by his family, he moved to London to earn a living as a writer. Initially he wrote under his birth name, but as his writing began to attract notice he adopted the nom de plume Michael Arlen. He changed his name legally to Michael Arlen in 1922, when he became a British subject. His early works, such as his novel Piracy, published in 1922, met with some success, but it was The Green Hat, published in 1924, that made him famous almost overnight, both in Britain and abroad.

May Fair was published by W. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. in 1925. It contains: Prologue, A Romance in Old Brandy, The Ace of Cads, Where the Pigeons Go to Die, The Battle of Berkeley Square, The Prince of the Jews, The Three-Cornered Room, The Revolting Doom of a Gentleman Who Would Not Dance with His Wife, The Gentleman from America, To Lamoir, The Ghoul of Golders Green, Farewell These Charming People.

Not all of the stories in this collection have supernatural or weird elements, so I shall only pass comment on the ones that do. Oh, and Arlen was a witty fellow, so these tales are funny.

In 'The Battle of Berkeley Square', George Tarlyon is busy murdering worms when he begins to feel a pain in his left side. His brother-in-law, Hugo Cypress, arrives on the scene and suggests, as George is most likely suffering from pneumonia, that a pair of pyjamas must be bought immediately. Pyjamas having being ordered, George is then taken to Hugo's house to continue having pneumonia. At the same time, Hugo's wife (George's sister) is in labour in the same house and having an extremely bad time of it. Close to death, George's proximity to his sister brings about interesting results.

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[Side Real Press · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are certain books and authors that lend themselves to being read at a particular time. For example reading the Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes stories is something of an autumnal affair cut given that the setting is generally in London dark and foggy. MR James is, of course, a Christmas pleasure and some reason, Arthur Machen tends to be pulled off the shelf during springtime.

Michael Arlen short stories are definitely high-summer fare- sitting in the garden with a cool drink and watching the passers-by. Most of his protagonists are gentlemen of leisure, Baudelairian style flâneurs, strolling around Mayfair or “the sweet sulky side [of Piccadilly] where the pavement trips arm-in-arm with the trees of the Green Park and men are wont to walk alone with the air of thinking upon their debts and horses and women .” During their wanders they meet like-minded friends and get up to minor adventures, or have adventures related to them. Often ladies, well-bred ladies, perhaps fallen on distressed times, are involved. sometimes they are somewhat shaggy dog stories. All are generally of the nature which I term ‘pleasant lightweight tosh’.

This is not to say they are badly written, far from it, but Arlen, a huge bestseller of his day, now seems to be largely ignored compared to say, P.G. Wodehouse or EF Benson. Perhaps this is because he did not really create a strongly defined ’set’ of characters such as Jeeves and Wooster or Mapp and Lucia although certain characters appear or are referenced within the stories and between the two books.

He also has none of the caricatures of Wodehouse, or the more vindictive pen of Benson, although the stories have a certain wit and somewhat stereotypical characters which Arlen (very) gently mocks. Perhaps it is this lack of ‘bite’ (this is certainly not Jean Lorrain or even Maupassant although some stories have themes similar to these authors) and the fact that they are very firmly framed by their Mayfair that mitigate against them nowadays. Arlen’s own voice is also very present, giving us asides about the writing of the story we are reading “Now there are writers who would think nothing of this chapter with a row of dots, viz . . . The author of this work however…” or a little bit of historical background regarding street names etc. This may, or may not, be irritating but in this case I quite like it, its like having your posh pal tell you of some story of some other posh pals of his. Posh tosh.

This book contains the oft anthologised ‘ghost’ story, ‘The Gentleman from America’ which seemed to be in almost every ghostly compilation into the 1970s until, I guess, such compilers finally realized that actually it is a rationalised ghost story (thus not really one in my books) and, worse, a bit rubbish. Arlen is a minor footnote in the weird fiction for his supernatural stories and there are a few others in this volume, some rationalised, some not. ‘The Gentleman..’ is the worst story in the book. Far more interesting is ‘Where the Pigeons Go to Die’ in which a shopgirl provides a pivot for her two suitors to meet, and the gentle (quite touching ) fantasy ’To Lamoir’ in which a youthful Edenic vision plays itself out. It is a somewhat enigmatic piece and its a pity Arlen didn’t allow himself to write other tales in a similar vein.

I might appear to be a bit disparaging about this book, but actually I enjoyed it and have ordered an Arlen novel for my holiday reading. I’m not sure there will ever be an Arlen revival although tales such as ’To Lamoir’ and 'The Loquacious Lady of Landsdowne Passage' from his earlier collection ‘These Charming People’ (to which ‘May Fair’ is a sort of sequel) would seem to deserve a wider audience.

Being a best selling author and out of fashion means he is cheap to buy and well worth a few pounds of anyone's money.

[Neer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slice of life of the Roaring Twenties. More here: https://ahotcupofpleasureagain.wordpr...