The Inheritor

by Paul Almond

This eighth and final novel in the Alford Saga is a stand-alone autobiographical roman à clef about the remarkable life, loves, agonies and achievements of one of Canada’s most distinguished film and television producer-directors.After returning home on the death of his father, Paul Alford struggles to make his living as a writer, but somehow lands a job as a producer-director in the newly created drama department of the CBC. Thus begins a long career that takes Alford to New York, London and Hollywood and eventually leads to his celebrated, ground-breaking trilogy with Genevieve Bujold, Isabel, Act of the Heart and Journey, now part of the Canadian film canon. On the television front, Alford produced and directed – and sometimes wrote – more than 120 dramas. Notable among these were his TV adaptations of the works of such legendary playwrights and authors as Jean Anouilh, Harold Pinter, Christopher Fry, Tennessee Williams and Dylan Thomas; his Macbeth with Sean Connery; his production of Mother and Daughter, starring Angela Leigh, principal dancer of the National Ballet of Canada, and her daughter; and his creation of what has been dubbed one of the best documentaries of all Seven Up! A must-read story about the flowering of the Canadian culture industry, The Inheritor is a virtual who’s who of film and television in Canada in the 1950s, featuring such renowned Canadian actors as William Shatner, Donald Sutherland, Kate Reid, William Hutt, Barry Morse, Frances Hyland, Gordon Pinsent, Martha Henry and Tony Van Bridge... the list goes on.

344 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 11, 2015

About the author

Paul Almond, OC is a Canadian former television and motion picture screenwriter, director and producer, and since 1990 has been a novelist.
For the past decade he has devoted himself to writing The Alford Saga, a series of novels based on his own pioneering family saga, of which The Deserter is the first part.

Reviews

[Sverre · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed the seven books of the Alford Saga by Paul Almond which revolved around the author’s ancestors who settled in the Gaspe Peninsula over two hundred years ago. I was happy to see an eighth book, The Inheritor, being published. But ordering it was a mistake. This is not a novel but rather an autobiography about Paul Alford alias Paul Almond as he navigates the Canadian, British and American cultural landscape from the 1950s to 70s.

Almond relishes name-dropping at every opportunity; the Index tells the story: about 250 names! In addition are all the titles of books, films and the names of organizations associated with the people he knew. I suppose the book is a treasure trove for arts and culture historians but for most others it will be a tedious tome. Almond deserves praise and admiration for what he has contributed and accomplished with film, drama and literature. He has led an interesting life worthy of being told. However the irritating scattergun approach he has used in this narrative creates a bewildering array of people and events that will fail to fascinate most readers of his previous Alford books.

[Martha]

very autobiographical novel; lots of name dropping