The Bank of Time

by George Friel, Gordon Jarvie (Introduction)

George Friel's book is a bittersweet novel set in Glasgow in the Forties and Fifties and plots the self-education of a young boy, David Heylyn, the youngest of three. With an irresponsible, Micawberish gambler as a father, the brothers run the house in their own way and David grows up with deep affection for one and blind hatred of the other.

The simplicity and freshness of the writing; the beautifully-realised location and passage of time and the painful preoccupations of self-improvement, all made this an outstanding debut novel on its appearance in the late 1950s and launched Friel's career as a writer.

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1959

About the author

George Friel (1910 - 1975) was a Scottish writer. He was born in Glasgow as the fourth of seven children, and was educated at St. Mungo's Academy and the University of Glasgow. After a period of service in the army, he spent the rest of his life working as a teacher in Glasgow.

Friel's fourth novel, Mr. Alfred M.A., made it to the "100 Best Scottish Books of all Time" list.