China

by Alan Wall

"Digby Walton was once the heir to an English pottery company. Now in old age he contemplates the history of that company as he reflects upon the modern world. His own heir, his son Theo, would rather ignore history completely and lose himself in smoky jazz clubs with his trumpet. Theo wants to live entirely inside the perfection of music, but will reality let him?" Meanwhile Digby's next-door neighbor, Daisy Gresham, famed as one of the great film beauties of her day, seeks her own elusive son, who is perilously engaged in an international anarchist movement. Alan Wall is a Royal Literary Fellow in Writing at Warwick University and Research Fellow in Arts and Science at the University of Birmingham.

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Wall was born in Bradford and studied at the University of Oxford. In addition to his work as a professional author, he has developed a career teaching creative writing with posts at Liverpool John Moores University, the University of Birmingham and the University of Chester. He is also a published poet and critic.

Reviews

[Sangeeth Varma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really liked it.
Well written account of a slightly weird family, focussing on the lives of a tired old former Titan of Industry and his underachieving trumpet player son.
Was a random pick from library shelf.
Loved it from the first page. Can't really explain why except the fact that I thought it was well written.