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307 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 1992
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About the author
Winston Graham
215 books1,155 followersWinston Graham was an English novelist best known for the Poldark series of historical novels set in Cornwall, though he also wrote contemporary thrillers, period novels, short stories, non-fiction, and plays. Born in Victoria Park, Manchester, he moved to Perranporth, Cornwall in 1925 and lived there for 34 years. Graham published his first novel, The House with the Stained Glass Windows, in 1934 and married Jean Williamson in 1939, who inspired the character Demelza in Poldark. During World War II, he joined the Auxiliary Coastguard Service. Graham became a member of the Society of Authors in 1945, serving as chairman from 1967 to 1969, and was a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, receiving an OBE in 1983. His Poldark series began with Ross Poldark in 1945 and concluded with Bella Poldark in 2002. He wrote 30 additional novels, short stories, and non-fiction works, including the acclaimed thriller Marnie, adapted by Alfred Hitchcock in 1964. Several other novels, including The Walking Stick and Fortune Is a Woman, were adapted for film. Graham also wrote plays, some adapted from his novels. His works have been translated into 31 languages, and his autobiography, Memoirs of a Private Man, was published posthumously in 2003.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 4, 2014
Winston Graham may be my favorite author and this book is one good reason why. His main character is quite full of himself as a successful playwright. But could he have been so without his wife, Harriet? He gets into a rather sticky mess, but of course, it is not his fault. The author's gift of creeping suspense and impending doom is just so darn satisfying. Highly recommended........
June 19, 2024
Winston Graham’s suspense novel After the Act was published in 1965.
Playwright Morris Scott has been married for seven years to Harriet, a rich older woman, his muse, who suffers from ill health. Over those years she supported and encouraged him: ‘You ought to be relentless, Morris. Relentless to writing it down. Once the bones are there you can drape them and undrape them at will’ (p63) And now he is successful and planning for one of his plays to appear in Paris.
It had not been planned. ‘I was a man going to meet a girl, surrounded only by the anticipation, tautened like a bow-string with pleasure’ (p17). Inevitably, he has an affair with Alexandra Wilshere, a secretary to a rich couple in France. Passion, obsession... ‘We walked on the quay and walked together through the little town, which was murmurous with people. Cars probed the narrow streets like medical isotopes in a bloodstream...’ (p67)
A budding writer could learn from some of Morris’s observations:
‘Half of writing is gestation’ (p26).
‘You have to be tough to reach the top in any profession these days. Stamina’s an essential part of genius, whether you’re a four-minute miler or a composer of symphonies’ (p27).
‘How easy it is for a writer to lie, the inventions spring to his lips’ (p47).
The suspense deepens when Harriet falls to her death from a Paris hotel balcony. Was it an accident, or murder, or carelessness? ‘We all make mistakes; the error is in trying to hide them’ (p197). That phrase could well be the epitaph of many a politician’s career! The fact is that now Morris is free to wed Alexandra. If his conscience will permit it. ‘To be honest around a central lie is like building a house with the foundations unlevel’ (p135).
Graham the craftsman has delved into life, death and guilt. ‘The sun set. Dusk crept in like the beginning of death’ (p191).
Playwright Morris Scott has been married for seven years to Harriet, a rich older woman, his muse, who suffers from ill health. Over those years she supported and encouraged him: ‘You ought to be relentless, Morris. Relentless to writing it down. Once the bones are there you can drape them and undrape them at will’ (p63) And now he is successful and planning for one of his plays to appear in Paris.
It had not been planned. ‘I was a man going to meet a girl, surrounded only by the anticipation, tautened like a bow-string with pleasure’ (p17). Inevitably, he has an affair with Alexandra Wilshere, a secretary to a rich couple in France. Passion, obsession... ‘We walked on the quay and walked together through the little town, which was murmurous with people. Cars probed the narrow streets like medical isotopes in a bloodstream...’ (p67)
A budding writer could learn from some of Morris’s observations:
‘Half of writing is gestation’ (p26).
‘You have to be tough to reach the top in any profession these days. Stamina’s an essential part of genius, whether you’re a four-minute miler or a composer of symphonies’ (p27).
‘How easy it is for a writer to lie, the inventions spring to his lips’ (p47).
The suspense deepens when Harriet falls to her death from a Paris hotel balcony. Was it an accident, or murder, or carelessness? ‘We all make mistakes; the error is in trying to hide them’ (p197). That phrase could well be the epitaph of many a politician’s career! The fact is that now Morris is free to wed Alexandra. If his conscience will permit it. ‘To be honest around a central lie is like building a house with the foundations unlevel’ (p135).
Graham the craftsman has delved into life, death and guilt. ‘The sun set. Dusk crept in like the beginning of death’ (p191).
January 13, 2025
Un mash up tra Dostoevskij per la parte religiosa, Maugham nello stile, il primo Moravia riguardo il tema coniugale e "Otto e mezzo" di Fellini per la somiglianza del protagonista Morris con Guido. Risultato: libro meraviglioso.
A primo impatto, potrebbe risultare una solita lettura d'amore banale (come direbbe qualcuno "a me non piacciono questi triangoli amorosi, preferisco uno che al risveglio si ritrova scarafaggio"...), ma sarà che a me ha ricordato molto "Il Velo Dipinto" come trama in relazione al rapporto di coppia, sarà che amo la narrazione così scorrevole in prima persona, in cui il protagonista ha le crisi esistenziali, che alla fine queste pagine mi hanno catturata come non succedeva da un bel po'.
Spoiler: da quando il protagonista, in un impeto irrazionale, uccide la moglie, il libro prende una piega totalmente diversa. Cerca la pace, prova a redimersi, non sa come perdonare sé stesso, cade in vortici di pensieri che rendono la seconda parte della storia molto più profonda rispetto alla prima.
Spoiler 2: se avete letto abbastanza libri di questo genere, sapete già come andrà a finire.
A primo impatto, potrebbe risultare una solita lettura d'amore banale (come direbbe qualcuno "a me non piacciono questi triangoli amorosi, preferisco uno che al risveglio si ritrova scarafaggio"...), ma sarà che a me ha ricordato molto "Il Velo Dipinto" come trama in relazione al rapporto di coppia, sarà che amo la narrazione così scorrevole in prima persona, in cui il protagonista ha le crisi esistenziali, che alla fine queste pagine mi hanno catturata come non succedeva da un bel po'.
Spoiler: da quando il protagonista, in un impeto irrazionale, uccide la moglie, il libro prende una piega totalmente diversa. Cerca la pace, prova a redimersi, non sa come perdonare sé stesso, cade in vortici di pensieri che rendono la seconda parte della storia molto più profonda rispetto alla prima.
Spoiler 2: se avete letto abbastanza libri di questo genere, sapete già come andrà a finire.
October 23, 2021
A healthy slice of the enjoyment of a Winston Graham is not knowing where his plot is taking you, so other than saying it's set in 1964 and you'll be visiting some theatres, I'll leave you to buy your ticket and hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
February 14, 2016
Really good read. A close psychological study of a character who is not being pursued for the undetected murder of his wife.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews