Farthing Hall

by Hugh Walpole, J.B. Priestley, Tom Priestley (Introduction)

In this novel of letters Mark French, a successful young artist, writes to his old friend, Oxford scholar Robert Newlands, as he embarks on a journey to Farthing Hall, following the woman who had instantly captured his heart in the theatre the previous night. The exchange of letters reveals the story.

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1929

About the author

Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole was an English novelist. A prolific writer, he published thirty-six novels, five volumes of short stories, two plays and three volumes of memoirs. His skill at scene-setting, his vivid plots, his high profile as a lecturer and his driving ambition brought him a large readership in the United Kingdom and North America. A best-selling author in the 1920s and 1930s, his works have been neglected since his death.

Reviews

[Callie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

An epistolary novel about a man who fails in love with a woman at first sight and then stalks her on a train back to her home in the English countryside. She has a reprehensible father and brother, and she’s engaged to someone else. These are the obstacles

His friend is married and his wife has fallen under the influence of an annoying clairvoyant type named Mrs Masham and left him, so he’s in pursuit of her and trying to reconcile.

The two men apprise one another of their adventures, which soon overlap. A fine, old fashioned novel. Some splendid sentences which I may come back and quote later.

[Mia Condon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is entirely comprised of letters between two friends. It is a fairly interesting look at life of about 100 years ago, and as such is a nice escape from our fast paced world. It's hard to even imagine having to wait on the post to learn what a friend has been doing or thinks about what we've said. I enjoyed the vacation from technology.

[Simon Dunant · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the original hardback from the early 1900's. Found it a great read, the usual illustrative storylines from Walpole make this another of his page turners. Love the style this was written in, some great humour in the 'letters' between the two main characters. Charming ending to a delightful read.