Seen Dimly Before Dawn

by Nigel Balchin, Derek Collett (Editor)

Walter Parrish is fifteen, handsome, athletic, highly intelligent and a devotee of romantic poetry. When he is sent by his parents to spend the summer on his uncle Patrick’s fruit farm in Kent, it is perhaps not surprising that Walter quickly becomes besotted with Patrick’s bewitching partner, Leonie. And when Leonie reveals that she is not married to Patrick, but is only his mistress, Walter realizes that his hopeless passion may not be quite as hopeless as he first thought. So he embarks upon a scheme to prise Leonie away from Patrick, only to discover that Leonie is playing a much deadlier game, one that could have life-changing consequences for both her and Walter.

Genres: Fiction

247 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Trained originally as an industrial psychologist, in which capacity he helped Rowntree’s to successfully launch Black Magic chocolates in 1933, Nigel Balchin first received critical acclaim as a novelist during the Second World War when he wrote Darkness Falls From the Air. It was the first of three evocative novels (including the smash-hit The Small Back Room) that made good use of his wartime employment experiences at the Ministry of Food and later in the army. This trio was followed by a stream of other fine novels, such as A Sort of Traitors, Sundry Creditors and The Fall of the Sparrow. Balchin diversified into film scriptwriting after the war, winning a BAFTA for his work on The Man Who Never Was and penning what he whimsically described as “the first folio edition of Cleopatra”, being his original (unused) script for the Richard Burton/Elizabeth Taylor epic. When Balchin died in 1970, at the age of 61, the Guardian anointed him “the novelist of men at work”, a fitting epithet for one of the best fiction writers of the twentieth century.

Reviews

[Ben Bergonzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Nigel Balchin book I had never read before and very different from his famous stories set in wartime or scientific workplaces. Walter, the protagonist is recalling a few weeks he spent as a teenager living on the Kent farm belonging to his Uncle and 'Aunt' ( who lives with his Uncle but is not married to him.) The plot concerns Walter's calf love for her, and her relationship with an 'alpha male' neighbour who regularly visits, ostensibly to complain that her dog is worrying his sheep. A very well-realised story of youthful awakening, utterly convincing in its dialogue, and with a genuinely shocking ending.
Very good indeed, and it's nice to report that you can buy it new from The Nigel Balchin Collection.

[Wideboy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who hasn't yet discovered the novels of Nigel Balchin is in for a treat. Though I've long been a fan of his work, my enthusiasm deepened by reading Derek Collett's excellent biography of him, I hadn't until now read "Seen Dimly Before Dawn". It's a short, intense and engrossing novel about adolescence and, more specifically, about adolescent passion. Highly recommended, particularly in this Penhaligon Press edition, which comes with a preface and afterword, plus some footnotes, supplied by Balchin's biographer.

[Declan MacPhail · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember being a delusional 15 year old boy, it was not very fun

[Ela · Rating 4 out of 5]

'I heard Leonie's voice upstairs, and she seemed to be speaking angrily. It reminded me of home, and suddenly I remembered that my father had objected to my coming to stay with my aunt and uncle "because of Leonie." There had been that same note of cold disapproval in his voice then that I had noticed this evening at Colonel Masters's party. It all added up. But the trouble was that it did not add up to any clear answer. '

A 20th Century novel about a delusional teenage boy who falls in love with his aunt. To be honest, from that summary this sounds like a book I would hate. However, it's perfectly paced, avoiding an excess of hopeless mooning around. Balchin's protagonist is just the right mixture of naivety, innocence and weirdness. His imitation of romance makes for a surprisingly enjoyable read. This may not be a pairing I can get behind however the mess between these two outcasts plays out in a very satisfying manner.
I picked this up randomly at a charity shop and I'm so glad I did, Balchin has taken a irritating premise and turned it into a compelling narrative.

[David Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in 1962 this excellent novel is the reminiscence of a man looking back at his 15 year old self, who, in the late 1920's spent his summer holiday at the Kent fruit farm of his uncle and (much younger) aunt. Young Walter is introspective and poetic; the proximity of Leonie and her legs awaken powerful yearnings and unrealistic expectations that she will reciprocate his feelings. The revelation that his aunt and uncle are living in sin had shocked the locals but encouraged Walter's belief that he could persuade Leonie to marry him once he'd matriculated from school. She unwittingly encourages his dream; a scene redolent of Debbie Harry's "finest hour" from a Blondie song (Picture This) is particularly riveting. Tension is ratcheted up by Leonie's inexplicable determination to kill powerful rich neighbour, Colonel Masters, in revenge for his legally reasonable reaction to her dog's sheep-worrying activities. Great twist at the end.

[Herry · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my most favourite books, often remembered but long lost. A young boy (it sounds autobiographical, so Nigel himself) comes to stay with his beautiful aunt in her cottage in the country - and forms a crush on her. But there's a powerful man nearby who also has his eye on her.....

[Derek Collett · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is 1928. The parents of fifteen-year-old Walter are experiencing some difficulties in their marriage so they dispatch their son to a fruit farm near Canterbury, there to spend his school summer holidays with his Uncle Patrick and Aunt Leonie.

Gassed on the battlefields of World War One, Patrick is an invalid who tires easily and thus spends much of his time in bed. For that reason, and also because Walter is closer in age to Leonie than she is to her partner, Walter finds himself spending long hours in the company of Leonie and her dog Remus, a hyper-intelligent yet neurotic Alsatian.

Leonie is twenty-seven, beautiful, sexy, outrageous in both thought and deed and highly tactile. Naturally enough then, Walter is soon besotted by her. And when Leonie informs Walter that she is not actually married to Patrick, but instead is his mistress, a whole new world of exciting possibilities opens up for Walter. Specifically, he begins to formulate a scheme to prise Leonie away from Patrick. Leonie, however, is rather more concerned with the fact that Colonel Masters, a neighbour and local landowner, repeatedly accuses Remus of chasing, terrorising and killing his prize sheep. The incident-packed narrative concludes with a scene in which Walter, perched on the bough of a tall tree, witnesses something seen dimly before dawn that he quickly wishes he hadn’t seen at all.

Beautifully written and superbly constructed, Seen Dimly Before Dawn is a witty, clever and insightful novel. Balchin brilliantly captures the idealism and naivety of his teenage protagonist, so convincingly that we fully believe that Walter believes that he can spirit away his uncle’s mistress without harming either party! Viewed in another way, the book is also a warm and nostalgic evocation of life in rural England in the 1920s.

This new Penhaligon Press edition of Seen Dimly Before Dawn, released to commemorate fifty years since Balchin’s passing, also contains, among other features, an introduction, a biographical essay about Balchin and explanatory notes, all of which have been written by Balchin’s biographer.

[Frederic John Coford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Read

Underestimated author. Deserves to be better known. Well written and enjoyable. I am sorry Balchin has drifted out of fashion