Published 1935 / Length 528 pages
This trilogy comprises three self-contained volumes that link thematically and through overlapping characters; each was published separately before being collected. All three tales centre on a pub and tell the same story from different perspectives, exposing the lives of people on the margins of 1930s London society. The Midnight Bell, an examination of obsession, is the most autobiographical and provides moving insight into the emotional damage of the author’s life. The Siege of Pleasure follows the descent of a servant girl into prostitution, a woman whose beauty captivates Bob, who yearns for both emotional and financial security like so many of Hamilton’s characters. The Plains of Cement traces the dreams harboured by barmaid Ella of escaping her social class and reaching a world elsewhere. Hamilton is marvellous at evoking his era in all its variety, both the upper and lower classes of his city, those at the bright heart of society and those flitting around its fringes.
‘I hugely enjoyed reading this, although I’m not sure “enjoy” is the right word, as the author conjures such a bleak world. The author gained my sympathy for the characters, the language was a delight and I often think of scenes when I am in pubs.’ – LISA, 29
• ‘I can’t stand cruelty,’ says Jenny Maple. What forms of cruelty are portrayed? Is Hamilton a ruthless writer, or does he depict kindness too? Which are the unavoidable cruelties and which purposefully inflicted?
• ‘For a moment he had been a racked soul contemplating itself in a pitch-dark and irrevocable Universe’ – to what extent does Hamilton suggest the human capability to change situations, and to what extent are they presented as ‘irrevocable’?
• How does Hamilton explore youth and age, and the conflicts between the life of the body and the life of the mind?
• Bob describes a ‘vile and disappointing planet’. To what extent is that the overall mood of the writing?
• Patrick Hamilton wrote this London trilogy when in his mid and late twenties.
• In January 1932, Hamilton was knocked down by a car and critically injured. He added this experience to the final draft of The Siege of Pleasure, so that emotional and psychological wounds were also comparable to physical ones.
• The Midnight Bell is based on Hamilton’s own disastrous love affair with a prostitute.
• The Gorse novels by PATRICK HAMILTON – in the early 1950s, Hamilton wrote a series of disturbing novels focusing on a sociopathic protagonist.
• Patrick Hamilton: A Life by SEAN FRENCH and Through a Glass Darkly: The Life of Patrick Hamilton by NIGEL JONES – Hamilton’s experiences had such influence on his writing that it is interesting to read his life and work together. These 1990s biographies offer insight.
• Vile Bodies by EVELYN WAUGH – a satirical novel capturing the decadence of 1930s London.