I’ve just finished The Dreaming Suburb, which I am ashamed to say is my first attempt at reading anything by R.F. Delderfield who, as well as writing about places I know, is a distant relative and therefore somebody I should have investigated earlier. It’s a domestic saga set between the wars, which makes it sound much less fun than it was. It’s plotty and absorbing, and every so often there’s a beautiful piece of writing that lifts it above the gently engaging story of unassuming folk that it otherwise is. Plus, it’s fun spotting the places I know and reading them described as they were eighty years ago. I was particularly excited about the single mention of Elmers End.
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July 9th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
I read my dad’s Delderfield books when I was in my teens..try the trilogy ‘A Horseman Riding By’. I think it was made into a TV series starring Nigel Havers.
July 9th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
No way! I can’t believe I lived with you for all that time and never once bragged about my writer relative. A Horseman Riding By is on the list.
You are only the fourth person I’ve ever met who isn’t a family member who has heard of him.
July 10th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
My dad had The Dreaming Suburb and it’s sequel/prequel which was called The Avenue Goes To War or something like that. But I never got round to reading those ones; I’d probably moved on to Viz by then.