L.P. Hartley (1895–1972), the son of the director of a
brickworks, attended Harrow and Balliol College, Oxford, before
setting out on a career as a literary critic and writer of short
stories. In 1944 he published his first novel, The Shrimp and
the Anemone, the opening volume of the trilogy Eustace and
Hilda. In the spring of 1952, Hartley began The Go-Between, a
novel strongly rooted in his childhood. By October he had already
completed the first draft, and the finished product was published
in early 1953. The Go-Between became an immediate
critical and popular success and has long been considered Hartley’s
finest book. His many other novels include Facial Justice, The
Hireling, and The Love-Adept.
Anita Brookner is an art historian and novelist. She lives in
London.
The combined effect of these three books is one of mounting
excellence. Eustace, the central figure, is an immortal portrayal
of the delights and agonies of childhood and adolescence. I cannot
but envy the author of these books. He must feel immensely
satisfied to have written a social novel which is in the class of
George Meredith. He is a mature and rich writer, his gift for
narrative balancing nicely with his other gifts of description and
dialogue.
— John Betjeman
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