Richard Chatterton V.C. (1915) by Ruby M. Ayres

Book review by George Simmers: The Great War came as something of a boon to romantic novelists. It offered dramatic new ways of refreshing all their favourite tropes: separation, misunderstanding, yearning,suffering. Ruby M. Ayres was a successful magazine writer before the war began, but Richard Chatterton V.C. made her reputation. It began as a serial … Continue reading →

The Pretty Lady (1918) by Arnold Bennett

Book review by George Simmers: The Pretty Lady (1918) was Arnold Bennett’s novel of wartime London. It centres on the relationship between Christine, a French prostitute who had fled from the invading Germans at Ostend, and G.J. Hoape, her privileged client. Prostitution was a subject that Bennett had previously kept away from; in 1910, he … Continue reading →