John Dugdale
Charlie and the Dream Factory
Carter Beats the Devil, Glen David Gold’s splendidly imaginative debut, was a Jonathan Creek-style mystery caper with a stage magician – the real-life illusionist Charles Carter – as its hero; set in 1923, it centred on the enigmatic death in office of President Warren Harding, and encompassed political scandals, showbiz rivalry, rotten tycoons, sinister spooks and the invention of television.
His follow-up takes place a little earlier, between 1916 and 1919 (one of several US novels this year, in fact, to be drawn to the time of Woodrow Wilson’s presidency); it, too, novelises a period in the life of a real, charismatic entertainer, the far more famous – but on this evidence rather less admirable – Charlie Chaplin.
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
'Thirkell was a product of her time and her class. For her there are no sacred cows, barring those that win ribbons at the Barchester Agricultural.'
The novelist Angela Thirkell is due a revival, says Patricia T O'Conner (£).
https://literaryreview.co.uk/good-gad
'Only in Britain, perhaps, could spy chiefs – conventionally viewed as masters of subterfuge – be so highly regarded as ethical guides.'
https://literaryreview.co.uk/the-spy-who-taught-me
In this month's Bookends, @AdamCSDouglas looks at the curious life of Henry Labouchere: a friend of Bram Stoker, 'loose cannon', and architect of the law that outlawed homosexual activity in Britain.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/a-gross-indecency