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The Berry Scene
''The Berry Scene'' is a 1947 collection of comic short stories by the English author Dornford Yates Cecil William Mercer (7 August 1885 – 5 March 1960), known by his pen name Dornford Yates, was an English writer and novelist whose novels and short stories, some humorous (the ''Berry'' books), some Thriller (genre), thrillers (the ''Chandos ... (Cecil William Mercer), featuring his recurring 'Berry' characters. Plot The book consistes of ten short stories, filling in some of the gaps in the earlier books, with a brief prologue recounting an episode of Berry's schooldays. Other characters from Yates's novels, including the Lyvedens ('' Anthony Lyveden''), the Beaulieus ('' The Stolen March'') and Jenny Chandos ('' She Fell Among Thieves''), appear briefly. Chapters Critical reception In his 1982 biography of Dornford Yates, AJ Smithers described the writing as 'elegant' while noting that certain chronological inconsistencies had by this time crept in to the na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dornford Yates
Cecil William Mercer (7 August 1885 – 5 March 1960), known by his pen name Dornford Yates, was an English writer and novelist whose novels and short stories, some humorous (the ''Berry'' books), some Thriller (genre), thrillers (the ''Chandos'' books), were best-sellers during the Interwar period, Interwar Period. The pen name ''Dornford Yates'', first in print in 1910, resulted from combining the maiden names of his grandmothers – the paternal Eliza Mary Dornford, and the maternal Harriet Yates. Early life William (Bill) Mercer was born in Walmer, Kent, the son of Cecil John Mercer (1850–1921) and Helen Wall (1858–1918). His father was a solicitor whose sister, Mary Frances, married Charles Augustus Munro; their son was Saki, Hector Hugh Munro (the writer Saki); Bill Mercer is said to have idolised his elder cousin. Mercer attended St Clare preparatory school in Walmer from 1894 to 1899. The family moved from Kent to London when he joined Harrow School as a day pupil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ward Lock & Co
Ward, Lock & Co. was a publishing house in the United Kingdom that started as a partnership and developed until it was eventually absorbed into the publishing combine of Orion Publishing Group. History Ebenezer Ward and George Lock started a publishing concern in 1854 which became known as "Ward and Lock". Based originally in Fleet Street, London it outgrew its offices and in 1878 moved completely to Salisbury Square, London. The firm's first office was at 158 Fleet Street. Fleet Street had an inviting architecture and atmosphere. It was full of businesses and people, coffee houses, taverns, and soup kitchens. It appealed to “publishers, printers, authors and tradesmen who occupied its houses and frequented its taverns.” And it was always bustling with “innumerable trades, tradesmen and customers, coaches, wagons playhouses”. Before founding Ward and Lock, Ward had worked as the manager of the book department at Herbert Ingram and Company. In 1855, Herbert Ingram and C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The House That Berry Built
''The House That Berry Built'' is a 1945 humorous semi-autobiographical novel by the English author Dornford Yates (Cecil William Mercer), featuring his recurring 'Berry' characters. It is a lightly fictionalised recounting of the construction of the author's house ''Cockade'' in the commune of Eaux-Bonnes, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France. Plot Unable any longer to afford their aristocratic lifestyle in England, Berry and Co decide in 1937 to relinquish ''White Ladies'', their ancestral home in Hampshire, to the state for the use of the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Foreign Secretary. Nostalgic for a vanished world of social events and elegant idleness, Berry and his friends move to Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Pau in the South of France where they spend their days picnicking on the slopes of the Ossau Valley. Deciding to settle nearby, they acquire some land on the green mountainside halfway between the thermal spa of Lally and the village of Besse an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
As Berry And I Were Saying
''As Berry and I Were Saying'' is the first volume of fictionalised memoirs of the English author Dornford Yates Cecil William Mercer (7 August 1885 – 5 March 1960), known by his pen name Dornford Yates, was an English writer and novelist whose novels and short stories, some humorous (the ''Berry'' books), some Thriller (genre), thrillers (the ''Chandos ... (Cecil William Mercer), published in 1952 and featuring his recurring 'Berry' characters - Berry, Daphne, Boy and Jill. A second volume, '' B-Berry and I Look Back'', was published in 1958. Contents In an introductory note, the author states that those portions of the text that are a matter of fact are strictly true, and that he has told 'nothing but the truth'. He told an admirer that "the book is really my own memoir put into the mouths of Berry and Boy and so related in a fictional setting. I like to think that has made the book more palatable and less dull than an ordinary volume of reminiscences." Critical rece ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthony Lyveden
''Anthony Lyveden'' is a 1921 adventure novel by the English author Dornford Yates (Cecil William Mercer). It was first published in monthly instalments in ''The Windsor Magazine ''The Windsor Magazine'' was a monthly illustrated publication produced by Ward Lock & Co from January 1895 to September 1939 (537 issues). The title page described it as "An Illustrated Monthly for Men and Women". It was bound as six-monthly ...''. The book was Mercer's first attempt at a full-length novel, and was succeeded by ''Valerie French'' which continued the story of the main characters. Plot Anthony Lyveden DSO, a destitute ex-officer, is forced to take a job as a footman at the Gramarye estate. The estate's owner, Colonel Winchester, becomes mad and leaves Lyveden in charge under a power of attorney. The situation drives Lyveden himself to madness. Background The author was not a happy man at the time, his father having committed suicide early in 1921, and Mercer's biographer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Stolen March
''The Stolen March'' is a 1926 fantasy novel by the English author Dornford Yates (Cecil William Mercer), first serialised in ''The Windsor Magazine''. Plot The novel starts credibly enough, with the return of Simon and Patricia Beaulieu (previously seen in "Simon", one of the stories in '' As Other Men Are''). Simon falls ill, and on medical advice the couple take a relaxed caravan holiday, being driving down through France to the fictional country of Etchechuria, lying in the Pyrenees between France and Spain. En route they are joined by Eulalie (previously seen in chapter VIII of '' Jonah & Co'', 1922) and Pomfret Tudor. There, fantastic things start to happen: they are addressed by a mule speaking English, and find themselves in a land peopled by animated illustrations and nursery rhyme characters. The tone becomes darker, and some of the characters start to develop murderous intent. Background Mercer himself loved the book, but recognised that many readers did not, in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
She Fell Among Thieves
''She Fell Among Thieves'' is a 1935 adventure novel by the English author Dornford Yates (Cecil William Mercer), the fifth in his ' Chandos' thriller series. It was serialised in ''Woman's Journal'' (December 1934 to April 1935, illustrated by Forster). The title comes from a phrase in the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Plot The story is set in the Pyrenees. Chandos, recently widowed, and Mansel have to rescue a drugged young woman who has been held captive at Château Jezreel by the villainous elderly matriarch Vanity Fair. Background ''She Fell Among Thieves'' was written shortly after Mercer's second marriage, to Elizabeth, and was dedicated "To Jill" – the name he always used for her. Critical reception The novel was not quite as well received as the earlier 'Chandos' books had been. Although it was accepted for UK serialisation in the ''Woman's Journal'', appearing in five parts between December 1934 and April 1935, the US '' Saturday Evening Post'' declined it, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hodder & Stoughton
Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint (trade name), imprint of Hachette (publisher), Hachette. History Early history The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged 14, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publisher for the Congregational church, Congregational Union. In 1861 the firm became Jackson, Walford and Hodder; but in 1868 Jackson and Walford retired, and Thomas Wilberforce Stoughton joined the firm, creating Hodder & Stoughton. Hodder & Stoughton published both religious and secular works, and its religious list contained some progressive titles. These included George Adam Smith, George Adam Smith's ''Isaiah'' for its ''Expositor’s Bible'' series, which was one of the earliest texts to identify multiple authorship in the Book of Isaiah. There was also a sympathetic ''Life of Francis of Assisi, St Francis'' by Paul Sabatier (theologian), Paul Sabatier, a French Protestant pastor. Matthew Hodder ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1947 Short Story Collections
It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in the 20th century causes extensive disruption of travel. Given the low ratio of private vehicle ownership at the time, it is mainly remembered in terms of its effects on the railway network. * January 1 - The Canadian Citizenship Act comes into effect. * January 4 – First issue of weekly magazine ''Der Spiegel'' published in Hanover, Germany, edited by Rudolf Augstein. * January 10 – The United Nations adopts a resolution to take control of the free city of Trieste. * January 15 – Elizabeth Short, an aspiring actress nicknamed the "Black Dahlia", is found brutally murdered in a vacant lot in Los Angeles; the mysterious case is never solved. * January 16 – Vincent Auriol is inaugurated as president of France. * January 19 – Ferry ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ward, Lock & Co
Ward, Lock & Co. was a publishing house in the United Kingdom that started as a partnership and developed until it was eventually absorbed into the publishing combine of Orion Publishing Group. History Ebenezer Ward and George Lock started a publishing concern in 1854 which became known as "Ward and Lock". Based originally in Fleet Street, London it outgrew its offices and in 1878 moved completely to Salisbury Square, London. The firm's first office was at 158 Fleet Street. Fleet Street had an inviting architecture and atmosphere. It was full of businesses and people, coffee houses, taverns, and soup kitchens. It appealed to “publishers, printers, authors and tradesmen who occupied its houses and frequented its taverns.” And it was always bustling with “innumerable trades, tradesmen and customers, coaches, wagons playhouses”. Before founding Ward and Lock, Ward had worked as the manager of the book department at Herbert Ingram and Company. In 1855, Herbert Ingram and C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
