''Darkness Falls from the Air'' is a 1942 novel by the British writer

Nigel Balchin Nigel Marlin Balchin (3 December 1908 – 17 May 1970)Peter Rowland, "Balchin, Nigel Marlin (1908–1970)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, accessed 9 December 2008 was an English psyc ...

. It was inspired by Balchin's time working at the Ministry of Food and was both a critical and commercial success. During the Blitz on London a

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

's family life begins to break down. Balchin's own first marriage broke up following a partner-swapping arrangement between the Balchins, the artist Michael Ayrton and the latter's partner Joan. Elisabeth Balchin also had an affair with the composer

Christian Darnton Philip Christian Darnton (30 October 1905 – 14 April 1981), also known as Baron von Schunck, was a British composer and writer. Early life and family He was born in Leeds as Philip Christian von Schunck, the son of Mary Gertrude Illingworth (187 ...

. Balchin divorced Elisabeth in 1951 and she married Ayrton a year later. In the novel, Balchin included an unflattering caricature of Darnton as the poet Stephen Ryle and his relationship with Marcia.Collett, Derek (2015). ''His Own Executioner: The Life of Nigel Balchin''. SilverWood. ISBN 978-1-78132-391-5

References

Bibliography

* Clive James. ''At the Pillars of Hercules''. Pan Macmillan, 2013. 1942 British novels Novels by Nigel Balchin Novels set in London William Collins, Sons books {{1940s-novel-stub