''On Green Dolphin Street'' is a novel by

Sebastian Faulks Sebastian Charles Faulks (born 20 April 1953) is a British novelist, journalist and broadcaster. He is best known for his historical novels set in France – '' The Girl at the Lion d'Or'', ''Birdsong'' and '' Charlotte Gray''. He has also pub ...

, published by Hutchinson in 2001. The title comes from a 1947 composition by Bronislau Kaper and

Ned Washington Ned Washington (born Edward Michael Washington, August 15, 1901 – December 20, 1976) was an American lyricist born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Life and career Washington was nominated for eleven Academy Awards from 1940 to 1962. He won the Bes ...

—written for the Hollywood film '' Green Dolphin Street''—and later recorded by jazz musicians

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

(1958), and

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...

(1959), among others. The film was an adaptation of the best-seller novel ''Green Dolphin Street'' (1944) by

Elizabeth Goudge Elizabeth de Beauchamp Goudge FRSL (24 April 1900 – 1 April 1984) was an English writer of fiction and children's books. She won the Carnegie Medal for British children's books in 1946 for ''The Little White Horse''. Goudge was long a popular ...

Literary themes

''On Green Dolphin Street'' narrates the troubles, fears, dilemmas, problems and happiness of its main characters. There is an implicit feeling of nostalgia in the novel, a nostalgia for a time when everything seemed possible and life was full of hope and expectations. This, of course, also denotes the idea of disillusionment, a theme Faulkes also explores in his earlier novel, ''The Long White Winter''. This is encapsulated by Mary and Charlie. Charlie has seemingly lost the will to live, or at least he lacks the enthusiasm that he had as a younger man . He has a depressing outlook on life, Mary recognises this sentiment and agrees that life is largely irrational—in that death takes everyone eventually, a theme explored through Mary's mother's death—but sees hope in love. Her relationship with Frank reinvigorates her outlook. Apart from describing personal problems like drink, adultery and love, the novel also deals with the theme of politics, and political concepts like democracy and freedom. The United States is portrayed from the beginning as a territory facing problems, both internal as well as external. The

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

—that causes some controversy between the characters in the first chapter—and the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

contribute to an unstable and threatening atmosphere. US citizens are living in fear of being questioned about. The concepts of freedom and democracy are thus questioned and doubted and it seems as if the novel indirectly compares the state of affairs in the 'democratic' United States with communist Russia. The American citizens are blackmailed (Charlie), driven to commit suicide (Frank's friend, Billy Foy) and deprived of their freedom of speech (Frank).

Sources

''The Telegraph'', 28 April 2001, 'Adulterous passions'

5 May 2001 {{Use British English, date=December 2020 2001 British novels Novels by Sebastian Faulks Hutchinson (publisher) books