Berry and Co. [Hardcover]

Dornford Yates (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 12, 2009

At the foot of the steps the great smooth lawn stretched like a fine green carpet its shadowed patches yet bright with dew. There were the tall elms and the copper beech and all the proud company of spreading giants¿what were five years to them?' (Excerpt from Chapter 1)

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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About the Author

Born Cecil William Mercer into a middle class Victorian family with many Victorian skeletons in the closet, including the conviction for embezzlement from a law firm and subsequent suicide of his great-uncle, Yates' parents somehow scraped together enough money to send him to Harrow. The son of a solicitor, he qualified as a barrister whilst still finding timeto contribute stories to the Windsor Magazine. After the first world war hegave up legal work in favour of writing, which had become his great passion, and completed somethirty books. These rangedfrom light- hearted farce to adventure thrillers. For the former, he created the 'Berry' books which established Yates' reputation as a writer of witty, upper-crust romances. For the latter, he created ther character Richard Chandos, who recounts the adventures of Jonah Mansel, a classic gentleman sleuth. As a consequence of his education and experience, Yates' books feature the genteel life, a nostalgic glimpse at Edwardian decadence and a number of swindling solicitors. In his hey day, and as testament to hisfine writing, Dornford Yates' work was placed in the bestseller list. Indeed, 'Berry' is one of the great comic creations of twentieth century fiction; the 'Chandos' titles also beingsuccessfully adapted for television. Along with Sapper and John Buchan, Yates dominated the adventure book market of the inter war years. Finding the English climate utterly unbearable, Yates chose to live in the French Pyrenees for eighteen years, before moving on to Rhodesia where he died in 1960. 'Mr Yates can be recommended to anyone who thinks the British take themselves too seriously.' - Punch 'We appreciate fine writing when we come across it, and a wit that is ageless united to a courtesy that is extinct'-Cyril Connolly --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: IndyPublish (January 12, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1437888100
• ISBN-13: 978-1437888102
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Post WWI Neverland, April 6, 2011

By 

L. Norman "Ancient Limey" (NH, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Berry And Co. (Kindle Edition)

I don't understand myself. These stories, mostly of high jinks in the English countryside, are grossly overwritten, especially in descriptions of scenery. The protagonists are all perfect gentlemen, apart from their assumption of entitlement and chauvinist superiority, while the ladies are paragons of demure pulchritude. And yet I find them quite delightful in their depiction of a place and time that never was. It's a puzzlement.