Customer Reviews

Let The People Sing

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Ultimately this is one of Priestley's lighter stories. It's a cute tale of the struggle to secure the future of the local village hall, with claims from an American mutinational, the local historical society, and a group of local musical aspirants.

But to be honest, none of that matters too much, because, tucked neatly into the story is one of Priestley's most hilarious characters - Sir George Denberry-Baxter.

We first meet Sir George rather late at night, as he welcomes two wandering minstrals, and shares a night of music, whisky and repartee with them.. He returns much later - and even funnier - in the chapter "Sir George Lunches and Arbitrates."

"Comic genius" is a term used too easily these days, but I can think of nothing more fitting to describe Sir George.

I'm not even sure you need to read the whole book. Sir George stands alone as a masterful representation of the sorts of people you meet in Ealing comedies, or sometimes still in the first class carriages of English country trains.

It's just a pity we don't get to meet his old colleague Tubby Shiptonthorpe.