THE WORLD IN THE EVENING

by Christopher Isherwood ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 4, 1954

The festering, first person reconnaissance of Stephen Monk, 32, in flight from the memory of his first wife- Elizabeth, and from the actuality of his second wife- Jane, this is an honest examination of emotional transgression. Invalided, after an accident which was perhaps self-willed, Stephen returns to the past through the letters of Elizabeth; to his love for her and his satellite existence in the reflected brilliance of her success as a writer; to the pregnancy she should not have permitted which almost killed her; to the years of restless travel and the first meeting with Michael which developed five years later into a homosexual relationship between Michael and Stephen which Elizabeth was to forgive with an indulgent understanding; and finally, to the last year on the Riviera, where Elizabeth was slowly dying and where Stephen was to meet Jane whom he married and flagellated in an attempted to destroy his guilt. All this is a reassessment of experience- of the truth which hurts but also heals- and it is for the most part intense and immediate.

Pub Date: June 4, 1954

ISBN: 0816633703

Page Count: -

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1954

Categories: FICTION