THE CAUTIOUS HEART

by William Sansom ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 9, 1958

William Sansom's new novel is essentially not much more than a short story, (the medium best fitted to his talent) and if there is less of the fastidious sadism of his earlier work, there is still more of the dilettante detachment of his last book- The Loving Eye (1957). Again too an anonymous ""I"" transcribes the progress of an affair, sparked by sullen suspicion, cooled by diffident introspection. He is a musician manque who plays the piano in a pub; Marie, to whom he is attracted, is evasive about her past and the still present Colin, a kleptomaniac. Colin borrows money from him, battens on him, and becomes an even greater obligation when they go away together on a holiday and he is involved in a burglary-- so that finally in acknowledging in full his commitment to Marie, he must also accept his responsibility to her ""private devil"".... A study of quixotic attachments, Sansom brings to the rather sterile sphere of petty, petulant emotions a refinement of intellect and irony.

Pub Date: Sept. 9, 1958

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking-Reynal

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1958

Categories: FICTION