A GIRL WITH CLASS

by Dave Wallis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 15, 1959

Money, as the exchange on which more vested interests-certainly social status- go by default, has been a common concern of the younger English generation writing today, and it is here the means which make possible the no good ends of a careerist-opportunist in a first (?) novel, not angry, but certainly astute and acute. This is particularly true in its contrasting artifacts of the various levels of society with which it deals (the bed-sitter of the working girl as against the stately home of an aristocrat; or more crudely, fish and chips versus steak). Over and above the clever use of these give-aways, the story is concerned with five people, four of whom are engaged in the inter-connected rise and reverse. Carole Brockett is the ""girl with class"" which proves to be no more than a B.S. in Economics, but she is aiming higher and expecting more of life than her humbler beginnings. As such she at first impresses Tom Stanton, with whom she falls in love, a hustler and a salesman for Speedy Homefinders. His employer is Thorpley, a vulgar operator-speculator, intent on getting the ""lolly"" to buy what he wants- women, and in this case, the firm of a conservative financier, Sir Henry, for whom Carole works. It is Carole who is unwittingly responsible for the squeezeplay which puts Sir Henry in Thorpley's ruthless hands; Tom, who has taken his employer's lessons to heart, is no more gentlemanly in his romantic treatment of her.... The sharply premeditated calculations of men on the make- and the lengths to which they will go- occasion the parallel with Room at the Top, and this will be the market to keep in mind.

Pub Date: Jan. 15, 1959

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Coward-McCann

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1959

Categories: FICTION