THE GO-BETWEEN

by L. P. Hartley ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 26, 1954

A quiet novel of a summer holiday transcribes the drama of a love affair and its betrayal through the deceptively disarming eyes of the youngster who is at first an accessory and then a victim of a situation he cannot really understand. For Leo Colston, twelve, the visit to a school friend at Brandham Hall is an introduction to a new world of social nuances and polished distinctions, and the activities there, teas and picnics, a cricket match and a concert, all bring their festive excitement. Halfway on that troubled stretch between innocence and experience, he is also the go- between in the romance between Marian Maudsley, his friend's sister and Ted Burgess, a local farmer. Leo, susceptible to Marian's lovely looks and teasing attentions, entertains moments of conscience and reproach when he learns that she is engaged to the Viscount Trimingham, and the knowledge that he has been used leaves him with a sense of humiliation and heartbreak. But his disillusion is complete when he is the unwilling, unwitting medium of her exposure which leads to a tragedy and his own retreat from the world of emotion he has barely intercepted.... The boy here, with his impressionable curiosity and easily aroused admiration, the exhilaration of youthful exploits, the vagaries of memories which still retain a residuum of pleasure and pain, are all recorded with accuracy and grace and offers affecting entertainment. Fine English press. For the summer solstice.

Pub Date: July 26, 1954

ISBN: 0940322994

Page Count: -

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1954

Categories: FICTION