Publisher Description

Now. Christopher Metcalfe returns to his family home in Kent after the death of his father. Sorting through a box of memorabilia from his days at public school, Chris is suddenly confronted by the face that has haunted him for thirty years.Then, as a callow fifth former enduring the excesses of a school system designed to run an Empire that no longer existed, a most extraordinary thing happened amid the thrashings, and cross-country runs: he was seduced by Stephen Walker, a prefect two years his senior with whom he went on to share a brief but intensely passionate affair. Now, again, alone, approaching the age of fifty, Christopher is painfully aware of the price he paid for letting go, and resolves to find Stephen, and discover what became of the only person he has ever loved.Delicately revealing the layers of both past and present as it alternates between now and then.William Corlett's moving debut novel illuminates the vacuity of Christopher's emotional life with subtle power and poignancy, exploring a multitude of themes in his exposition of his search for identity.

Notes

While going through a box of his old belongings, Christopher Metcalf, an editor approaching fifty, finds some photographs from his days at Blanford, a minor public school. He is taken back to his fifth form, at an age when the Empire was nearing its end, to the love affair he had had with Stephen Walker, a prefect two years his senior. Realising that Stephen was the only person he had ever loved, Christopher determines to find him, but he discovers an individual whose discontent and inadequacies match his own. "Elegant, nicely crafted and insightful" The Times.

Author Biography

William Corlett was a successful children's novelist. He wrote widely for television and theatre for both adults and children. Twice he won the Writers' Guild Children's TV Writer of the Year Award. His first novel for adults, NOW & THEN won the Dillons First Fiction Award in 1995.

Review

Beautifully written and very moving. - MIDWEEKCaptures with sublime ease the tense bickering of a middle-class suburban family...Corlett describes their frenzied quandary beautifully. - Independent on Sunday

Promotional

'Elegant, nicely crafted and insightful' - The Times

Prizes

Winner of Dillons First Fiction Award 1996

Long Description

Now. Christopher Metcalfe returns to his family home in Kent after the death of his father. Sorting through a box of memorabilia from his days at public school, Chris is suddenly confronted by the face that has haunted him for thirty years.Then, as a callow fifth former enduring the excesses of a school system designed to run an Empire that no longer existed, a most extraordinary thing happened amid the thrashings, and cross-country runs: he was seduced by Stephen Walker, a prefect two years his senior with whom he went on to share a brief but intensely passionate affair. Now, again, alone, approaching the age of fifty, Christopher is painfully aware of the price he paid for letting go, and resolves to find Stephen, and discover what became of the only person he has ever loved.Delicately revealing the layers of both past and present as it alternates between now and then. William Corlett's moving debut novel illuminates the vacuity of Christopher's emotional life with subtle power and poignancy, exploring a multitude of themes in his exposition of his search for identity.

Review Quote

Captures with sublime ease the tense bickering of a middle-class suburban family...Corlett describes their frenzied quandary beautifully.

Promotional "Headline"

'Elegant, nicely crafted and insightful' - The Times

Details