James Tait Black Memorial Prizes
The Secret City
Set in Petrograd in 1916, this novel follows the young Englishman Henry Bohun as he is drawn into the upheaval of the Russian Revolution. It is as much about the city's unease and the shifting ties between its inhabitants as it is about politics, with vanity, isolation, and desire slowly coming to the surface.
Work Information
In Petrograd on the eve of revolution, private feeling collides quietly with the force of history.
Drawing on his own time in Russia, Hugh Walpole captures Petrograd before and after the revolution in sharp detail. As young Englishmen take lodgings with the Markovitch family, the political crisis outside and the emotional tensions inside the house begin to mirror one another, and the city itself becomes a stage for the characters' fates.
Review Summaries
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Some readers value the atmosphere of revolutionary Russia and the way the city itself is brought vividly to life, while others feel a slight distance from the intricacy of the character relationships. It is often received as a work that offers both historical weight and a concentrated psychological drama.
Book Information
- Publisher
- Capuchin Classics
- Published
- 2012-09-17
- Pages
- 308 pages
- Language
- 英語
- Size
- 12.7 x 2.54 x 19.05 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9781907429286
- ISBN-10
- 190742928X
- Price
- 1333 JPY
- Category
- 洋書/Literature & Fiction/Classics
Sent out to Russia by the Foreign Office in 1916, Jerry Lawrence and Henry Bohun find themselves unlikely travelling companions. Bohun, an immaculately dressed man who holds himself in high regard as a poet, feels the force of destiny to be a ‘great man’; Lawrence appears a rough and ready character. On arrival in Petrograd, they are drawn into the destructive and complex relationships of the Markovitch family, with whom Bohun has taken lodgings. As the build-up towards revolution increases, Bohun’s passions are stirred by one of the Markovitch sisters – a situation which seems destined to cause trouble when their uncle Semyonov, who has powerful political connections, turns up at Christmas. Set at the time of the Russian Revolution, this novel draws on Hugh Walpole’s own experiences as a newspaper correspondent, and was first published in 1919.