The Halt During the Chase

Rosemary Tonks

$22.99

Paperback

In stock
Ready to ship

QTY:

English

Vintage
27 August 2024

Fiction & Literature; Classic fiction (pre c 1945); Fiction: special features

Finally back in print, a shockingly wry and funny coming-of-age novel from the inimitable Rosemary Tonks, author of The Bloater

Brilliantly funny and brutal, this is the story of one woman's escape from the clutches of polite society, by the incredible mid-century writer who destroyed her own books.

Sophie's mother knows exactly how to needle her. Sophie's lover Philip knows how to stab her in the heart. She may be clever, charming and smart but is Sophie destined to be an eternal bit-part?

After a particularly callous throwaway remark from Philip, Sophie knows she must break away - from him, from her mother, from the snobbery of her Hampstead Heath upbringing. Being good and agreeable has brought nothing but loneliness; setting out alone might finally bring Sophie satisfaction.

Back in print after many decades, this novel is a piece of dynamite, written by an extraordinary and little-known writer, the inimitable Rosemary Tonks.

'A bubbly, empathetic and ultimately lovely novel of a belated coming-of-age' New York Times

'Nobody writes about angsty women like Tonks' The Millions

By: Rosemary Tonks
Imprint: Vintage
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 19mm, Width: 130mm, Spine: 16mm
Weight: 172g
ISBN: 9781784879303
ISBN 10: 1784879304
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 27 August 2024
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Rosemary Tonks (1928-2014) was a colourful figure in the London literary scene during the 1960s. She published two poetry collections, Notes on Cafes and Bedrooms and Iliad of Broken Sentences, and six novels, from Opium Fogs to The Halt During the Chase. Tonks wrote for the Observer, The Times, New York Review of Books, Listener, New Statesman and Encounter, and presented poetry programmes for the BBC.

Reviews for The Halt During the Chase

Her writing captured the pungent, punchy essence of that city in the Swinging Sixties * Paris Review * The Tonks character is always trapped. As proud as Lucifer, and trapped. She may be on holiday in Italy with friends, or laid up with gout, she can as little escape as a character in a play can escape the footlights and the stage -- Michael Hoffman * Poetry Foundation * The Halt During the Chase is packed with potent imagery, wry remarks and liberatory energy