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The Triple Echo
The Triple Echo was the last novella that Bates wrote, although he later noted that he had actually begun working on it in 1943 and didn’t finish it until 1968 because during all that time he had been inhibited and unable to complete the task by what proved to be the handicap of a superfluous character. Once this was discovered and removed, the story was quickly finished. In the event it proved to be one of the best novellas Bates ever produced, a classic piece of writing; a skilful blend of plot, characterisation and atmosphere. The story is set in the early 1940s, during World War II. Alice Charlesworth, the lonely wife of a war prisoner living on an isolated farmstead, encounters young Barton, a farm boy-turned (reluctant) conscripted soldier out of his depth in his military role. Barton decides not to return to camp and deliberately deserts; and he dresses as Alice’s sister to avoid detection while hiding at her farm. Alas, two soldiers intrude, a sergeant takes a shine to Alice’s sister, and, when Barton (such a silly young man to have done so) goes off to a dance with him, exposure and the consequent tragic finale begin to appear inevitable. A film of The Triple Echo, starring Oliver Reed and Glenda Jackson, premiered in Nov 1972.
The novella first appeared in the Daily Telegraph magazine in December 1969, and, as well as being published as a separate book in hardback and paperback, it appeared in The Best of H. E. Bates.
The novella first appeared in the Daily Telegraph magazine in December 1969, and, as well as being published as a separate book in hardback and paperback, it appeared in The Best of H. E. Bates.
80 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1970
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98 people want to read
About the author
H.E. Bates
278 books191 followersHerbert Ernest Bates, CBE is widely recognised as one of the finest short story writers of his generation, with more than 20 story collections published in his lifetime. It should not be overlooked, however, that he also wrote some outstanding novels, starting with The Two Sisters through to A Moment in Time, with such works as Love For Lydia, Fair Stood the Wind for France and The Scarlet Sword earning high praise from the critics. His study of the Modern Short Story is considered one of the best ever written on the subject.
He was born in Rushden, Northamptonshire and was educated at Kettering Grammar School. After leaving school, he was briefly a newspaper reporter and a warehouse clerk, but his heart was always in writing and his dream to be able to make a living by his pen.
Many of his stories depict life in the rural Midlands of England, particularly his native Northamptonshire. Bates was partial to taking long midnight walks around the Northamptonshire countryside - and this often provided the inspiration for his stories. Bates was a great lover of the countryside and its people and this is exemplified in two volumes of essays entitled Through the Woods and Down the River.
In 1931, he married Madge Cox, his sweetheart from the next road in his native Rushden. They moved to the village of Little Chart in Kent and bought an old granary and this together with an acre of garden they converted into a home. It was in this phase of his life that he found the inspiration for the Larkins series of novels -The Darling Buds of May, A Breath of French Air, When the Green Woods Laugh, etc. - and the Uncle Silas tales. Not surprisingly, these highly successful novels inspired television series that were immensely popular.
His collection of stories written while serving in the RAF during World War II, best known by the title The Stories of Flying Officer X, but previously published as Something in the Air (a compilation of his two wartime collections under the pseudonym 'Flying Officer X' and titled The Greatest People in the World and How Sleep the Brave), deserve particular attention. By the end of the war he had achieved the rank of Squadron Leader.
Bates was influenced by Chekhov in particular, and his knowledge of the history of the short story is obvious from the famous study he produced on the subject. He also wrote his autobiography in three volumes (each delightfully illustrated) which were subsequently published in a one-volume Autobiography.
Bates was a keen and knowledgeable gardener and wrote numerous books on flowers. The Granary remained their home for the whole of their married life. After the death of H. E Bates, Madge moved to a bungalow, which had originally been a cow byre, next to the Granary. She died in 2004 at age 95. They raised two sons and two daughters.
primarily from Wikipedia, with additions by Keith Farnsworth
He was born in Rushden, Northamptonshire and was educated at Kettering Grammar School. After leaving school, he was briefly a newspaper reporter and a warehouse clerk, but his heart was always in writing and his dream to be able to make a living by his pen.
Many of his stories depict life in the rural Midlands of England, particularly his native Northamptonshire. Bates was partial to taking long midnight walks around the Northamptonshire countryside - and this often provided the inspiration for his stories. Bates was a great lover of the countryside and its people and this is exemplified in two volumes of essays entitled Through the Woods and Down the River.
In 1931, he married Madge Cox, his sweetheart from the next road in his native Rushden. They moved to the village of Little Chart in Kent and bought an old granary and this together with an acre of garden they converted into a home. It was in this phase of his life that he found the inspiration for the Larkins series of novels -The Darling Buds of May, A Breath of French Air, When the Green Woods Laugh, etc. - and the Uncle Silas tales. Not surprisingly, these highly successful novels inspired television series that were immensely popular.
His collection of stories written while serving in the RAF during World War II, best known by the title The Stories of Flying Officer X, but previously published as Something in the Air (a compilation of his two wartime collections under the pseudonym 'Flying Officer X' and titled The Greatest People in the World and How Sleep the Brave), deserve particular attention. By the end of the war he had achieved the rank of Squadron Leader.
Bates was influenced by Chekhov in particular, and his knowledge of the history of the short story is obvious from the famous study he produced on the subject. He also wrote his autobiography in three volumes (each delightfully illustrated) which were subsequently published in a one-volume Autobiography.
Bates was a keen and knowledgeable gardener and wrote numerous books on flowers. The Granary remained their home for the whole of their married life. After the death of H. E Bates, Madge moved to a bungalow, which had originally been a cow byre, next to the Granary. She died in 2004 at age 95. They raised two sons and two daughters.
primarily from Wikipedia, with additions by Keith Farnsworth
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
June 26, 2024
I watched the movie based on this book starring Oliver Reed and Glenda Jackson last month. I liked it a lot and wanted to check out the book.
It is a small book in which Bates juxtaposes the vagaries and unpredictability of nature with the vagaries of human lives.
Alice, a lonely woman in a secluded farm whose husband has been taken prisoner by the Japanese during world war 2 is paid a visit by a young soldier on leave. Though initially hostile, the lonely Alice falls in love with the young man and he soon turns into an army deserter, choosing to stay at the farm with Alice.
The paranoid Alice dresses the soldier up as a girl and tells people in the village that "she" is her sister. It all works for a while before a rambunctious army sergeant turns up at the farm and begins to hit on Alice and her "sister", asking them both out to a Christmas party.
I liked the descriptions of the natural world and how even a slight change in weather scares the hell out of Alice. The snow is the only bulwark against the nosy outside world for Alice and her army deserter lover. Once the snow melts, things begin to fall apart. You wonder what The Triple Echo means, it is explained in the book's final violent paragraph.
It is a small book in which Bates juxtaposes the vagaries and unpredictability of nature with the vagaries of human lives.
Alice, a lonely woman in a secluded farm whose husband has been taken prisoner by the Japanese during world war 2 is paid a visit by a young soldier on leave. Though initially hostile, the lonely Alice falls in love with the young man and he soon turns into an army deserter, choosing to stay at the farm with Alice.
The paranoid Alice dresses the soldier up as a girl and tells people in the village that "she" is her sister. It all works for a while before a rambunctious army sergeant turns up at the farm and begins to hit on Alice and her "sister", asking them both out to a Christmas party.
I liked the descriptions of the natural world and how even a slight change in weather scares the hell out of Alice. The snow is the only bulwark against the nosy outside world for Alice and her army deserter lover. Once the snow melts, things begin to fall apart. You wonder what The Triple Echo means, it is explained in the book's final violent paragraph.
November 3, 2024
H. E. Bates has been something of a discovery. I’d always dismissed him as a writer of rather ‘light’ romances and bucolic comedy, but having read the wonderful Uncle Silas (which, yes, is bucolic comedy, but of a very superior kind, with distinctly dark edges) and in quick succession, The Triple Echo, a moving and poignant tragedy of the rural home front during the Second World War, I’ve realised that there is much more to Bates than I had thought. His portrayal of characters in a landscape is remarkable, and there isn’t a page in this novella (just eighty pages in this first edition) where I wasn’t moved or disturbed by the relationship between the two main characters. At its heart is a love story between a farmer’s wife struggling to keep things going on her own while her husband is in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, and a deserter from a nearby army barracks. It’s surprising, shocking and tragic, and compulsively readable.
May 7, 2025
Poignant love story about a lonely young wife, (whose husband is a prisoner of war), running her remote farm by herself, until a soldier from the nearby barracks comes across her path. He is very handy around the farm, and not really fitted for army life.
Some wonderful descriptions in this sparse novella, reminds me that I really should read more of his stories.
Some wonderful descriptions in this sparse novella, reminds me that I really should read more of his stories.
May 30, 2017
A moving, enthralling, touching short story. This tale of an army deserter and the war "widow" who takes him in was simply but lovingly told. Very descriptive and extremely well written and easy to read. It is years since I have read any H.E. Bates, and I had forgotten what a good writer he is, I'll have to read some more now.
March 16, 2017
The last few years, I feel as if I can't get enough of H.E. Bates. Something about his style of storytelling, and the glittering quality of his descriptions, just does it for me.
The Triple Echo is a late novella, published only a few years before he died, but it apparently took 25 years to write, the problem being a superfluous character within the mix that finally had to be cut out. It was worth the extra work because the result is pretty good.
A soldier stumbles onto an isolated farm, and meets a lonely young woman whose husband is a prisoner of war. They fall for one another, and with the war calling he goes AWOL, dresses as a woman and helps her on the farm. But because such solitude proves wearing, tempers eventually begin to fray, and when a sergeant shows up, scouting the landscape for suitable tank training ground, things get badly out of hand.
Boiling this one down to a simple summary gives the whole thing a somewhat ridiculous sheen, and yet the story is at times captivating and the love between the soldier and the woman – if that's what it even is – is beautifully rendered. Certainly, the book's first half (for me, anyway) ticked all the boxes, the slow unfurling of the characters, the rich descriptions of the scenery and the seasons, the layers put into the background of the story. The ending is nicely played too, devastation really, but I couldn't help feel that there was a descent into melodrama that cost the whole book probably a point and a half of its rating. So, torn between a 3 and a 4, I am going low.
The Triple Echo is a late novella, published only a few years before he died, but it apparently took 25 years to write, the problem being a superfluous character within the mix that finally had to be cut out. It was worth the extra work because the result is pretty good.
A soldier stumbles onto an isolated farm, and meets a lonely young woman whose husband is a prisoner of war. They fall for one another, and with the war calling he goes AWOL, dresses as a woman and helps her on the farm. But because such solitude proves wearing, tempers eventually begin to fray, and when a sergeant shows up, scouting the landscape for suitable tank training ground, things get badly out of hand.
Boiling this one down to a simple summary gives the whole thing a somewhat ridiculous sheen, and yet the story is at times captivating and the love between the soldier and the woman – if that's what it even is – is beautifully rendered. Certainly, the book's first half (for me, anyway) ticked all the boxes, the slow unfurling of the characters, the rich descriptions of the scenery and the seasons, the layers put into the background of the story. The ending is nicely played too, devastation really, but I couldn't help feel that there was a descent into melodrama that cost the whole book probably a point and a half of its rating. So, torn between a 3 and a 4, I am going low.
December 8, 2021
A good quick read
December 10, 2023
i get it…but why???
August 15, 2024
If Bates is anything, he is readable. Everything is clear in his prose and in his stories. While he may not plumb the depths of the human condition, he certainly flirts with it. The Triple Echo is a semi-unbelievable WWII story, but it is a short, enjoyable one.
November 22, 2018
I didn't take a shine to this book. There was something about it that didn't quite engage me. It's an interesting story about a wife left behind when her husband goes to war on the other side of the world, a conscripted artilleryman who doesn't really want to be involved in the war, and a couple of likely lad soldiers who upset the balance. I have to admit that I didn't like any of the characters, and that probably coloured the book for me.
The story is probable enough - an account of a deserting soldier - but the conclusion is a bit too improbable. The deserter adopts the guise of the farm wife's sister. One of the soldiers takes a shine to the disguised artilleryman, and the disguise unravels after a bit of a fumble following a dance. I just can't quite see this happening and my disbelief is just too great.
I found the ending of the book to be a bit weak. There is resolution to the story, with a nice twist of fate, but I couldn't quite see the motivation behind the actions. I am sure that the author intended this to be clear, but I couldn't see it.
I had the feeling that the story was rather hurried. It lacked a certain fluency that is contained in other works of this author. The story comes across as a bit disjointed. Some patches of the book are well written, whilst others could be improved. As a whole, the story just didn't work for me.
The story is probable enough - an account of a deserting soldier - but the conclusion is a bit too improbable. The deserter adopts the guise of the farm wife's sister. One of the soldiers takes a shine to the disguised artilleryman, and the disguise unravels after a bit of a fumble following a dance. I just can't quite see this happening and my disbelief is just too great.
I found the ending of the book to be a bit weak. There is resolution to the story, with a nice twist of fate, but I couldn't quite see the motivation behind the actions. I am sure that the author intended this to be clear, but I couldn't see it.
I had the feeling that the story was rather hurried. It lacked a certain fluency that is contained in other works of this author. The story comes across as a bit disjointed. Some patches of the book are well written, whilst others could be improved. As a whole, the story just didn't work for me.
February 7, 2017
I read this during a short train journey, and it kept my gripped, but I didn't love it. But, nevertheless, I found it entertaining fodder for a train journey.
December 30, 2019
A woman, Alice, living on an isolated farm, her husband away as a prisoner of war, meets a soldier and ends up taking him in and hiding him when he says he cannot go back to the army. The first part of the story, while his presence remains a secret, is rather magical: the isolation, the privacy, and the atmosphere of the woodland setting. Gradually the world begins to impinge as the presence of a second person at the farm becomes known. They create a deceptive story and persona for the deserter, but tempers fray and the situation gets out of control. The ending is melodramatic, but it is consistent with Alice's behaviour earlier on. Beautifully written and crafted, and my edition has rather nice line drawings too.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 18, 2021
The story is set in the early 1940s, during World War II. Alice Charlesworth, the lonely wife of a war prisoner living on an isolated farmstead, encounters young Barton, a farm boy-turned (reluctant) conscripted soldier out of his depth in his military role. Barton decides not to return to camp and deliberately deserts; and he dresses as Alice’s sister to avoid detection while hiding at her farm. Two soldiers intrude upon this idyll, and the sergeant takes a shine to Alice’s sister, and, when Barton goes off to a dance with him, exposure and the consequent tragic finale begin to appear inevitable. This was his last novella published in 1968.
November 18, 2021
Beautifully written novella, the descriptions of the countryside, the glimpses of the train or the rolling downland are in some ways the equivalent of an Eric Ravilious painting. The writing is similarly delicate. The delight Alice takes in the snow as Bates weaves the imagery of the snow's brightness and temporary cleanliness against the fact that it protects them, keeps them safe from the authorities. The M.P.s are well-drawn and inexorable, you feel from the first introduction that the lovers will eventually be doomed, but you read on because of the wonderful writing. In the edition I had there were also some delightful illustrations by Ron Clarke. A delight, if a somewhat poignant one.
November 13, 2024
Novella written in 1968 about a deserter settling in with a country wife whose husband is a prisoner of war around 1942. The hook is the deserter ends up disguising as a her sister Cath. Along comes army sergeant who takes a fancy to Cath.
A fine enough short story but it didn't really work for me. Allegory, comedy, serious? perhaps. I couldn't quite work out how such an isolated farm could at once receive a nearby army soldier (before overstaying to be a deserter) and then later a whole tank division on training. And not raise suspicions for months of the local town only a bike ride away.
I've not seen the film.
A fine enough short story but it didn't really work for me. Allegory, comedy, serious? perhaps. I couldn't quite work out how such an isolated farm could at once receive a nearby army soldier (before overstaying to be a deserter) and then later a whole tank division on training. And not raise suspicions for months of the local town only a bike ride away.
I've not seen the film.
January 5, 2025
A good writer can say so much with few words. This tiny book, only 90 pages long, packs quite a punch and the reason for the title is rather haunting when all is revealed. Fate brings two people together. Alice a lonely woman, forced through circumstance to live and work alone on her farm, and Barton a homesick soldier. Barton is happier and less stressed spending time with Alice, helping to run the farm rather than struggling with the rigid relentlessness of army life. His decision to go AWOL, because of a growing affection between them has irreversible consequences. It was made into a film in 1972 staring Glenda Jackson. I haven’t seen it.
May 9, 2023
A very short but beautifully written novella.
The countryside and sense of isolation are vividly drawn and the main characters alternately gentle and infuriating.
The ending is both shocking and inevitable.
The countryside and sense of isolation are vividly drawn and the main characters alternately gentle and infuriating.
The ending is both shocking and inevitable.
December 12, 2023
Short and bitter sweet. A moving evocation of doomed love during wartime. HE Bates paints pictures of startling beauty with his words. A consummate writer distilling his perceptive observations i to a novella that ranks with anything he wrote.
June 5, 2019
A short story.
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October 21, 2020From bookishly UK
Another one for bookmooch.com
Read October 2020
Another one for bookmooch.com
Read October 2020
November 16, 2020
Atmospheric and beautifully written.
November 23, 2021
A haunting story. The tension builds to an unexpected climax. H E Bates at his best.
July 7, 2022
Some really pretty passages about the rolling hills and encircling snow. Love the title's purpose in the story, I heard it so well.
July 16, 2022
A beautifully quaint novella that you can easily get through in a sitting - no faults for what it is
July 27, 2022
i liked the ending it was satisfying
October 29, 2022
Classic Bates, great descriptive writing, surprising but inevitable ending.
Will have to hunt down the film with Glenda Jackson.
Will have to hunt down the film with Glenda Jackson.
September 13, 2025
Love Bates and his skill at making a setting---usually rural English countryside. Great characters here--short and to the point novella. Don't mess with Alice Charlesworth.
July 26, 2021
★★☆☆☆ - 2 stars
March 12, 2011
A rather strange little novella about an army deserter who is sheltered by a young woman in a remote farmhouse. To evade capture by the military police he disguises himself as a woman and even agrees to go to a dance with another man. Some readers may have little difficulty in suspending their disbelief but I found I couldn't!
October 9, 2021
Set during WW2 this novella describes the strange relationship that develops between an army deserter and Alice, a married woman struggling to run a farm single- handed in the absence of her P.O.W. husband. The drama reaches a shocking conclusion when army MPs begin searching for the deserter and Alice disguises him as a woman. Bates' writing gives a real sense of time and place.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews