Foreign affairs

by Hugh Fleetwood

Paolo Levin is an accomplished American concert pianist living in Rome. Intensely self-absorbed, Paolo values his independence above all else and has no desire to be trapped in the commitments of a relationship. But he can’t seem to shake off the attentions of Ralph, a sinister crippled boy who is in love with Paolo and persists in stalking him.One morning Paolo awakes in terror to find himself handcuffed to his bed with Ralph looming over him. Paolo’s most precious parts – his hands – are to be forfeit unless he submits to Ralph’s bizarre demands . . .Described by one critic as “the master of modern horror,” Hugh Fleetwood is the award-winning author of more than twenty volumes of fiction, including the classics The Girl Who Passed for Normal and The Order of Death . Foreign Affairs (1973), his third novel, is a literary thriller whose unexpected twists and turns will keep readers on the edge of their seats until the shocking conclusion.REVIEWS‘I must repeat my admiration for the high promise shown in Foreign Affairs . Hugh Fleetwood appears much the most talented young English author I’ve come across in some time.’ – Peter Prince, New Statesman‘A gripping novel.’ – Books and Bookmen‘A rich, gruesome, irresistibly readable book.’ – Sunday Times‘Mr. Fleetwood can write like a dream ... and really get into your head. He reaches down and stirs up with venomous delight the nameless, faceless things swimming far below the levels of consciousness.’ – Scotsman

Genres: Horror, Fiction

Hardcover

First published March 28, 1974

About the author

Hugh Fleetwood was born in England in 1944. At the age of 18 he went to live in France; at 21, he moved to Italy, where he remained for the next fourteen years. He had his first exhibition in 1970 at the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto; in 1971 he published his first novel, A Painter of Flowers, for which he also designed the jacket, as he did for his second novel, The Girl Who Passed for Normal, winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize. His fifth novel, The Order of Death, was made into a film starring Harvey Keitel and John Lydon (Johnny Rotten). His most recent one-man show, at the Calvert Gallery in London, coincided with the reissue of six of his books by Faber & Faber’s Finds series. In 2012, he was cited in David Malcolm’s The British and Irish Short Story Handbook as a key figure in the development of the English short story; his most recent publication, “How the Story Ends”, will appear in the anthology Speak My Language in November 2015. Hugh Fleetwood currently lives in London.

-Valancourt Books

Reviews

[Michael]

Creepy. Sad. Overall a very strange book that I couldn't put down. Read like a thriller but really more of a character study, I think.

Initially I gave it 4 stars but I kept thinking about it afterwards - Ralph especially. It crept into my mind. Love when that happens!

[rndgmoat]

My first foray into the work of cult author Hugh Fleetwood reveals him as an interesting writer of avant-garde thrillers.

The book focuses on Paolo Levin, a classical pianist who is skillful enough to earn a living touring Europe but somehow not quite brilliant enough to escape consistently mixed reviews. We are introduced to Paolo six months after the death of his friend Christopher under suspicious circumstances. Paolo is stuck in neutral. He knows he should be practicing more, but is instead content to while away his days at the beach and to stay up late drinking with his eccentric friends. Enter Ralph--persistently referred to by Paolo as "the cripple"--who begins stalking him. The plot then goes through a series of increasingly bizarre developments, culminating with an (ironic?) happy ending. I'm trying my best not to reveal too much of the plot here; if you do read this one do yourself a favor and avoid the synopsis. It gives away 2/3 of the plot!

Anyway, the first edition that I obtained from the library works hard at packaging the novel as a standard work of suspense fiction. Once you get inside the book, however, you realize how completely inapt this packaging is. This is a bizarre novel, filled with enigmatic and unlikable characters and fueled by seemingly absurd plot developments. Fundamental questions--like the circumstances of Christopher's death--are never fully explained. And, while Fleetwood includes some conventional thriller elements, one gets the sense they are not his real focus. I'm not sure I can fully recommend the book, since anyone who picks this up looking for a page turning work of suspense is probably going to be disappointed and anyone with more high-brow tastes might be turned off by its genre fiction trappings. But if you are in the sweet spot, this is a quick and interesting read. I am certainly looking forward to checking out more of Fleetwood's work.

[pareidolia]

Part psychological thriller, part character study, Foreign Affairs tells the story of pianist Paolo Levin, a self-obsessed, pathetic asshole of almost comical proportions, exactly the kind of MC you want to see suffer, but also a man adrift in the irony-poisened world he has built around himself. Enter Ralph, a young man who claims to have fallen in love with Paolo and keeps stalking him through Rome. Things escalate quickly from there, in increasingly ironic ways. Deceptively simple prose, haunting ending.

[yago]

it’s been a while since i’ve read something so character focused, reminding me of the stories i love to read: those that really allow you to reflect and unpack the psychology of a character, especially one that is so flawed as paolo. the writing style is one i quite enjoy and i annotated quite a bit of this book, although it did struggle to keep my attention, feeling the pacing to be off.

[Cate]

Every (admittedly, of three) Hugh Fleetwood book I've read so far has been about a self-deluded bisexual who isn't very good at murder – I might never need read another author again.