A Bottle in the Smoke

The Lampitt Chronicles #2

by A.N. Wilson

The talented and prolific British novelist and biographer here continues the fascinating story of Julian Ramsay, begun in Incline Our Hearts (1989), Julian, the orphan, has chronicled his earlier life with Aunt Deirdre and Uncle Roy in a short novel meant to spoof their provincial parsonage-bound life. In order next to create his putative masterpiece, Julian has abandoned a sensible career in accounting and now works part-time at the Black Bottle, a Soho pub owned by a T.S. Eliot look-alike with a wonderfully disorienting foul mouth.

Genres: Fiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1990

About the author

Andrew Norman Wilson is an English writer and newspaper columnist, known for his critical biographies, novels, works of popular history and religious views. He is an occasional columnist for the Daily Mail and former columnist for the London Evening Standard, and has been an occasional contributor to the Times Literary Supplement, New Statesman, The Spectator and The Observer.

Reviews

[Lila · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hadn't read the first book. This novel is mostly of interest for its London atmosphere. The protagonist is too egotistical for me to put up for long. Like Henry James' The Aspern Papers, this is a tale of attempts to control an artist's papers. References to Alexander Gilchrist's biography of Blake are also of interest.

[Philip · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Franziska · Rating 2 out of 5]

lost interest…

[Laura Conrad · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's evidence that I read this back in the 80's -- it's on my bookshelf, and I wouldn't usually buy a short novel without reading it. I have no memory of it then, but maybe it's because it's a continuation of Incline Our Hearts, which I probably didn't read then. I like it better knowing the beginning of the story.

[Velvetink]

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