To the dark tower

by Francis King

General Sir Hugh Weigh is a war hero, a celebrated adventurer, and a best-selling author, whose personality has the power to inspire such strong loyalty and devotion that at least one person has willingly died for him. But in private, he is austere, imperious, even cruel, and his cold disregard for others has led to the deaths of his wife and son. Now two more people have begun to feel the force of his compelling Shirley Forsdike, a schoolmistress who is obsessively in love with him, and Frank Cauldwell, a young writer at work on his first novel. Out of the conflict of their emotions and experiences Francis King weaves a gripping story of passion and despair.Beryl Bainbridge hailed Francis King (1923-2011) as “one of our great writers, of the calibre of Graham Greene and Nabokov,” and during a career that spanned seven decades, King published fifty critically acclaimed books, winning a number of literary awards and twice being nominated for the Booker Prize. Though written while he was an undergraduate, King’s compelling To the Dark Tower (1946) displays an assurance and maturity not often found in a first novel. This first-ever American edition features a new introduction by Gregory Woods.“I find on adding up that I have to read over 300 modern novels a year. Half-a-dozen of them I would wish to read again. This is one.” – John Betjeman, Daily Herald“His creative ability is undeniable.” – Charles Marriott, Guardian“This young writer’s passionate interest in humanity and its problems is infectious.” – Ralph Straus, Sunday Times

Genres: Fiction

268 pages, Paperback

First published November 21, 2013

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Francis Henry King, CBE, was a British novelist, poet and short story writer.

He was born in Adelboden, Switzerland, brought up in India and educated at Shrewsbury School and Balliol College, Oxford. During World War II he was a conscientious objector, and left Oxford to work on the land. After completing his degree in 1949 he worked for the British Council; he was posted around Europe, and then in Kyoto. He resigned to write full time in 1964.

He was a past winner of the W. Somerset Maugham Prize for his novel The Dividing Stream (1951) and also won the Katherine Mansfield Short Story Prize. A President Emeritus of International PEN and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, he was appointed an Officer (OBE) of the Order of the British Empire in 1979 and a Commander of the Order (CBE) in 1985.

Reviews

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5, rounded down.

King's 1st novel, published in 1946, when he was a mere 23 years; the 16th of his 32 novels for me to read.

Considering that this was the work of a fledgling author, not yet in full command of his nascent abilities, it is an assured and accomplished piece of fiction - and at the same time, bat-shit bonkers!

First off, the structure is quite interesting - divided into 4 sections, the first is epistolary, containing letters mainly by two of the main characters, General Sir Hugh Weigh and Shirley Forsdick, as well as diary entries from the former. This sets up the characters and the impending conflicts between them in the present day of the mid-40's. There is a third major character, an aspiring novelist, Frank Cauldwell, (obvs. a stand-in for King himself), whom Hugh takes under his wing temporarily. For his sixth novel, The Firewalkers, whose content was considered so shocking he was forced to publish it under a pseudonym, King chose to publish it under Cauldwell's name. (Oddly enough, in the foreword to that book, King claims that there is a 'shocking' scene of fellatio in this one - either his memory is faulty, or it is rendered so obliquely I completely missed it!).

The second section is in third person and narrates the early years of Hugh, detailing his various semi-heroic exploits during the Great War, his marriage to the unstable Lucy (by far my favorite character), and the rearing of his two children (the first of whom is apparently by a different father and meets a tragic end). Section three then does the same for Shirley, and emphasizes those aspects of her adolescence that lead to her developing an overwhelming passion for Hugh, a man she has never met.

The final section then brings Shirley and Hugh together for a rather intriguing, somewhat grotesque encounter, and there are again letters passing between them - until Cauldwell makes a surprising reappearance in the final page.

Not by any stretch King's finest work, but one that is fascinating, to see him working out themes and character traits that would find fuller fruition in his later works. It's also a quick-paced, riveting read, as one can see by the fact that I read 65% of it in one day!

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first of Francis King's novels (King is a first rate novelist and if you don't know him he is well worth learning about and, what is more important, reading) and although flawed it is an extraordinaryly strong novel and reading it I was not surprised at how fine his later novels are. As there is another fine review from Doug (the only other review as of September 2024) I am not going to discuss the story in any detail but only comment on areas of weakness, and there are some important ones, but despite them the novel is compelling.

The central character of the novel and its action is General Sir Hugh Weir and in him Francis King has created a wonderful monster of a character who attempts to control, influence and dominate those around him and does successfully enough to destroy some of them and blight others. He is completely self confident and self absorbed. Sir Hugh Weir is the sort of general, like Bernard Montgomery or Orde Wingate, who had won WWII or, like Gordon of Kartoum and Lawrence of Arabia, had created the foundation myths of the British Empire. King's subtle portrait of Weir is devastating in its demolition:

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal." (Corinthians 13.1 King James version)

sums up the man King reveals behind the bluster and bradaccio and, writing in 1946, he demolishes a whole generation of idols with feet of clay and ideas that were bankrupt (see my footnote *1 below).

Unfortunately the novel gets rather siudetracked, I feel, when the spotlight moves from Hugh Weir to two others who are drawn into his orbit, Shirely Forsdike a neurotic hero-worshipping school mistress and Frank Cauldwell an impecunious writer. Of the two Shirely Forsdike's back story is so dominant that it almost overwhelms the novel and Frank Cauldwell's story is very much an also ran in comparison. These are the faults of a first time novelist who has not mastered his craft fully. Shirley Forsdike is brilliantly written but she unbalances the novel. Hugh Weir's wife Lucy and daughter Judith are pushed aside as is Frank Caudwell though in many ways I found their interaction with Hugh Weir more interesting.

The novel is rich in period details, although mentioned only in passing (and certainly not with approval) the mentions of how Lady Weir casually hits servants and Hugh Weir, beats his son and punches Frank Caudwell reveal so much about social customs and attitudes (basically hitting peoplw was OK as long as they were children, servants or social inferiors) just on the cusp of vanishing (well hitting children would remain habitual for an unconsciuably long time in the UK).

This is a very good novel, it is just not Francis King at his best, but is still worth reading today. I do urge anyone has read nothing by Francis King to search him out. You have a rare treat in store.



*1 It is interesting to compare General Sir Hugh Weir to the general in Robin Maugham's short stort 'Testament 1946' because both men are seen as potential 'leaders' the man of action who believe they have the answers to their country's ills.

[Derek Driggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

A continuation of my Francis King deep dive—I’m reading his books as I manage to track copies down, which, as surprisingly difficult as it is, has become a bit of an obsessive side-quest for me and is, so far, a rewarding one—this marks King’s first publication. He wrote it as an Oxford undergraduate student (coincidentally, both of us spent our Oxford years at Balliol college), and it’s a more than impressive accomplishment for such a young writer.

I really enjoyed the first section, which is presented through a series of journal entries and letters, and quite brilliantly introduces us to a variety of characters. King’s early characters remind me of Iris Murdoch; it makes sense that the two were contemporaries and would have likely crossed circles. Their careers also had similar longevity and they were both remarkably prolific—though Murdoch of course was much more famous. But yes, the sexual liaisons and personal pathologies of King’s characters from this very first novel will be familiar to Murdoch readers.

I thought the book got a little muddled in the middle section, where I found myself losing interest. But the writing itself never gets bogged down, and this early entry already reveals King’s talent as a master prose artist.

On to the next!