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The Avenue #omnibus
Avenue
Brilliantly paced, rich and exciting in narrative, The Dreaming Suburb, Volume I of The Avenue, is an extraordinary novel of people whose lives are intertwined in the years between the two wars ...
"Jim Carver--a tough, resolute war veteran, he returns from the trenches to build a better life for his family on the Avenue.
"Archie Carver--Jim's oldest son, smart, ruthless, he has a quick eye for financial profits and beautiful women.
"Esme Fraser--Young and handsome, he finds that no matter how much he tries, he can't escape the passion he feels for a sensual, amoral woman.
"Elaine Frith--Beautiful and ruthless, she uses her charms to snare the man she thinks will give her wealth.
"Ted Hartnell--Dashing,talented, he finds himself driven by the lure of the new jazz music and goes on to fame in show business.
"But their lives are soon to feel the threat of Hitler, and the Nazi bombs that fall on the beautiful London street are the horrible clarion call to war. And all the hopes, dreams and lives of the people on the Avenue are forged to a fighting force to defend all that they hold dear."
"Jim Carver--a tough, resolute war veteran, he returns from the trenches to build a better life for his family on the Avenue.
"Archie Carver--Jim's oldest son, smart, ruthless, he has a quick eye for financial profits and beautiful women.
"Esme Fraser--Young and handsome, he finds that no matter how much he tries, he can't escape the passion he feels for a sensual, amoral woman.
"Elaine Frith--Beautiful and ruthless, she uses her charms to snare the man she thinks will give her wealth.
"Ted Hartnell--Dashing,talented, he finds himself driven by the lure of the new jazz music and goes on to fame in show business.
"But their lives are soon to feel the threat of Hitler, and the Nazi bombs that fall on the beautiful London street are the horrible clarion call to war. And all the hopes, dreams and lives of the people on the Avenue are forged to a fighting force to defend all that they hold dear."
1032 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 1964
About the author
R.F. Delderfield
89 books202 followersRonald Frederick Delderfield was a popular English novelist and dramatist, many of whose works have been adapted for television and are still widely read.
Several of Delderfield's historical novels and series involve young men who return from war and lead lives in England that allow the author to portray the sweep of English history and delve deeply into social history from the Edwardian era to the early 1960s.
From Wikipedia
Several of Delderfield's historical novels and series involve young men who return from war and lead lives in England that allow the author to portray the sweep of English history and delve deeply into social history from the Edwardian era to the early 1960s.
From Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 26, 2010
I've been drawn to this novel several times over the years, but have never gotten too far with it. Perhaps this time will be different - I long to be carried away to a different time and place. Delderfield is seldom a fast read, but I can sense myself becoming engrossed this time - we shall see.
Delderfield was big on sprawling, multi-generational sagas, often spread out over two or three long novels: THE AVENUE was originally two novels that were published in England in 1958, THE DREAMING SUBURB (set during the 1920s/1930s) and THE AVENUE GOES TO WAR (though whether they were published simultaneously, or months apart, I've been unable to determine). Apparently the two books were then published together in one volume as THE AVENUE STORY in England in 1964, and in this format it was published in the US as THE AVENUE in 1969. When it finally appeared in paperback in the U.S., however, it again as two books. Delderfield's massive novel of early 20th-century English country life, A HORSEMAN RIDING BY (published here in 1966), was also split into two volumes (POST OF HONOR and LONG SUMMER'S DAY) for paperback publication here (there was also a subsequent 'companion novel,' THE GREEN GAUNTLET). An earlier novel, THERE WAS A FAIR MAID DWELLING, was published in the U.S. in a shortened version as DIANA, and then later paired in one volume with its companion novel, THE UNJUST SKIES, again as DIANA, in both the U.S. and England.
Delderfield really caught on in the U.S. in the early 1970s, with the publication of GOD IS AN ENGLISHMAN, the first novel in his last great multi-volume saga, that of the Swanns. Everywhere you looked, it seemed, there were paperbacks (either by Delderfield or other British authors) featuring cover-art with rolling green hills, blue skies, and manor houses, with well-dressed folk striking pretty poses on or next to their horses. The Swann saga continued with THEIRS WAS THE KINGDOM and concluded (posthumously) with Delderfield's last novel, GIVE US THIS DAY.
7/15/10: Finished THE DREAMING SUBURB (Book 1) last night. There are a lot of characters and plots in this novel, but Delderfield does a masterful job of keeping track of everything and everyone - it's much better-paced and more readable than some of his others.
7/25/10: Finished THE AVENUE GOES TO WAR this evening. Whenever I found myself getting impatient with the War, I reminded myself that spending a few days reading about it was no big deal at all, certainly not when you think that people had to live with its reality on a daily basis for years.
Delderfield was big on sprawling, multi-generational sagas, often spread out over two or three long novels: THE AVENUE was originally two novels that were published in England in 1958, THE DREAMING SUBURB (set during the 1920s/1930s) and THE AVENUE GOES TO WAR (though whether they were published simultaneously, or months apart, I've been unable to determine). Apparently the two books were then published together in one volume as THE AVENUE STORY in England in 1964, and in this format it was published in the US as THE AVENUE in 1969. When it finally appeared in paperback in the U.S., however, it again as two books. Delderfield's massive novel of early 20th-century English country life, A HORSEMAN RIDING BY (published here in 1966), was also split into two volumes (POST OF HONOR and LONG SUMMER'S DAY) for paperback publication here (there was also a subsequent 'companion novel,' THE GREEN GAUNTLET). An earlier novel, THERE WAS A FAIR MAID DWELLING, was published in the U.S. in a shortened version as DIANA, and then later paired in one volume with its companion novel, THE UNJUST SKIES, again as DIANA, in both the U.S. and England.
Delderfield really caught on in the U.S. in the early 1970s, with the publication of GOD IS AN ENGLISHMAN, the first novel in his last great multi-volume saga, that of the Swanns. Everywhere you looked, it seemed, there were paperbacks (either by Delderfield or other British authors) featuring cover-art with rolling green hills, blue skies, and manor houses, with well-dressed folk striking pretty poses on or next to their horses. The Swann saga continued with THEIRS WAS THE KINGDOM and concluded (posthumously) with Delderfield's last novel, GIVE US THIS DAY.
7/15/10: Finished THE DREAMING SUBURB (Book 1) last night. There are a lot of characters and plots in this novel, but Delderfield does a masterful job of keeping track of everything and everyone - it's much better-paced and more readable than some of his others.
7/25/10: Finished THE AVENUE GOES TO WAR this evening. Whenever I found myself getting impatient with the War, I reminded myself that spending a few days reading about it was no big deal at all, certainly not when you think that people had to live with its reality on a daily basis for years.
Read
April 20, 2019Reading each book separately.
July 26, 2021
Little did I realize that is was actually two books. The first book starts as World War I ends. Jim Carver returns from the front to find his wife dead from the Spanish Influenza and seven children depending on him. They live on "The Avenue" and we follow Jim and his children. Not only do we meet them but we meet Edith and Becky Clegg, the spinsters in #4, the Frasers who have moved in after Mr. Fraser died in the war, and a host of other characters.
The first book is so much of a character study. It's people who are trying to come back from World War I and make sense of the 1920's in Britain. I really enjoyed it. Delderfield is a great writer. He's honest and unflinching. I love learning about Britain.
The second book "The Avenue at War" deals with World War II. The characters you know and love head into the trenches. Some of them die, but Delderfield seems to want a happy ending so for the most part our characters find out deep truths about themselves, find their soulmates, and end happily.
The first book is so much of a character study. It's people who are trying to come back from World War I and make sense of the 1920's in Britain. I really enjoyed it. Delderfield is a great writer. He's honest and unflinching. I love learning about Britain.
The second book "The Avenue at War" deals with World War II. The characters you know and love head into the trenches. Some of them die, but Delderfield seems to want a happy ending so for the most part our characters find out deep truths about themselves, find their soulmates, and end happily.
November 1, 2018
Actually, I read the first book of this 2-part series ("The Dreaming Suburb") some time ago. This time I read the second book, "The Avenue goes to War". Both books are quite long, as are every book by Mr. Delderfield that I've read. But I enjoyed every bit of it. The characters are very "real" and they often do unexpected things. It's nice to read a book that doesn't make you a voyeur to the characters' sexual conduct. Sex happens in these books, but the reader doesn't get a description of it.
July 9, 2019
1919-1947 L-O-N-G discourse on the lives of various residents who live on The Avenue
January 3, 2020
I felt that I was looking at my own family history reading this , it’s beautifully written and encapsulates life in Britain after WW1.
February 28, 2021
An excellent book, a solid 5 star book. Set in a south London suburb between the years 1919 and 1949 (roughly) this book immerses the reader into the life of a neighborhood. Upwards of a dozen characters are expertly drawn, their lives interwoven with each other and the events of the world at large. The book is profound, moving, suspenseful and loaded with different view points on a wide variety of topics. It depicts the life or ordinary people in an extraordinary way, because every life is extraordinary. Its a wholesome book where the virtues of fortitude, and caring for or helping others still matters, and is a source of meaning and satisfaction in life. Just a perfect rendering of people that we all can relate to set in a very interesting time in history. If you're looking for hours of page turning entertainment this book this book would be a good choice.
March 15, 2011
I enjoyed this series very much.
December 2, 2011
Delderfield writes a good old fashioned novel. I've read this book and its companion, The Dreaming Suburb, several times and never fail to enjoy the re-read.
October 21, 2017
The novel is set very near to the area in which I live. It paints what I believe to be an accurate picture of its twentieth-century history.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews