Cheap Day Return

by R.F. Delderfield

The narrator of this tale returns to the seaside town of his youth and, through the atmosphere and sights, recalls his childhood of 1932. R.F. Delderfield is the author of "The Avenue Story", "A Horseman Riding By", "The Swann Saga", "To Serve Them All My Days" and "Diana".

Genres: Fiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 16, 1992

About the author

Ronald 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

Reviews

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting book. Very well written, and character portrayal very descriptive.
A thought provoking story, and you really felt for the characters and their situations they were in.
Have previously read 'Come Home Charlie and Face them', ( by the same author) and that was a real page turner, but this one was quite good in a different way, and very readable. Really warmed to the main character, Pip/Kent, also Esta was strong, and I sometimes felt sorry for her, in a way, of the path she took in life.
All in all a highly recommended story.

[Carolyn Agosta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite Delderfield book. However, in all fairness, this was written in the earlier part of his writing career. There are themes in this book, in the relationships and the communication between man and woman, that you see echoed again in later books of his, but it doesn't have the larger outer story of wartime or the passage of a era, the way his books of the Swann Trilogy or The Avenue do. It does give a clear picture of life in a small coastal town between the wars, and the kind of viewpoints people had then. And, I imagine, back in 1967 when it was first published, it was fairly outspoken about sexual relationships - although by the 1970s, it would have been seen as somewhat chauvinistic and male-minded, particularly in the diagnosis of Lorna's issues. If you are a big fan of Delderfield, this book will seem small compared to the other books (and I don't mean just in size!) but it IS interesting as a view to the author's development as a writer, AND as a snapshot of both the 1930s and the 1960s.

[Carol Poplin · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the middle right now. Thanks Colin for letting me pinch this from you. Haven't read Delderfield in a million years.

Finished this weekend - really enjoyed it - wish there was a sequel.