What do you think?
Rate this book
Filthy Lucre, or, The Tragedy of Ernest Ledwhistle and Richard Soleway
Hardcover, first edition, in very good condition. Dust jacket not price clipped, boards and pages excellent. Page block head is lightly marked, no other faults. AD
144 pages
First published January 1, 1986
About the author
Beryl Bainbridge
58 books185 followersDame Beryl Margaret Bainbridge DBE was an English writer from Liverpool. She was primarily known for her works of psychological fiction, often set among the English working classes. Bainbridge won the Whitbread Award twice and was nominated for the Booker Prize five times. In 2008, The Times newspaper named Bainbridge among their list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 21, 2016
When I saw the title ‘Filthy Lucre’ in the library catalogue I thought that it could well be the kind of book that Beryl Bainbridge wrote early in her career, the kind that drew heavily on her own life, experiences and observations. But then I realised that it might be the kind of book she wrote later in her career, the kind that I admire but like a little less; the books that spin fiction around stories from the margins of history. It turned out though that this book was neither of those things. It was something quite different.
The subtitle was the first clue:
“The Tragedy of Andrew Ledwhistle and Richard Soleway”
Beryl Bainbridge wrote ‘Filthy Lucre’ in 1946, when she was just thirteen years old, and it was published some forty years later with only some very minor alterations.
The author added an excellent introduction, telling stories of her earliest writings, and explaining how this particular work shaped her writing career:
“I was dissatisfied with the result, mainly because it wasn’t ‘real life’ and I had invented the characters and the plot. I don’t think I have ever invented anything since. Reading it now I am of the opinion that writing is very like music, in the sense that if you hear a song often enough it becomes impossible not to go on humming the same tune ….”
I think is fair to say that ‘Filthy Lucre’ is a sensational novel.
The year is 1851.
Andrew Ledwhistle retires from the firm of Andromikey & Ledwhistle after more than half a century at its helm. His son Ernest will succeed him, and he asks that Martin Andromikey, the grandson of his former business partner, should join him in the business
He doesn’t know Martin Andromikey on his his death bed. Or that he believes that he was cheated of his inheritance by Andrew Ledwhistle, and that with his dying breath he implores his friend Richard Soleway to keep his death a secret, to take his name and his place at Andromikey & Ledwhistle, and to take his revenge on the Ledwhistle family.
Richard agrees, and he takes his friend’s wishes very seriously.
He doesn’t know though that he is being watched, by more than one interested party….
A wonderfully dramatic story unfolds, full of twists and turns, and with a cliff-hanger at the end of every chapter. There’s crime and intrigue; there’s action and drama; there’s love and romance; there’s even a sojourn on a desert island.
It moves along at break-neck speed. I can’t say too much about the plot, but – just to illustrate this point – I will tell you that one character was trampled by a horse, had his legs amputated, was reconciled with his estranged father, and then was up and about on wooded legs in the space of one short chapter.
It shouldn’t work, but it does.
There’s a lovely clarity and straightforwardness about the writing. Given an unmarked edition I wouldn’t have been able to say who the author was, but if I had been asked to guess there is something about the writing that makes me say that I might have guessed right.
It is evident that the young Beryl had read a great many Victorian novelists – the names that came to my mind were Dickens, Collins, Stevenson and Trollope – and that she had a good understanding of why their books worked. Her plot was complex but I can’t fault the logic; her characters were simply but clearly drawn; and the streets where they walked felt like Victorian London.
Things often get a little silly, and the dialogue feels a little stagey, but of course this isn’t a mature work. It’s just an unpolished, naïve story that was a lovely diversion for an hour or so.
It might have been nice to have read a grown-up novel for Beryl Bainbridge Reading Week. The kind of book that would have had much more about it, that I could have written much more about. But I’m rather glad that I read this little book, because it reminded me that the distinguished author grew from a little girl who – like me – loved reading books and telling stories.
The subtitle was the first clue:
“The Tragedy of Andrew Ledwhistle and Richard Soleway”
Beryl Bainbridge wrote ‘Filthy Lucre’ in 1946, when she was just thirteen years old, and it was published some forty years later with only some very minor alterations.
The author added an excellent introduction, telling stories of her earliest writings, and explaining how this particular work shaped her writing career:
“I was dissatisfied with the result, mainly because it wasn’t ‘real life’ and I had invented the characters and the plot. I don’t think I have ever invented anything since. Reading it now I am of the opinion that writing is very like music, in the sense that if you hear a song often enough it becomes impossible not to go on humming the same tune ….”
I think is fair to say that ‘Filthy Lucre’ is a sensational novel.
The year is 1851.
Andrew Ledwhistle retires from the firm of Andromikey & Ledwhistle after more than half a century at its helm. His son Ernest will succeed him, and he asks that Martin Andromikey, the grandson of his former business partner, should join him in the business
He doesn’t know Martin Andromikey on his his death bed. Or that he believes that he was cheated of his inheritance by Andrew Ledwhistle, and that with his dying breath he implores his friend Richard Soleway to keep his death a secret, to take his name and his place at Andromikey & Ledwhistle, and to take his revenge on the Ledwhistle family.
Richard agrees, and he takes his friend’s wishes very seriously.
He doesn’t know though that he is being watched, by more than one interested party….
A wonderfully dramatic story unfolds, full of twists and turns, and with a cliff-hanger at the end of every chapter. There’s crime and intrigue; there’s action and drama; there’s love and romance; there’s even a sojourn on a desert island.
It moves along at break-neck speed. I can’t say too much about the plot, but – just to illustrate this point – I will tell you that one character was trampled by a horse, had his legs amputated, was reconciled with his estranged father, and then was up and about on wooded legs in the space of one short chapter.
It shouldn’t work, but it does.
There’s a lovely clarity and straightforwardness about the writing. Given an unmarked edition I wouldn’t have been able to say who the author was, but if I had been asked to guess there is something about the writing that makes me say that I might have guessed right.
It is evident that the young Beryl had read a great many Victorian novelists – the names that came to my mind were Dickens, Collins, Stevenson and Trollope – and that she had a good understanding of why their books worked. Her plot was complex but I can’t fault the logic; her characters were simply but clearly drawn; and the streets where they walked felt like Victorian London.
Things often get a little silly, and the dialogue feels a little stagey, but of course this isn’t a mature work. It’s just an unpolished, naïve story that was a lovely diversion for an hour or so.
It might have been nice to have read a grown-up novel for Beryl Bainbridge Reading Week. The kind of book that would have had much more about it, that I could have written much more about. But I’m rather glad that I read this little book, because it reminded me that the distinguished author grew from a little girl who – like me – loved reading books and telling stories.
Read
November 24, 2025I read a lot of Beryl Bainbridge's books (most of them) in the noughties ... this history has yet to be uploaded on to GoodReads. However, this is one of a few on my bookshelf for me to read to satisfy my nerdy 'completism'!
This book has its own back-story to explain before I get to the review proper. Written between June & August 1946, but not published for 40 years. Its sub-title is ‘The Tragedy of Ernest Ledwhistle and Richard Soleway’, it was written and illustrated by the precocious 13 year-old Bainbridge (b.1932) - I say precocious, which is probably code for young and talented! You can see her self-confessed influences of Dickens London and Robert Louis Stephenson’s Treasure Island - I think I could also see the mannered conversations and characters from earlier Austen or Bronte novels? Knowing her age and the adult author’s work how can I criticise this! But here goes …
I’m not sure if this was written for her peers, in which case some of it works very well; the love stories and family battles, the treasure map, and the glimpsed dark underbelly of mid-Victorian London. However, the plotting, the multiple storylines, the sense of morality and various punishments & redemptions, might work better in an adult book? Maybe the long delay before publication was in recognition of some structural flaws? All the above notwithstanding I enjoyed this ‘debut’ novel, although in the foreword Bainbridge talks about writing from 8 years old!
As I said the plot is complicated in that it ranges over 6(!) generations of the Ledwhistle, Andromikey, and Coney families, a secret conditional inheritance gift, almost a Shakespearean misunderstanding, identity-swap and revenge plot, with side stories about shady villains, stock market speculation, a father and his estranged son, the Opium and Crimea Wars … and did I mention the treasure map! Well done young BB, yes precocious is the right word for her younger self.
This book has its own back-story to explain before I get to the review proper. Written between June & August 1946, but not published for 40 years. Its sub-title is ‘The Tragedy of Ernest Ledwhistle and Richard Soleway’, it was written and illustrated by the precocious 13 year-old Bainbridge (b.1932) - I say precocious, which is probably code for young and talented! You can see her self-confessed influences of Dickens London and Robert Louis Stephenson’s Treasure Island - I think I could also see the mannered conversations and characters from earlier Austen or Bronte novels? Knowing her age and the adult author’s work how can I criticise this! But here goes …
I’m not sure if this was written for her peers, in which case some of it works very well; the love stories and family battles, the treasure map, and the glimpsed dark underbelly of mid-Victorian London. However, the plotting, the multiple storylines, the sense of morality and various punishments & redemptions, might work better in an adult book? Maybe the long delay before publication was in recognition of some structural flaws? All the above notwithstanding I enjoyed this ‘debut’ novel, although in the foreword Bainbridge talks about writing from 8 years old!
As I said the plot is complicated in that it ranges over 6(!) generations of the Ledwhistle, Andromikey, and Coney families, a secret conditional inheritance gift, almost a Shakespearean misunderstanding, identity-swap and revenge plot, with side stories about shady villains, stock market speculation, a father and his estranged son, the Opium and Crimea Wars … and did I mention the treasure map! Well done young BB, yes precocious is the right word for her younger self.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews