A book review: sample 2

Author! Author!

In 1915 Henry James, the famous author, was seriously ill in his home in London. He was waiting to die. And this is where David Lodge’s historical novel Author! Author! (Secker & Warburg, £6.99) begins. Lodge tells the story of Henry James’ successes and failures in his novels and plays from Portrait of a Lady (recently a film with Nicole Kidman) to his disaster of a play Guy Domville. And Author! Author! would make an interesting historical film. The title itself is fantastic and refers to what audiences used to shout if they liked a play.

Lodge’s novel is a sensitive story of an author who was never confident of his talent. And Henry James will get many more fans from people who read this book. I’m going to take a couple of his novels on holiday myself!