Gorse Trilogy
Encyclopedia
The Gorse Trilogy is a series of three novel
s, the last published works of the author Patrick Hamilton
. In these novels, Patrick Hamilton creates one of fiction's most captivating anti-heroes, Ernest Ralph Gorse, whose heartlessness and lack of scruple are matched only by the inventiveness and panache with which he swindles his victims. (He is thought to have been based on the real-life con-man and murderer Neville George Heath, executed in 1946).
Gorse insinuates himself into the lives of his victims with his good looks and easy confidence, and always with a good story. His victims are women, and he flatters his way into their affections until he is in a position to turn things to his advantage. Graham Greene
called The West Pier "the best book written about Brighton", while L.P. Hartley said, "The entertainment value of this brilliantly told story could hardly be higher."
An adaptation of Mr Stimpson and Mr Gorse was produced by ITV
in 1987 (called The Charmer
and starring Nigel Havers
).
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s, the last published works of the author Patrick Hamilton
Patrick Hamilton (dramatist)
Patrick Hamilton was an English playwright and novelist.He was well regarded by Graham Greene and J. B. Priestley and study of his novels has been revived recently because of their distinctive style, deploying a Dickensian narrative voice to convey aspects of inter-war London street culture...
. In these novels, Patrick Hamilton creates one of fiction's most captivating anti-heroes, Ernest Ralph Gorse, whose heartlessness and lack of scruple are matched only by the inventiveness and panache with which he swindles his victims. (He is thought to have been based on the real-life con-man and murderer Neville George Heath, executed in 1946).
Gorse insinuates himself into the lives of his victims with his good looks and easy confidence, and always with a good story. His victims are women, and he flatters his way into their affections until he is in a position to turn things to his advantage. Graham Greene
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
called The West Pier "the best book written about Brighton", while L.P. Hartley said, "The entertainment value of this brilliantly told story could hardly be higher."
An adaptation of Mr Stimpson and Mr Gorse was produced by ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
in 1987 (called The Charmer
The Charmer (TV series)
The Charmer was a 1987 British television serial set in the 1930s, and starring Nigel Havers as Ralph Ernest Gorse, a seducing conman and murderer, Rosemary Leach as Joan Plumleigh-Bruce, the smitten victim widow and Bernard Hepton as Donald Stimpson, Plumleigh-Bruce's would-be beau, who vengefully...
and starring Nigel Havers
Nigel Havers
Nigel Allan Havers is an English actor. He is probably best known for his BAFTA-nominated role as Lord Andrew Lindsay in the 1981 British film Chariots of Fire, and for his role as Dr. Tom Latimer in the British TV comedy series Don't Wait Up...
).
- The West Pier (1952)
- Mr. Stimpson and Mr. GorseMr. Stimpson and Mr. GorseMr. Stimpson and Mr. Gorse is a 1953 novel by Patrick Hamilton, the second in the Gorse Trilogy, which was the basis of the UK TV drama The Charmer ....
(1953) - Unknown Assailant (1955)
Further reading
- Jones, Nigel. (1991) Through a Glass Darkly: The Life of Patrick Hamilton, Scribners
- French, Sean. (1993) Patrick Hamilton: A Life, Faber and Faber
- Hamilton, Patrick (2007) The Gorse Trilogy, Black Spring PressBlack Spring PressBlack Spring Press is an independent English publishing house, founded in 1985. The initial published works were lyric and poetry collections by musicians Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen. They have also published Off the Road by Carolyn Cassady, and Nick Cave's debut novel And the Ass Saw the Angel...
.