View source for List of novels of Francis Brett Young

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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
'''List of novels by [[Francis Brett Young]]'''
==Works==
===''Undergrowth'' (1913)===
''Undergrowth'' is co-written with his brother Eric.{{sfn|Hall|1997|p=66}} It marked the debut for Francis who was later to emerge as one of the most popular British writers of the [[interwar years]]. The story is based on the construction of the [[Elan Valley Reservoirs]], a subject that he later returned to more successfully in ''[[The House Under the Water]]'' in 1932. ''Undergrowth'' was published in 1913 by [[Martin Secker]].
A young English [[engineer]] travels to [[Wales]] to take over the construction of a [[dam]], after the mysterious disappearance of his predecessor.
===''Deep Sea'' (1914)===
''Deep Sea'' is set in a [[West Country]] fishing town.{{sfn|Hall|1997|p=86}}
===''The Iron Age'' (1916)===
''The Iron Age''{{sfn|Hall|1997|p=14}} was the first of Young's [[Mercian novels]], focusing on a major industrial steelworks in the [[River Stour, Worcestershire|Stour Valley]] and the complex relationship between the firm's owners and their dynamic head engineer.
===''The Crescent Moon'' (1918)===
''The Crescent Moon'' was inspired by Brett Young's wartime service. It is set in [[German East Africa]] at the outbreak of the [[First World War]].{{sfn|Orel|1992|p=166}}
===''The Young Physician'' (1919)===
''The Young Physician'' follows the schooldays and medical school years of a [[medical student]], and his encountering of the social problems of the industrial city of [[North Bromwich]].{{sfn|Cannadine|2004|p=173}}
===''The Tragic Bride'' (1920)===
''The Tragic Bride'' was written during the summer of 1919, while Young was on holiday in [[Brixham]].{{sfn|Hall|1997|p=86}}
A young woman of the [[Anglo-Irish]] community in [[Connemara]] is neglected by her widowed father. On a visit to [[Dublin]] she falls in love with a young army officer, but this ends tragically. Entering into a loveless marriage with a [[schoolmaster]] she moves to [[Devon]].
===''The Black Diamond'' (1921)===
''The Black Diamond'' concerns a coal miner and gifted part-time footballer who is given a job above ground by his boss. However, when he refuses to throw a cup match, he is dismissed. At the same time, his father accuses him of having an affair with his stepmother and kicks him out of the house.{{sfn|Cannadine|2004|p=173}}
===''The Red Knight'' (1921)===
''The Red Knight'' is about Robert Bryden, a young art student in [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]] who befriends a [[communist]] revolutionary who then succeeds in launching a revolution in his Mediterranean homeland. Bryden travels out to assist him but quickly becomes disillusioned when the regime persecutes a woman he has fallen in love with.{{sfn|Hall|1997|p=167}}
===''Pilgrim's Rest'' (1922)===
''Pilgrim's Rest'' is named after the South African gold-mining town [[Pilgrim's Rest, Mpumalanga|Pilgrim's Rest]] in the [[Drakensberg|Drakensberg Mountains]], where the plot takes place in 1913 amidst industrial unrest.{{sfn|Hall|1997|p=16}}
===''Cold Harbour'' (1924)===
''Cold Harbour'' takes place in Britain's [[Black Country]] in a supposedly haunted mansion on the site of an ancient [[Roman villa]], whose owner Humphrey Furnival curtly dismisses any suggestion that it is cursed. The story is told from the point of view of a young couple, forced to take refuge there for the night after the car has a puncture.{{sfn|Hall|1997|p=167}}
===''Woodsmoke'' (1924)===
''Woodsmoke'' is an African-set novel. Young received a £424 [[Advance payment|advance]] from publishers [[Collins Publishers|Collins]] for the book.{{sfn|Hall|1997|p=144}} Like a number of his works it was inspired by his [[First World War|wartime]] service in the region.
An officer of the [[King's African Rifles]] is hired by a wealthy industrialist and his wife to take them on [[safari]] in [[German East Africa]].
===''Sea Horses'' (1925)===
{{Further|Sea Horses (novel)}}
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===''Portrait of Clare'' (1927)===
{{Further|Portrait of Clare (novel)}}
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===''The Key of Life'' (1928)===
{{Further|The Key of Life}}
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===''My Brother Jonathan'' (1928)===
{{Further|My Brother Jonathan (novel)}}
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===''Black Roses'' (1929)===
{{Further|Black Roses (novel)}}
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===''Jim Redlake'' (1930)===
{{Further|Jim Redlake}}
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===''Mr. and Mrs. Pennington'' (1931)===
{{Further|Mr. and Mrs. Pennington}}
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===''The House Under the Water'' (1932)===
{{Further|The House Under the Water}}
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===''This Little World'' (1934)===
{{Further|This Little World}}
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===''White Ladies'' (1935)===
{{Further|White Ladies (novel)}}
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===''Far Forest'' (1936)===
''Far Forest'' was published in 1936.{{sfn|Cannadine|2004|p=161}} Set in a rural [[Midlands]] village, it is one of the author's many [[Mercian novels]].
===''Portrait of a Village'' (1937)===
''Portrait of a Village'' was published in 1937.{{sfn|Hall|1997|p=127}} One of the author's [[Mercian novels]], it is set in the [[Worcestershire]] village of Monk's Norton, as seen through the eyes of a Doctor from North Bromwich.
===''They Seek a Country'' (1937)===
''They Seek a Country'' is a [[historical novel]] published in  1937.{{sfn|Birch|Drabble|2009|p=1095}} It was one of a number of novels with a South African setting by Young, who had served in the region during the [[First World War]].
In the 1830s a young Englishman is sentenced to be [[penal transportation|transported]] to Australia for poaching. He manages to escape when the ship docks in South Africa, and befriends a local [[Boer]] family. He joins them in their plan to escape British rule and takes part in the [[Great Trek]] into the interior.
It was followed by a sequel ''[[#The City of Gold (1939)|The City of Gold]]'' published two years later.
===''Dr. Bradley Remembers'' (1938)===
''Dr. Bradley Remembers'' was published in 1938. Along with ''[[My Brother Jonathan (novel)|My Brother Jonathan]]'' it was one of only two of his later novels to take place in the [[Black Country]], which had been a frequent setting in his earlier works.{{sfn|Cannadine|2004|p=175}}
After more than fifty years working as a doctor in a single industrial Midlands town, a Doctor looks back over his life.
===''The City of Gold'' (1939)===
''The City of Gold'' is a historical novel published in 1939.{{sfn|Ousby|1996|p=435}} It is the sequel to the 1937 novel ''[[#They Seek a Country (1937)|They Seek a Country]]''.
If follows the tribulations of the Grafton family, established in the [[Transvaal Republic]] after taking part in the [[Great Trek]] more than thirty years earlier. It covers the major events from 1872 to 1896 including the [[Witwatersrand Gold Rush|South African gold rush]], the founding of [[Johannesburg]], and the [[Jameson Raid]]. The Graftons split into pro-Boer and pro-British factions, anticipating the [[Second Boer War]]. A number of historical figures such as [[Cecil Rhodes]], [[Paul Kruger]] and [[Leander Jameson]].
===''Mr. Lucton's Freedom'' (1940)===
''Mr. Lucton's Freedom'' is a 1940 novel by the British writer [[Francis Brett Young]].{{sfn|Cannadine|2004|p=177}} It is part of the author's "Mercian novels", set in the [[West Midlands (region)|West Midlands]] and [[Welsh borders]].
Owen Lucton is a partner of firm of accountants in the Midlands city of [[North Bromwich]]. Prosperous but bored, when his car crashes into the [[River Avon, Warwickshire|River Avon]] one day he decides it is a heaven-sent opportunity. Pretending he is dead, he assumes a new identity and begins walking through the [[Malvern Hills]] towards the Welsh border, finding a contentment in the countryside he had not in the city.
===''A Man About the House'' (1942)===
''A Man About the House'' was published in 1942.<ref>{{cite news |last=Spence Southron |first=Jane |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1942/08/02/archives/two-old-maids-a-man-about-the-house-an-old-wives-tale-by-francis.html |title=Two Old Maids; A MAN ABOUT THE HOUSE. An Old Wives' Tale. By Francis Brett Young. |work= [[The New York Times]] |date=2 August 1942 |access-date=}}</ref> Two sisters living a life of genteel poverty in North Bromwich discover that they have inherited a villa near Capri from an uncle. In the warmth of the Italian climate they both flourish, but the presence of the villa's handyman provides a troubling note.
In 1946 [[Flora Robson]] and [[Basil Sydney]] appeared in a [[A Man About the House (play)|stage adaptation]] by John Perry at the [[Piccadilly Theatre]] in London.
In 1947 it was made into a [[A Man About the House (film)|film of the same title]] directed by [[Leslie Arliss]] and starring [[Dulcie Gray]], [[Margaret Johnston]] and [[Kieron Moore (Irish actor)|Kieron Moore]].{{sfn|Goble|2011|p=514}}
===''The Island'' (1944)===
''The Island'' is an [[epic poem]] published in 1944{{sfn|Hall|1997|p=168}} during the [[Second World War]]. It tells the story of Britain from the [[Bronze Age]] to the [[Battle of Britain]].
===''In South Africa'' (1952)===
''In South Africa'' was published in 1952.{{sfn|Parker|Kermode|1995|p=823}}
===''Wistanslow'' (1956)===
The novel Wistanslow was published posthumously in 1956{{sfn|Hall|1997|p=167}} following the author's death in 1954. It was unfinished, and edited for publication by Young's widow. Like many of his works, it is based on the author's youthful experiences with a strong semi-autobiographical tone.
Around the turn of the century, the son of a doctor is invited by a friend to stay at Wistanslow the [[palladian]] country house belonging to his father Viscount Crowle. He finds the place very different than he had expected, but his soujourn is interrupted by a telegram announcing the illness of his own father.
== Gallery ==
<gallery mode=packed heights=150px>
Undergrowth (novel).jpg           |1913
Deep Sea (novel).jpg              |1914
The Red Knight (novel).jpg        |1921
Pilgrim's Rest (novel).jpg        |1922
Cold Harbour (novel).jpg          |1924
Wistanslow.jpg                    |1956
</gallery>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==Works cited==
<!--{{sfn|Cannadine|1982|p=}}-->
* {{cite book |last=Cannadine |first=David |title=This Little World: The Value of the Novels of Francis Brett Young as a Guide to the State of Midland Society, 1870-1925 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ouA8AAAAIAAJ |year=1982 |publisher=Worcestershire Historical Society}}
<!--{{sfn|Cannadine|2004|p=}}-->
* {{cite book |last=Cannadine |first=David |title=In Churchill's Shadow: Confronting the Past in Modern Britain |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2004 |url=https://archive.org/details/inchurchillsshad0000cann_z8x4 |isbn=019517156X}}
<!--{{sfn|Birch|Drabble|2009|p=}}-->
* {{cite book |last1=Birch |first1=Dinah |last2=Drabble |first2=Margaret |title=The Oxford Companion to English Literature |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6jicAQAAQBAJ |date=24 September 2009 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-280687-1 |oclc=758062441}}
<!--{{sfn|Gaudi|2017|p=}}-->
* {{cite book |first=Robert |last=Gaudi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HKFfDwAAQBAJ |title=African Kaiser: Paul Von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918 |publisher=Hurst |year=2017 |isbn=9781849048675 }}
<!--{{sfn|Goble|2011|p=}}-->
* {{cite book |last=Goble |first=Alan |title=The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yyqc0Qa6b60C |date=8 September 2011 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-11-095194-3 |oclc=1058328562 |orig-year=1999}}
<!--{{sfn|Hall|1997|p=}}-->
* {{cite book |last=Hall |first=Michael |title=Francis Brett Young |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a3dbAAAAMAAJ |series=Border lines series |year=1997 |publisher=Seren |isbn=978-1-85411-208-8 |oclc=247562754}}
<!--{{sfn|Orel|1992|p=}}-->
* {{cite book |last=Orel |first=Harold |title=Popular Fiction in England, 1914-1918 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |year=1992 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZtS5quJPhkMC |isbn=9780813117898}}
<!--{{sfn|Ousby|1996|p=}}-->
* {{cite book|last=Ousby|first=Ian|title=The Cambridge Paperback Guide to Literature in English|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=43oBE1nJXaMC|date=23 February 1996|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-43627-4|oclc=1114848466}}
<!--{{sfn|Parker|Kermode|1995|p=}}-->
* {{cite book |last1=Parker |first1=Peter |last2=Kermode |first2=Frank |title=The Reader's Companion to Twentieth-century Writers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MEsOAQAAMAAJ |year=1995 |publisher=Fourth Estate |location=Oxford |isbn=978-1-85702-332-9 |oclc=34148963}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Novels of Francis Brett Young}}
[[Category:Novels by Francis Brett Young|*]]
[[Category:Lists of novels]]