Louis Golding (19 November 1895 – 9 August 1958) was an English writer, very famous in his time especially for his novels, though he is now largely neglected; he wrote also short stories, essays, fantasies, travel books, and poetry.
Life
Born in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...
into a
Ukrainian-Jewish
The history of the Jews in Ukraine dates back over a thousand years; Jewish communities have existed in the territory of Ukraine from the time of the Kievan Rus' (late 9th to mid-13th century). Some of the most important Jewish religious and ...
family, Golding was educated at
Manchester Grammar School
The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) in Manchester, England, is the largest independent school (UK), independent day school for boys in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1515 as a Grammar school#free tuition, free grammar school next to Manchester C ...
and
Queen's College, Oxford
The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...
.
[ Stanley J. Kunitz and Howard Haycraft, (editors) ''Twentieth Century authors, A Biographical Dictionary of Modern Literature'', (Third Edition). New York, The H.W. Wilson Company, 1950 (pp. 548-49)] He used his Manchester background (as 'Doomington') and Jewish themes in his novels, the first of which was published while he was still an undergraduate (his student time was interrupted by service in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
). Golding described
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...
and
Alfred, Lord Tennyson as influences on his poetry.
His novel ''Magnolia Street'' was a bestseller of 1932; it is based on the
Hightown area of Manchester, as it was in the 1920s.
It features, authentically enough, a street divided into 'gentile' and 'Jewish' sides.
It was a 1939 play for
Charles B. Cochran in an adaptation by Golding and
A. E. Rawlinson, and was also filmed as ''Magnolia Street Story''.
Golding described his politics as "strongly to the left".
In 1932, the Hogarth Press published Golding's ''A Letter to Adolf Hitler'', an attack on
anti-Semitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
and
Nazism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...
. In 1940, Golding also criticized the
Soviet Invasion of Finland
The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...
.
and
McComas named ''Honey for the Ghost'' the best supernatural novel of 1949, saying it "begins with infinite leisure but builds to an incomparable climactic terror."
Film screenplays on which Golding collaborated included that of the
Paul Robeson
Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, stage and film actor, professional American football, football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplish ...
film ''
The Proud Valley
''The Proud Valley'' is a 1940 Ealing Studios film starring Paul Robeson. Filmed in the South Wales coalfield, the principal Welsh coal mining area, the film is about a seaman who joins a mining community. It includes their passion for singing ...
'' (1940); this work with Robeson may have led to his later visa problems with the U.S. authorities. He also was involved in the script of
the 1944 film of his novel ''Mr. Emmanuel''.
Golding employed
Gillian Freeman
Gillian Freeman (5 December 1929 – 23 February 2019) was an English writer. Her first book, ''The Liberty Man'', appeared while she was working as a secretary to the novelist Louis Golding. Her fictional diary, ''Nazi Lady: The Diaries of El ...
as a literary secretary. Freeman later became a novelist and screenwriter, often using her time with Golding as inspiration for her work.
Works
*Sorrow of War (1919) poems
*Forward from Babylon (1920) novel
*Shepherd Singing Ragtime: and other poems (1921)
*Prophet and Fool (1923) poems
*Seacoast Of Bohemia (1923)
*Sunward (1924) travel
*Sicilian Noon (1925) travel
*Day of Atonement (1925) novel
*Luigi of Catanzaro (1926)
*The Miracle Boy (1927) novel
*Store of Ladies (1927)
*Those Ancient Lands Being a Journey to Palestine (1928) travel
*The Prince or Somebody (1929)
*Adventures in Living Dangerously (1930)
*Give up Your Lovers (1930)
*Magnolia Street (1932) novel
*A letter to Adolf Hitler (1932)
*James Joyce (1933) criticism
*The Doomington Wanderer (1934) stories
*Five Silver Daughters (1934) Tales of the Silver Sisters (1)
*The Camberwell Beauty (1935) novel
*The Pursuer (1936) novel
*In the Steps of Moses the Lawgiver
937
Year 937 ( CMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* A Hungarian army invades Burgundy, and burns the city of Tournus. Then they go southward ...
*The Jewish Problem (1938) non-fiction
*Mr. Emmanuel (1939) Tales of the Silver Sisters (2)
*Hitler through the Ages (1939) non-fiction
*The World I Knew (1940) non-fiction
*We Shall Eat and Drink Again (1944) with
André Simon, essays on food and drink
*The Vicar of Dunkerly Briggs (1944) novel
*Who's There Within? (1944) novel
*The Call of the Hand: And Other Stories (1944) stories
*Pale Blue Nightgown: A Book of Tales (1944) stories
*No News from Helen (1945) novel
*The Glory of Elsie Silver (1945) Tales of the Silver Sisters (3)
*The Dance Goes On (1947) novel
*Bareknuckle Lover; and Other Stories (1947)
*Three Jolly Gentlemen (1949) novel
*Honey for the Ghost (1949) novel
*The Dangerous Places (1951) Tales of the Silver Sisters (4)
*To the Quayside (1954) (Ghostwritten by
Emanuel Litvinoff)
*The Bareknuckle Breed (1952)(Ghostwritten by
Emanuel Litvinoff), published by Hutchinson & Co Ltd
*The Loving Brothers (1953) novel
*The Little Old Admiral (1958)
*The Frightening Talent (1973) novel
References
Further reading
*
External links
Encyclopædia Britannica*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Golding, Louis
1895 births
1958 deaths
20th-century English male writers
20th-century English novelists
20th-century English poets
English anti-fascists
English Jewish writers
English male novelists
English male poets
People educated at Manchester Grammar School
Ukrainian Jews
Writers from Manchester
British military personnel of World War I
Military personnel from Manchester