''So Brief the Spring'' is a 1952 novel by the British writer

Walter Greenwood Walter Greenwood (17 December 1903 – 13 September 1974) was an English novelist, best known for the socially influential novel '' Love on the Dole'' (1933). Early life Greenwood was born at 56 Ellor Street, his father's house and hairdr ...

. It is the first in the author's trilogy set in the fictional

fishing port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manche ...

of Treeloe in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

. It was developed out of a play which Greenwood had written in 1945. The novel is dedicated to

Robert Newton Robert Guy Newton (1 June 1905 – 25 March 1956) was an English actor. Along with Errol Flynn, Newton was one of the more popular actors among the male juvenile audience of the 1940s and early 1950s, especially with British boys. Known for hi ...

who appeared in the play. It focuses on Randy Jollifer, formerly of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

, attempting to settle down to

postwar A post-war or postwar period is the interval immediately following the end of a war. The term usually refers to a varying period of time after World War II, which ended in 1945. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum, ...

life in his home town.Hopkins p.249 The book and its sequels sold steadily, without enjoying the spectacular popularity of his best-known work '' Love on the Dole''.

Synopsis

Jollifer earns a modest living as a

fisherman A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million Commercial fishing, commercial and Artisan fishing, subsistence fishers and Fish farming, fi ...

and taking tourists out for trips on his boat. He encounters Ann Halstead down on a holiday from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. While there is a certain attraction between them, she is drawn to the family

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

owned by Jollifer's father, who has disinherited his son during the war. Ann becomes engaged to Jollifer senior. After he suffers a heart attack, an accidental fire started by relatives searching for the hidden gold sovereigns that the miserly older man has stashed due to his profiteering during the war, burns down much of the house. Ann ultimately marries another local man, a doctor while Jollifer inherits the ruined manor house.

References

Bibliography

* Hopkins, Chris. ''Walter Greenwood's Love on the Dole: Novel, Play, Film''. Oxford University Press, 2018. * Woods, Tim. ''Who's Who of Twentieth Century Novelists''. Routledge, 2008. 1952 British novels Novels by Walter Greenwood Novels set in Cornwall Novels set in the 1940s Hutchinson (publisher) books {{1950s-novel-stub