This Was a Man (Clifton Chronicles)

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Banned by the Lord Chamberlain for its facetious and irreverent treatment of adultery, This Was A Man, a previously unseen play by Noël Coward, directed by actress Belinda Lang, opens for its long overdue UK professional premiere in a strictly limited three week season at the Finborough Theatre on Tuesday, 15 July 2014 Someone once said to her, ‘have you ever considered divorcing Jeffrey?’ And she said, ‘Good heavens no! But murder…. Several times!’” I’ve read that Mary thinks fidelity doesn’t matter. That loyalty and friendship are more important.

This Was a Man was refused licence by the Lord Chamberlain (Britain's theatre censor) at the time, despite allowing The Vortex, Noël Coward's play about drug addiction, on the public stage a few years earlier. The reality is that adultery was far more available to the masses than illegal narcotics were and after much debate in the Lord Chamberlain's office it was decided that it should be refused licence. Instead, the show played in New York in 1926. An intriguing, funny and captivating story, hooking the audience straight away and not letting go.” Rebecca Robinson, The Good Review The man hailed him and said, “Ah Jeffrey, is there any Irish blood in you?” When Jeffrey replied that there wasn’t the man expressed surprise. “I find it hard to believe,” he said, “Because you are a seanchaí.” Sebastian Clifton becomes chairman of Farthings Kaufman bank, but only after Hakim Bishara has to resign for personal reasons. Sebastian and Samantha’s talented daughter, Jessica, is expelled from the Slade School of Fine Art, but her aunt Grace comes to her rescue. Winter has arrived. "Die Drei Leute vom Labor" ("The Three Laboratory People") describes how Levi and two other prisoners are chosen to work in the laboratory. Its cleanliness and warmth contrasts with the rest of the bomb-ravaged and snow-covered camp. The presence of three healthy women makes the prisoners self-conscious about their own physical deterioration.Once described by a judge as ‘Fragrant’, Mary has stood by Jeffrey through the successes, and the many upsets in his life; the near bankruptcy, with the resultant political fallout; his years in prison and that whiff of sexual scandal. Lady Virginia is about to flee the country to avoid her creditors when the death of a duchess gives her another opportunity to clear her debts and finally trump the two families. This Was a Man opens with a shot being fired, but who pulled the trigger, and who lives, and who dies?

Harry Clifton sets out to write his magnum opus, while his wife Emma completes her ten years as Chairman of the Bristol Royal Infirmary, and receives an unexpected call from Margaret Thatcher offering her a job. My advice to the readers who have never read anything of Jeffrey would be to read the first parts of this series before this one and your favorite thriller/drama writer would be decided then and there. In the fourth chapter Levi's foot is injured while he is working and, after a cursory and humiliating examination, he is admitted to "Ka-Be", the Krankenbau or infirmary. Those unlikely to recover are selected to leave, including one of Levi's neighbours. Levi speculates that the man might be transferred to another camp; another neighbour observes that Levi 'does not want to understand'. It is a life of limbo. The physical discomforts are few, but with this comes a reawakening of memory and conscience and the realisation that no one is to be permitted to survive and report what man's audacity made of man in Auschwitz. If the reputations of artists and authors can be stretched to accommodate things we wished they had done, they can also be shrunk to diminish the greatness they manifestly did produce. The piece has wise things to say about the complex negotiations of marriage and sex which ring true today now that we all have license to experiment as the toffs once did.” Alison Goldie, WhatsOnStage

Georgina Rylance

Although it’s obvious, this book is part of a series, and to be honest, you do need to have read the other books before this one. It would make the story much more understandable, and if you didn’t you will miss out on 6 books of great storytelling! I’ve heard a lot of people say that they won’t read any Archer books as they don’t like the man – whatever you feel about him or his past, you can’t deny that the man is an amazing author and storyteller, capturing each decade, scenario or situation perfectly. Meanwhile, Lady Virginia is about to flee the country to avoid her creditors when the Duchess of Hertford dies, and she sees another opportunity to clear her debts and finally trump the Cliftons and Barringtons. Why on earth has it taken 88 years? That a really rather fine play by Noël Coward has had to wait until now for its professional UK premiere seems astounding. However, this certainly isn’t the first time that the tiny Finborough, on the London Fringe, has brought a forgotten gem to light.” Kate Bassett, The Times Kudos, Lord Archer for never letting your readers down. While there will be naysayers, it is likely an inherent need to play the role of Lady Virginia that fuels their bitterness. My dear young cousin, if there's one thing I've learned over the eons, it's that you can't give up on your family, no matter how tempting they make it.”

This Was a Man is a play in three acts by Noël Coward. It satirizes the adulterous affairs of English high society. Its main characters are Edward Churt, a successful modern portrait painter and his wife Carol whose "vivid personality is composed of a minimum of intellect and a maximum of sex." Carol is prone to having affairs with other men, but Edward is fully aware of this and for the most of the play does not seem to mind. It is typical of inter-war period drama due to its lightheartedness and overall sense of fun. I do not blame Archer since there are very few exciting plots one can design when your heroes are turning great grand parents and the villains have stopped concerning themselves with the Cliftons due to their own problems.

Dorothea Myer-Bennett

I hadn’t read the previous six, but thoroughly enjoyed this last one. It’s full of sometimes totally unexpected twists, but is written with such authenticity. Edward Churt is a successful painter. His wife Carol has a “vivid personality composed of a minimum of intellect and a maximum of sex”. Increasingly aware of her infidelity, Edward defends himself with a veneer of sophisticated insouciance. But his best friend and army comrade is determined to avenge him… Gordon, Robert S. C. (2007). The Cambridge Companion to Primo Levi. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-84357-X I’ve listened to the previous six books in the Clifton Chronicles and this finale is one of the best. Snobbishly I think that Jeffrey Archer isn’t Graham Greene but by golly he can tell a story that keeps one on tenterhooks eager to find out what happens next. He has created some memorable characters not least Lady Veronica the Machavelli of the series: utterly over-the-top in her exploits but hugely entertaining as she seems to succeed in her plots only to be thwarted. It’s great stuff and I’m sorry that the series has ended in the 1990s as the next generation of Cliftons and Barringtons are developing into interesting characters. Maybe the next series will be the Barrington Chronicles? I hope so as it’s great fun to listen to good old fashioned story-telling in which good is pitted against evil and good eventually wins for a change. I also enjoy the inclusion of historical events and real people which adds colour and interest to the narrative. The author's inside knowledge of parliament and prison life lends veracity to many events in the book. We’ve finally come to the last instalment in the Clifton Chronicles series. What was originally supposed to be a trilogy eventually turned into an amazing seven book series spanning more than 60 years, and I’m so glad it did. I have waited for this book (thankfully not so long in between book 6 and 7 this time!) to put an end to this fantastic series. I enjoyed every word and didn’t want the book to finish.