{"title":"Claude Houghton","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"this-was-ivor-trent-book-claude-houghton-9781939140111","title":"This Was Ivor Trent","description":"An extremely interesting novelist, and a genuinely original one. - J. B. Priestley \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e One of the most interesting and one of the most important novelists now writing in England. - Hugh Walpole \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e At his best, he writes as well as any living man. - L.A.G. Strong \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e One dark, foggy night, the eminent novelist Ivor Trent is on his way to a flat in a sordid London lodging house where he plans to begin work on his newest book, undisturbed by his friends, who all believe him to have gone abroad. On his way there, he glimpses a figure in the fog and is struck with terror when he realizes it is a man from the future. He collapses on the front step of the house, where the proprietor finds him, raving and delirious. Meanwhile, Arthur Rendell, a lonely widower who found solace in one of Trent's novels, determines to find out more about the writer and takes a room in the same house, where he meets Trent's friends, associates, and lovers. To Rosalie Vivian, Trent is a god; to Vera Thornton, he is a devil; to Denis Wrayburn, he heralds a new race of supermen. But who is Ivor Trent, really? And what is the explanation of the terrible vision he experienced in the fog? Rendell intends to find out, but he is unprepared for the devastating truth. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Expanding on the themes first explored in his masterpiece \u003ci\u003eI Am Jonathan Scrivener\u003c\/i\u003e (1930) (also available from Valancourt Books), \u003ci\u003eThis Was Ivor Trent\u003c\/i\u003e (1935) was a success in both England and America and was one of the best-known novels of Claude Houghton (1889-1961). Though admired by writers as diverse as P. G. Wodehouse, Henry Miller, J. B. Priestley, and Graham Greene, Houghton has fallen into neglect in the past half-century and awaits rediscovery by a new generation of readers. This edition is newly typeset from the first London edition and includes a new introduction by Mark Valentine.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49542936363281,"sku":"GOR013575051","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51055841280273,"sku":"NIN9781939140111","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52592853647633,"sku":"NLS9781939140111","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1939140110.jpg?v=1750868165"},{"product_id":"i-am-jonathan-scrivener-book-claude-houghton-9781939140081","title":"I Am Jonathan Scrivener","description":"So remarkable in truth is this novel that I cannot understand why it is not universally known and admired. - Hugh Walpole \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003ci\u003eI Am Jonathan Scrivener\u003c\/i\u003e remains a tantalizing, highly diverting philosophical novel of rare elegance and wit. - Michael Dirda \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e James Wrexham is thirty-nine, lonely, and stuck in a dead-end job when he comes upon an advertisement for a position as secretary to Mr. Jonathan Scrivener. Much to his surprise, he is hired at a lavish salary despite never even meeting Scrivener, and he is told to take up residence at once in the flat of his new employer, who has suddenly disappeared. Mystified by Scrivener's strange conduct and desperate to learn something about him, it seems Wrexham will get the answers he seeks when Scrivener's friends begin to visit the flat: Pauline Mandeville, an ethereal beauty, Francesca Bellamy, a widow who may responsible for the death of her husband, Andrew Middleton, a disillusioned alcoholic, and Antony Rivers, a handsome playboy. But as each of them unfolds his story about Scrivener, it seems that none of them are describing the same person, though all are obsessed with finding him. Why has he hired Wrexham, and why does he seem to have thrust this unlikely group of people together? Is Scrivener engaged in an inscrutable experiment, or could he be laying some kind of trap? And will this enigmatic figure ever appear and say, I am Jonathan Scrivener? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Popular in his time for his psychological thrillers, Claude Houghton (1889-1961) was admired by writers as diverse as P. G. Wodehouse, Henry Miller, Hugh Walpole, and Graham Greene, but has fallen into neglect in the past half-century. This new edition restores his masterpiece \u003ci\u003eI Am Jonathan Scrivener\u003c\/i\u003e (1930) to print and includes Walpole's introduction from the 1935 edition and an essay by Pulitzer Prize winning critic and Washington Post columnist Michael Dirda.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49665505296657,"sku":"GOR008244399","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50823602143505,"sku":"GOR006568890","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51055824240913,"sku":"NIN9781939140081","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52592745349393,"sku":"NLS9781939140081","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53496506515729,"sku":"CIN1939140080G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1939140080.jpg?v=1751425969"},{"product_id":"hair-divides-valancourt-20th-century-classics-book-claude-houghton-9781943910007","title":"A Hair Divides (Valancourt 20th Century Classics)","description":"Gordon Rutherford, a young writer, finds himself in a dangerous dilemma when he is the only witness to the accidental death of an acquaintance. Because of the strange circumstances of the case, Rutherford knows that if he goes to the police he will almost certainly be accused of murder. But if he disposes of the body and conceals the accident, he will destroy any chance of proving his innocence. The terrible decision Rutherford is forced to make - and the even more terrible consequences that follow - form the plot of this intriguing novel, a mystery unlike any you have ever read. \u003cbr\u003e Claude Houghton (1889-1961) gained a cult following in the 1920s and '30s with his unusual psychological thrillers and counted Henry Miller, Hugh Walpole, J.B. Priestley, and Graham Greene among his many admirers. This first-ever reprint of A Hair Divides (1930), originally published the same year as his masterpiece I Am Jonathan Scrivener, reproduces the original dust jacket illustration and joins four other classic Houghton novels also available from Valancourt. \u003cbr\u003e Combines originality with intelligence . a new type of thriller . one of the best pieces of work in English fiction of recent years . a first class novel. - Saturday Review \u003cbr\u003e Surely one of the most original of English writers who have established themselves since the War .  H]is books are like no one else's . always the most vivid of story tellers. - The Times (London) \u003cbr\u003e An extremely interesting novelist, and a genuinely original one. - J.B. Priestley","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50003395674385,"sku":"GOR010767982","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":50993551868177,"sku":"NIN9781943910007","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52139344920849,"sku":"NLS9781943910007","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1943910006.jpg?v=1751124611"},{"product_id":"julian-grant-loses-his-way-valancourt-20th-century-classics-book-claude-houghton-9781941147467","title":"Julian Grant Loses His Way (Valancourt 20th Century Classics)","description":"Claude Houghton's novels are always interesting . . . Julian Grant Loses His Way is the best book of his that I have read . . . Houghton's talent is at its best. - Graham Greene, The Spectator \u003cbr\u003e Fascinating, absorbing reading . . . an arresting book. - Kirkus Reviews \u003cbr\u003e He is an extremely interesting novelist, and a genuinely original one. - J. B. Priestley \u003cbr\u003e Shortly after dawn, Julian Grant finds himself in London, unsure of who he is or where he's been, but sensing vaguely that he is on his way to an appointment. Taking refuge in a cafe to collect his thoughts over a cocktail, he is suddenly beset by a series of scenes and images from his past: his monastic childhood, the dismal years in a dreary office job, his unexpected inheritance of a fortune, his cruelty to the women who have loved him. As he struggles to understand his situation and figure out who he is and where he is going, he tries to discover the truth behind his strange experience. Is he going mad? Is he asleep and somehow trapped in a surreal dreamworld? Or could there be some other, more chilling explanation for his disorientation and the disturbing visions to which he is being subjected? This first-ever reprint of Houghton's classic novel features a reproduction of its original jacket art. \u003cbr\u003e Claude Houghton (1889-1961) won a cult following in the 1930s for his mystery and thriller novels featuring razor-sharp dialogue and unusual metaphysical themes, the best known of which is I Am Jonathan Scrivener (1930). Though praised by critics and widely admired by his fellow authors, including J. B. Priestley, Hugh Walpole, and Henry Miller, Houghton has fallen into neglect and deserves rediscovery as a key novelist of the interwar period in Great Britain. Several of Houghton's other novels are also available from Valancourt Books.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50037965488401,"sku":"GOR012185738","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52435137429777,"sku":"NLS9781941147467","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":53478966591761,"sku":"NIN9781941147467","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1941147461.jpg?v=1751282688"},{"product_id":"passport-to-paradise-rare-book-claude-houghton-1632310585ada","title":"Passport to Paradise","description":"1944. No Edition Remarks. 256 pages. No dust jacket. Grey cloth. Heavy foxing and tanning to pages with heavier tanning to pastedowns and endpapers. Pencil inscriptions to front pastedown and endpaper","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50070109192465,"sku":"1632310585ADA","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1632310585ADA_1.jpg?v=1722869049"},{"product_id":"i-am-jonathan-scrivener-rare-book-claude-houghton-1643375330bmh","title":"I am Jonathan Scrivener","description":"1968. Reprint. 314 pages. This is an ex-Library book. Orange dust jacket over orange cloth. Expected library inserts, stamps and inscriptions. 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Reprinted. 290 pages. No dust jacket. This is an ex-Library book. Black cloth. Ex-Library copy, with expected inserts, stamps and inscriptions. Clipped front free endpaper. Minor thumb marking,","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50089600549137,"sku":"1718789305ABS","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1718789305ABS_1.jpg?v=1722937533"},{"product_id":"strangers-rare-book-claude-houghton-1711371844iev","title":"Strangers","description":"1938. No Edition Remarks. 559 pages. Illustrated dust jacket over blue cloth boards with lettering. Ex-libris label. Clean pages with noticeable tanning and foxing throughout. 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Severe cracking to hinges causing boards to be loo","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50089873637649,"sku":"1718688988ALK","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1718688988ALK_1.jpg?v=1722938416"},{"product_id":"some-rise-by-sin-rare-book-claude-houghton-1718690693alk","title":"Some Rise By Sin","description":"1956. First Published. 224 pages. No dust jacket. This is an ex-Library book. Blue cloth. Book has been rebound by library, with expected inserts, stamps and inscriptions. Binding remains firm. Pages","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50089987408145,"sku":"1718690693ALK","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1718690693ALK_1.jpg?v=1722938811"},{"product_id":"the-enigma-of-conrad-stone-rare-book-claude-houghton-1718687837alk","title":"The Enigma of Conrad Stone","description":"1952. No Edition Remarks. 252 pages. No dust jacket. This is an ex-Library book. Green cloth. Book has been rebound by library, with expected inserts, stamps and inscriptions. Binding remains firm. Pa","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50091764908305,"sku":"1718687837ALK","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1718687837ALK_1.jpg?v=1722944794"},{"product_id":"neighbours-book-claude-houghton-9781941147085","title":"Neighbours","description":"G]rew upon me with every page, until I came to the dramatic climax . . . often brilliant . . .  with] the brilliance of fever, almost of delirium. - Punch \u003cbr\u003e It is very shocking . . .  Houghton] has proved himself to possess considerable talent. - Spectator \u003cbr\u003e Neighbours is a novel about ideas concerning life. It is full of dialogue, and good dialogue. It has beautiful moments. It is original. - Arnold Bennett, Evening Standard \u003cbr\u003e His novels bring us the finest and most firmly thought-out exposition of the spiritual problem of modern times. - New York Times \u003cbr\u003e In Claude Houghton's work you have come to expect not only an unusual and fast-moving story, but one with its hidden excitements or seeming touch of fantasy, the significance of which may not be apparent until you have reached the last page. - Sunday Times \u003cbr\u003e The narrator of Neighbours is a young writer who has taken a room in the attic of a lodging house, where he hopes to find a quiet atmosphere in which to work. One night, the sound of a man's laughter outside his door alerts him to the existence of Victor, a fellow lodger in an adjoining room. The narrator feels an immediate and inexplicable hatred for his unwanted neighbour, which develops into an obsession as he listens to Victor's fervent conversations and amorous adventures through the thin wall and records it all in minute detail on endless sheets of paper. His morbid fascination with Victor gradually begins to dominate his existence, leading to a shocking climax when he finally resolves to destroy his neighbour, the man he blames for ruining his life . . . \u003cbr\u003e Claude Houghton (1889-1961) won a devoted cult following in the 1930s with novels like I Am Jonathan Scrivener (1930) and This Was Ivor Trent (1935), psychological thrillers with brilliantly sharp dialogue and unusual metaphysical themes. This edition of his astonishing first novel, Neighbours (1926), is the first in over 75 years and features a new introduction by Mark Valentine.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50952121745681,"sku":"GOR014142212","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51054025998609,"sku":"NIN9781941147085","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52686035255569,"sku":"NLS9781941147085","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1941147089.jpg?v=1751093631"},{"product_id":"transformation-scene-rare-book-claude-houghton-1724910576alk","title":"Transformation Scene","description":"1947. Second Impression. 256 pages. No dust jacket. Pink cloth covered boards with gilt. Pages and binding are presentable with no major defects. Minor issues present such as mild cracking, inscriptio","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51237807292689,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51237810110737,"sku":"1724910576ALK","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1724910576ALK_1.jpg?v=1741073468"},{"product_id":"chaos-is-come-again-valancourt-20th-century-classics-book-claude-houghton-9781943910175","title":"Chaos Is Come Again (Valancourt 20th Century Classics)","description":"England, 1932. The nation had just begun to recover from the wounds of the First World War when economic catastrophe struck with the Great Depression. It is against this background that Vernon Dexter arrives at the old manor house at Greystones, home of the notorious philanderer Sir Keith Petersley and his eccentric wife Lady Isabelle, to tutor their disabled son Eric. As he meets each of the strange members of the Petersley clan and gets caught up in the exciting dramas that unfold at Greystones, we see that the Petersleys are more than just a family: they are representative of an entire way of English life that is on the verge of extinction, to be replaced by a new age of chaos and greed. \u003cbr\u003e Inexplicably neglected today, Claude Houghton (1889-1961) was one of the finest English novelists of the interwar period. Though he is best known for novels like I Am Jonathan Scrivener (1930), psychological thrillers infused with philosophy and mysticism, in Chaos Is Come Again (1932), his theme is more overtly political. In light of the economic crises of recent years, today's readers will find Houghton's novel eerily prescient and his predictions about a society dominated by capitalistic greed remarkably accurate. \u003cbr\u003e A criticism of life today, full of ideas and dramatic moments; it is genuine in its psychology and thrilling in its action. - The Times \u003cbr\u003e I read Chaos Is Come Again with intense interest. It has not a dull page in it. - Compton Mackenzie \u003cbr\u003e Had Emily Bronte written Heartbreak House the result might have been rather like Mr. Claude Houghton's richly inventive Chaos Is Come Again. - Norman Collins","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51254087975185,"sku":"NIN9781943910175","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52384440811793,"sku":"GOR010698085","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52656806625553,"sku":"NLS9781943910175","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1943910170.jpg?v=1751348427"},{"product_id":"i-am-jonathan-scrivener-book-claude-houghton-9781025728469","title":"I Am Jonathan Scrivener","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53490730828049,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":53490730926353,"sku":"NIN9781025728469","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}]}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-claude-houghton.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}