The Gap In The Curtain by John Buchan
John Buchan (1875-1940), author of over 100 books including The Thirty-Nine Steps, was a stealth writer of supernatural and Weird fiction. From the beginning of his career to his last works, he brought supernatural elements into his narratives to test his characters and thrill his readers. His 1932 novel The Gap in the Curtain was his last full-length work devoted to exploring a supernatural theme: if you were able to see one year into the future, what would you do with that foreknowledge? And what would it do to you? The novel tells the story of five country-house guests who are trained by the ailing Professor Moe, an Einsteinian mathematician who has devised a way of seeing into the future. These five guests gain one piece of knowledge from the experiment, and have to decide how to act on it. Five episodes ensue: o The story of the philanthropist who played the markets for too long o The story of the politician who changed sides too often o The story of the antiquarian book dealer in the clutches of a feminist capitalist o The story of the man who foresaw his own death o The story of the woman who would not let her lover die This novel is classic Buchan, ranging from epic to farcical to battling with natural forces and the horrors of feminism. It hasn't been in print for 15 years, and is shamefully undervalued. The Introduction is by Kate Macdonald, one of the leading Buchan experts. It has crossover appeal from the classic 1930s fiction to period supernatural short stories. The cover reuses the original 1932 artwork from the Hodder & Stoughton edition. The episodes vary from high drama to social comedy, and use Buchan's skill in writing political intrigue and adventure abroad. This is a novel that showcases Buchan's talents as a storyteller, and is a thoroughly satisfying read.John Buchan (1875-1940), had a long and successful literary and public career. He was educated in Glasgow, where his father was a Free Church minister in the Gorbals, but his childhood holidays were spent in the Scottish border country.
After graduating at Glasgow University, Buchan took a scholarship to Oxford where he wrote his first two historical novels while still an undergraduate. With interests in law and journalism, he worked for the British High Commission in South Africa at the end of the Boer War. Returning to London in 1903, he eventually became a director of Thomas Nelson the publishers. Buchan worked for the Ministry of Information during WWI, and later wrote a substantial history of the conflict. He became a Tory MP for the Scottish Universities from 1927 to 1935, in which year he was appointed Governor-General of Canada as Lord Tweedsmuir.
Buchan took pride in the craft of story-telling and he is probably best known for his Richard Hannay thriller, with six titles ranging from The Thirty-Nine Steps in 1915, to The Island of Sheep in 1936. His other fiction includes John Burnet of Barns (1898), Prester John (1910), Huntingtower (1922), John Macnab (1925), Witchwood (1927) and Sick Hear River, published posthumously in 1941.
Buchan's health had never been strong, yet he achieved an enormous literary output in the course of his life, with no fewer than 30 novels and over 60 non-fiction books, including the fine biographies of Walter Scott and James Graham the Marquis of Montrose, whom he greatly admired. His autobiography Memory Hold-the-door, was published in the year of his death form a cerebral stroke.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781842327678 |
| ISBN 10 | 1842327674 |
| Title | The Gap In The Curtain |
| Author | John Buchan |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | House of Stratus |
| Year published | 2008-09-23 |
| Number of pages | 236 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |