Green Ink by Stephen May

Green Ink by Stephen May

THE TIMES BOOKS TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2025 'Stephen May has a nose for fascinating historical events' The Times 'Very fine and fun novel' The Spectator 'Skilfully orchestrates a large cast of both historical and fictional characters' Financial Times 'The spry, sardonic voice of the new historical fiction' Hilary Mantel 'Vivid and wholly credible recreation of post-Great War London' Robert Edric 'Intrigue, betrayal, redemption' Rachel Seiffert David Lloyd George is at Chequers for the weekend with his mistress Frances Stevenson, fretting about the fact that his involvement in selling public honours is about to be revealed by one Victor Grayson. Victor is a bisexual hedonist and former firebrand socialist MP turned secret-service informant. Intent on rebuilding his profile as the leader of the revolutionary Left, he doesn’t know exactly how much of a hornet’s nest he’s stirred up. Doesn’t know that this is, in fact, his last day. No one really knows what happened to Victor Grayson – he vanished one night in late September 1920, having threatened to reveal all he knew about the prime minister’s involvement in selling honours. Was he murdered by the British government? By enemies in the socialist movement (who he had betrayed in the war)? Did he fall in the Thames drunk? Did he vanish to save his own life, and become an antiques dealer in Kent? Whatever the truth, Green Ink imagines what might have been with brio, humour and humanity; and is a reminder that the past was once as alive as we are today.

‘A vivid and wholly credible recreation of post-Great War London – that threadbare, incendiary world of shabby intrigue, half-remembered figures now lost to the shadows, and an old order desperate to reestablish its corrupt credentials and squandered authorityAll is imagined here in convincing and sardonic – and frequently hilarious – detail. Following the success of Sell Us The Rope, Stephen May has truly hit his stride’ - Robert Edric

'Intrigue, betrayal, redemption - a glimpse behind the political scenes of a bygone British era that feels very contemporary' - Rachel Seiffert

'Stephen May has a nose for fascinating historical events, which he then gives the fictional treatment' - The Times Books to Look Out For In 2025

'Funny, scurrilous, revealing and memorable' - Historical Novel Society

Praise for Sell Us the Rope

‘Original, adept and confident... What can I say, except that I wish I had written it myself?’ Hilary Mantel

‘A deeply satisfying novel. Incisive, inventive, frequently very funny’ Guardian

‘Historical facts furnish May with a cast of legends to bring to life, and he does it with verve and humour’ The Times

‘Brilliant and original — part historical novel, part romantic comedy, and part bildungsroman about a tyrant-in-waiting’ Marcel Theroux

‘A captivating thought-experiment that marks a consolidation of May’s powers as a writer' Daily Telegraph

Stephen May is the author of six novels including Life! Death! Prizes! which was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award and The Guardian Not The Booker Prize. He has also been shortlisted for the Wales Book of the Year and is a winner of the Media Wales Reader’s Prize. He has also written plays, as well as for television and film. He lives in West Yorkshire.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781800754676
ISBN 10	1800754671
Title	Green Ink
Author	Stephen May
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Swift Press
Year published	2025-03-13
Number of pages	288
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.