The Oxford Companion to English Literature | Read, Piers Paul
Read, Piers
Paul
(
1941
–
), novelist, son of
Sir
H.
Read
, educated at Ampleforth and St John's College, Cambridge. His novels, which combine the psychological thriller and strong narrative with political questioning, a well-travelled eye, Catholic apologia, and sharp analysis of the English class structure, include Game in Heaven with Tussy Marx (
1966
), The Junkers (
1968
, set in Germany), Monk Dawson, (
1969
, the story of a defecting monk), and The Professor's Daughter (
1971
, set in America, as a wealthy liberal Harvard academic becomes fatally involved in student revolt at the time of Vietnam). The Upstart (
1973
) is the story of Hilary Fletcher, son of a parson, who turns to crime and pursues a protracted revenge upon the aristocratic Yorkshire family which had humiliated him socially in his youth. Later works range widely, taking in settings in the Soviet Union (The...
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