Five Leaves Publications

Book details

In the spring of 1949, Jack Agass belatedly returns from the war to the working class street in Islington where he grew up. A proud, supportive community — with a pub and a barber shop, and a common love of The Arsenal. But the street has changed. Jack eventually finds his footing but he’s haunted by a yearning for his old childhood friend Rosie Hogarth, and for the pre-war security and certainties she represents. Rosie has moved out and up — living bohemian-style in Bloomsbury. He thinks she’s selling sex, but is he right?

A taut and very human drama is played out through the summer and autumn of the year. In his first London novel, Alexander Baron provides one of the most powerful and compassionate evocations of a working class community in the throes of profound change.

About the Author

Alexander Baron wrote many novels and books of short stories, including the classic war novel From the City, >From the Plough and classic Hackney book of the 60s, The Lowlife (both recently republished by Black Spring). His novel King Dido is published by Five Leaves. By the 1960s he had become a regular writer on BBC’s Play for Today. He also wrote for drama serials like Poldark and A Horseman Riding By and wrote two Hollywood screenplays. Rosie Hogarth is introduced by Andrew Whitehead, who works for the BBC World Service and is a former BBC political and Indian correspondent.