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Set in a British Colony in Central Africa in the 1930's, the characters include bachelor Harold Stebbs, the Governor's secretary; the Governor himself, Sir Gardner; Mr. Frith, the much-passed-over Acting Chief Secretary (and a too-familiar figure in the Milner Club bar); Tony Henley, ADC; Old Moses, the chief butler at the Residence; the socially irresponsible Mr Ngono; Mr Telfwa, militant left wing newspaper editor; and Mr Das, an itinerant legal counsel. Then there is the Governor's Lady - twenty years younger than her husband and already the subject of gossip in European, African and Asian circles. Norman Collins was an expert observer of people for his entire life, enabling him to write very rich and satisfying books - that probably were NOT all fiction. -
In a remote British colony in Central Africa in the 1930s, we meet Harold Stebbs, bachelor, newly appointed to the Governor's secretariat; the Governor, Sir Gardnor Hackforth, tipped to be the next Viceroy; Mr Frith, the Acting Chief secretary and a familiar figure at the bar of the Milner Club; Tony Henley, A.D.C.; Old Moses, the butler; Mr Talefwa left wing editor of the African Independence newspaper...and the Governor's lady, twenty years her husband's junior and already the subject of gossip in European, Asian and African circles. -
It is Christmas Eve, 1938 and the prospect of war hangs over every London inhabitant. But the city doesn't stop - everywhere people continue to work, drink, fall in love, fight and struggle to get on in life. At the lodging-house at No.10 Dulcimer Street, Kennington, the meek clerk Mr Josser returns home to Mrs Josser and his daughter Doris, a trifle tiddly and bearing the extravagant clock he has received as a retirement gift. The Jossers' son Ted and his wife Cynthia - a former usherette who's seen too many romantic films - will be coming for Christmas...The retired 'actress', Connie, gets ready for work as a ladies' cloakroom room attendant at the Club; widower Mr Puddy is contemplating the prudent acquisition of tinned food in case of a enemy blockade; widowed landlady Mrs Vizzard is having girlish heart-flutters over her new lodger, Professor Qualito (an experienced Spiritualist who wears a dashing wide black felt hat); and there is Mrs. Boon, a sweet, naive lady, whose flashy son Percy, a motor mechanic, is led into the trade in stolen cars...then something far, far worse. Others in the cast of characters are Mrs Jan Byl, a wealthy widow whose dearest wish is to contact the late Mr Jan Byl via Professor Qualito; Uncle Henry, Mrs Josser's brother and the family eccentric; Doreen, Doris Josser's best friend and Bill, a medical student who comes courting Doris. There is no doubt about it - Norman Collins, long-time Head of Drama at the BBC, knew these people. They are real - too real to have been invented. -
Bond Street Story: Norman Collins
$15.00–$60.00Rammell’s is famous. It's the London department store that has everything. One can be clothed, fed, furnished, kept amused, and ultimately buried, entirely by Rammell’s. Provided you are in the right income bracket. The lives that revolve around Rammell's are diverse: the owner, retired Sir Harry; his son Eric with his digestive problems and a wife who's determined to make a social splash; and his other son Tony - to the newest salesgirl Irene, daughter of floor-walker Mr. Privett. There is Mr. Bloot, the senior floor-walker who unexpectedly and disastrously falls in love; Tony gets into trouble with a model and it falls to dyspeptic Eric to straighten it out; and Sir Harry is always ready to causes chaos at his daughter-in-law's soirees. There's glamour and gossip, romance and intrigue; in all, a vivid portrayal of post-war London when business life bustled with shop girls, typist, cashiers and secretaries who really ran the show. There's plenty of sly satire and wry humour as Collins highlights the pretensions and snobbery of a social scale within and without the store as well as very human and likeable characters with dreams and hopes that are not too different from the dreams and hopes of today. -
Stanley Pitts is a filing clerk in the Admiralty, a small man in stature, ambition and achievement. He's devoted to his hobby of photography and his latest failure with the Civil Service Selection Board matters not one whit to him. He's happy where he is. But it matters to his wife, Beryl - social climber and mistress of their Crocketts Green house...with its garden gnomes, wall-to-wall carpet and a fridge full of Oven-Fresh Old Style Farm House Cornish Pasties; Beryl, mother of little Marleen with her flaxen ringlets, prospective winner of the Under-Twelves Ballroom Dancing Championship; Beryl, the archetype South London housewife. When Stanley's photographic study Hoarfrost On Wimbledon Common wins the Admiralty Division Photographic Competition on the eve of his expected promotion, never has the future looked brighter - so how then does he end up in the dock of No. 1 Court at the Old Bailey? Why is the sentence such a savage one? And what part did Mr. Cheevers, crime reporter of the Sunday Sun, play in all this? -
It is Christmas Eve, 1938 and the prospect of war hangs over every London inhabitant. But the city doesn't stop - everywhere people continue to work, drink, fall in love, fight and struggle to get on in life. At the lodging-house at No.10 Dulcimer Street, Kennington, the meek clerk Mr Josser returns home to Mrs Josser and his daughter Doris, a trifle tiddly and bearing the extravagant clock he has received as a retirement gift. The Jossers' son Ted and his wife Cynthia - a former usherette whose seen too many romantic films - will be coming for Christmas...The retired 'actress', Connie, gets ready for work as a ladies' cloakroom room attendant at the Club; widower Mr Puddy is contemplating the prudent acquisition of tinned food in case of a enemy blockade; widowed landlady Mrs Vizzard is feeling girlish heart-flutters over her new lodger, Professor Qualito (an experienced Spiritualist who wears a dashing wide black felt hat); and there is Mrs. Boon, a sweet, naive lady, whose flashy son motor mechanic Percy is led into the trade in stolen cars, then something far, far worse. Then there are the others: Mrs Jan Byl, a wealthy widower whose dearest wish is to contact the late Mr Jan Byl via Professor Qualito; Uncle Henry, Mrs Josser's brother and the family eccentric; Doreen, Doris Josser's best friend and Bill, a medical student who comes courting Doris. There is no doubt about it - Norman Collins, long-time Head of Drama at the BBC, knew these people. They are real - too real to have been invented. -
Anna: Norman Collins
$8.00Set against the background of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, Anna, born in Rhineland, falls in love with her French cousin who she follows to Paris on the eve of the outbreak of war. When he is killed by her compatriots she finds herself in besieged Paris, destitute, alone - and a German. Thrown into prison, she escapes by marrying a middle-aged restaurateur for whom she has no feeling. Events take Anna to England in her search for true love and happiness. -
Black Ivory: Norman Collins
$20.00Comparable to Treasure Island or Mutiny on the Bounty, here is a story of high adventure, mutiny and high-jacking told in the first person by a 13 year-old boy who runs away from home to seek a fortune for his family. Ralph Raikes is the son of a farmer who has been evicted from his holding by an unjust landlord. He goes to Liverpool where a gang of scoundrels force him to sign on as a cabin boy under the notorious Captain Swing. He recounts his terrifying, strange experiences on board the Nero, which he discovers to be a slave ship bound for another load of 'black ivory' from Africa. There are many adventures, lessons and triumphs before Ralph goes home. With black and white illustrations. -
This story is set just before the outbreak of World War II in a house in Dulcimer Street, London that's been converted into flats. There's Percy, very Jack-the-Lad with ideas bigger than his stomach can hold; Mr. Puddy, whose main fear is the German blockade, which may result in him going hungry; the enigmatic Professor Qualito, a fake charismatic psychic; Mrs. Vizzard, the prim widow immersed in the supernatural; Connie, the elderly bit-part actress and con-merchant and Mr Josser, newly retired and under his wife's feet. And their daughter Doris, who yearns for independence from her parents. A wonderful read with characters that are visible because no writer could possibly invent them.
