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HANGOVER SQUARE - PATRICK HAMILTON


Product Details

Hangover Square is a darkly comic book based in the seedy and fog bound world of Earls Court's public houses and cheap lodgings during the lead up to WWII containing a small cast of boozing philosophers, immortalising the tone of that generation in the style of Patrick Hamiltons writing.




Character Synopsis

George Harvey Bone

George is a big built, kind hearted wastrel who is obsessed with the lovely Netta Longdon. 

It is apparent early on that George is suffering from an undiagnosed mental illness of Schizophrenia whereby he comes in and out of his normal and fugue states with a "click" throughout the story. During these times it is apparent he is more conscious of the way Netta and her entourage treat him and during these episodes tells us his various plans to kill Netta Longdon.


This murderous mindset initially appears in his fugue state however, as the plot continues and his mental health diminishes it is well written and clearly apparent that his two persona's are becoming somewhat blurred together.


Netta Longdon


This lady is a self obsessed failed actress who uses her only attribute her physical beauty to bully, manipulate and use George's emotional attachment.
Netta uses this attraction purely for her entertainment, goals and financial benefit. At no time does she reciprocate his feelings and is increasingly as the book unfolds a hateful character with no redeeming features.
With this being the case and along with a smaller supporting cast of her retinue Peter and Mickie you begin to hope that George will succeed in his murderous plot and that she in no way deserves our sympathies.



Johnnie Littlejohn


He is an old school friend of George and seems to with his presence ground George temporarily through some difficult times during the book. He is genuinely his friend and endeavours whenever possible to draw him away from the bitchiness that encircles Netta and her stooges.



Review

My Rating: 3 stars

 I found this book to be extremely character driven, I regularly found myself drawn back to reading the story during the course of my day and was gripped to find out the final outcome for George and his mental state. 


Do not anticipate a fast paced thriller this book will draw you in to the mundanity of the characters life but like any good work of literary fiction grips you and carries you forward to the end. 


This book is being re-published to celebrate it's 75th Anniversary by Abacus and is available with the above cover from 4th August 2016.


**This book was given to me by Netgalley.com and the publisher for a free and impartial review**

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Location: Buntingford SG9 9FJ, UK

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