Description

Book Synopsis

''All his novels are terrific, but this one is my favourite'' Sarah Waters


Patrick Hamilton''s novels were the inspiration for Matthew Bourne''s new dance theatre production, The Midnight Bell.

Measuring out the wartime days in a small town on the Thames, Miss Roach is not unattractive but no longer quite young. The Rosamund Tea Rooms boarding house, where she lives with half a dozen others, is as grey and lonely as its residents. For Miss Roach, ''slave of her task-master, solitude'', a shaft of not altogether welcome light is suddenly beamed upon her, with the appearance of a charismatic and emotional American Lieutenant. With him comes change - tipping the precariously balanced society of the house and presenting Miss Roach herself with a dilemma.



Trade Review
Dark, hilarious & utterly brilliant -- Val Hennessy * Daily Mail *
Patrick Hamilton's tale of life in a wartime boarding house strikes the perfect balance between poignancy and dark hilarity -- Rachel Cooke * Guardian *
A claustrophobic, drily comic classic -- Fiona Wilson * The Times *

The Slaves of Solitude

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    £10.44

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    RRP £10.99 – you save £0.55 (5%)

    Order before 4pm today for delivery by Mon 13 Jul 2026.

    A Paperback / softback by Patrick Hamilton

    3 in stock

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      Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
      Publication Date: Publication Date: 12/01/2017
      ISBN13: 9780349141541, 978-0349141541
      ISBN10: 0349141541
      Also in:
      Contemporary Fiction

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      ''All his novels are terrific, but this one is my favourite'' Sarah Waters


      Patrick Hamilton''s novels were the inspiration for Matthew Bourne''s new dance theatre production, The Midnight Bell.

      Measuring out the wartime days in a small town on the Thames, Miss Roach is not unattractive but no longer quite young. The Rosamund Tea Rooms boarding house, where she lives with half a dozen others, is as grey and lonely as its residents. For Miss Roach, ''slave of her task-master, solitude'', a shaft of not altogether welcome light is suddenly beamed upon her, with the appearance of a charismatic and emotional American Lieutenant. With him comes change - tipping the precariously balanced society of the house and presenting Miss Roach herself with a dilemma.



      Trade Review
      Dark, hilarious & utterly brilliant -- Val Hennessy * Daily Mail *
      Patrick Hamilton's tale of life in a wartime boarding house strikes the perfect balance between poignancy and dark hilarity -- Rachel Cooke * Guardian *
      A claustrophobic, drily comic classic -- Fiona Wilson * The Times *

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