Angus Wilson, Late Call

Marina MacKay (University of Durham)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Gina Lyle (University of Glasgow), Graham MacPhee (University of Manchester), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1964

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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This novel's prologue recounts the events of a day in 1911. The heroine is the daughter of a brutish farmer and his wife, who are forced by the failure of their farm to take paying guests from London. The liberal Mrs Longmore warms to the victimised child, and her daughter, Myra, makes friends with her. Following various mishaps while out on a walk, the girls are discovered undressed in the woods. Mrs Longmore is plagued by “sophisticated, sinister fears” when Myra tells her that the farm girl undressed her, not realising that the error has been based on a misapplication of Mrs Longmore's doctrine that they “was to 'feel free'”. Mrs Longmore feels some impotent remorse when she later hears the girl being beaten.

This prologue is similar in many respects to Wilson's stories which

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633 words

Citation: MacKay, Marina. "Late Call". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 January 2001 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4107, accessed 25 April 2024.]

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