Through a glass darkly: The life of Patrick Hamilton

This is a biography of Patrick Hamilton, the author of "Rope", "Gas Light" and "Hangover Square", who was one of the most gifted and admired writers of his generation. Born in Sussex in 1904, he moved shortly afterwards with his parents to Hove, where he passed his formative years. His first novel, "Craven House", was published in 1925 and within a few years he had established a wide readership for himself. Two plays, "Rope" (on which Hitchcock based his film) and "Gas Light", brought him commercial success and his high point as a novelist was reached with "The Slaves of Solitude" and "Hangover Square". His reputation seemed assured, but it was overshadowed by personal setbacks and an increasing preoccupation with drink. Yet in spite of these pressures he was able to produce some of his best work, in which an underlying sense of loss and isolation is felt beneath his comic creations. He died in 1962.