Books
by Richard Hughes
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The Fox in the Attic |
The first in Hughes's intended epic sequence of novels, The Human Predicament, centres on Augustine, unjustly suspected of involvement in the murder of a young girl. Taking refuge in the remote castle of Bavarian relatives, his hopeless love for his devout cousin Mitzi blinds him to the hate that will lead to the rise of German fascism. The climax is a brilliant description of the Munich putsch and a disturbingly intimate portrait of Adolf Hitler.
(Jeremy Miller - bwl 58 Autumn 2010) |
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The Wooden Shepherdess |
The second, and alas last, volume in The Human Predicament as Hughes died before he could complete this epic sequence of novels, sees Augustine in prohibition era America, an increasingly fascinated participant in a country intoxicated with sex, violence, and booze. Moving to Germany, he witnesses the growing Nazi menace and the novel ends in a terrifying account of the Night of the Long Knives as Hitler ruthlessly secures his hold upon Germany.
(Jeremy Miller - bwl 58 Autumn 2010) |
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