Brighton Rock
A noir classic, introduced by John Sutherland.
Good and evil lived together in the same country, spoke the same language, came together like old friends, feeling the same completion, touching hands beside the iron bedstead
‘The Boy’ Pinkie is a 17-year-old gangster – described by Evelyn Waugh as ‘the ideal examinee for entry into Hell. He gets an alpha in every paper.’ Armed with vitriol and fuelled by adrenaline, Pinkie is a sociopath who lives by violence and deception, managing to keep himself one step ahead of the law. Sixteen-year-old Rose is an innocent and trusting girl who unintentionally compromises Pinkie’s alibi for the murder of rival gang member Fred Hale. Pinkie can prevent her from testifying against him by tricking her into a loveless marriage, but an amateur vigilante, Ida, has sensed that Rose is in grave danger ... As damnation closes in on Pinkie, Rose is ‘doomed’ to salvation and the ‘appalling strangeness of the mercy of God’.
Production details
Bound in blocked cloth
Set in Garamond with Gill Sans display
320 pages
Frontispiece and 7 integrated black & white illustrations
Plain slipcase
9˝ x 5¾˝