Berry Scene (38 page)

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Authors: Dornford Yates

Tags: #The Berry Scene

BOOK: Berry Scene
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Introductory Titles

(in order of first publication)

 

These titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels

 

1.   The Brother of Daphne
1914
2.   The Courts of Idleness
1920

 

Bertram ‘Berry’ Pleydell Titles

(in order of first publication)

 

These titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels

 

1.   Berry and Co
1921
2.   Jonah and Co
1922
3.   Adèle and Co
1931
4.   And Berry Came Too
1936
5.   The House that Berry Built
1945
6.   The Berry Scene
1947
7.   As Berry and I were Saying
1952
8.   B-Berry and I Look Back
1958

 

Richard Chandos & Colleagues Titles

(in order of first publication)

 

These titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels

 

1.   Blind Corner
 
1927
2.   Perishable Goods
 
1928
3.   Blood Royal
 
1929
4.   Fire Below
alt: By Royal Command
1930
5.   She Fell Among Thieves
 
1935
6.   An Eye for a Tooth
 
1943
7.   Red in the Morning
alt: Were Death Denied
1946
8.   Cost Price
alt: The Laughing Bacchante
1949

 

Other Novels

(in order of first publication)

 

1.   She Painted Her Face
1937
2.   Gale Warning
1939
3.   Ne’er-Do-Well
1954
Synopses of Yates’ Titles

Published by House of Stratus

 

Adèle & Co
This is the first full-length novel featuring Yates’ finest comic creation, Bertram ‘Berry’ Pleydell. The popular character of Adéle is based on the author’s first wife, Bettine, a highly gregarious American dancer and actress. Written in response to massive public demand for the Berry stories, this is regarded as one of Yates’ best books. Amongst the madcap escapades of the Pleydell clan as they career about the French countryside you will find ‘crime, criminals, and some of the funniest writing in the English language’.
And Berry Came Too
Eight stories in which we encounter ‘the hair-raising adventures and idiotic situations of the Pleydell family’ (
Punch
). Along with John Buchan and ‘Sapper’, Yates dominated the adventure book market of the inter-war years, and Berry is regarded as one of British comic writing’s finest creations, including Tom Sharpe amongst his fans. Read these and weep (with laughter).
As Berry & I Were Saying
Reprinted four times in three months, this semi-autobiographical novel is a humorous account of the author’s hazardous experiences in France, at the end of the World War II. Darker and less frivolous than some of Yates’ earlier books, he describes it as ‘really my own memoir put into the mouths of Berry and Boy’, and at the time of publication it already had a nostalgic feel. A great hit with the public and a ‘scrapbook of the Edwardian age as it was seen by the upper-middle classes’.
B-Berry & I Look Back
This is Yates’ final book, a semi-autobiographical novel spanning a lifetime of events from the sinking of the
Titanic
to the notorious Tichborne murder case. It opens with Berry, one of British comic writing’s finest creations, at his funniest, and is a companion volume to
As Berry and I Were Saying
. Pure, vintageYates.
Berry & Co
This collection of short stories featuring ‘Berry’ Pleydell and his chaotic entourage established Dornford Yates’ reputation as one of the best comic writers in a generation, and made him hugely popular. The German caricatures in the book carried such a sting that when France was invaded in 1939 Yates, who was living near the Pyrenées, was put on the wanted list and had to flee.
The Berry Scene
These stories, written by huge popular demand, give us classic Berry Pleydell – Yates’ finest comic character – at the top of his form. The first story sees Berry capturing a German spy at a village cricket match in 1914, and things get more bizarre from then on. A self-consciously nostalgic work harking back to more decorous days, here are tense plotting and high farce of the best kind.
Blind Corner
This is Yates’ first thriller: a tautly plotted page-turner featuring the crime-busting adventures of suave Richard Chandos. Chandos is thrown out of Oxford for ‘beating up some Communists’, and on return from vacation in Biarritz he witnesses a murder. Teaming up at his London club with friend Jonathan Mansel, a stratagem is devised to catch the killer. The novel has compelling sequels:
Blood Royal, An Eye For a Tooth, Fire Below
and
Perishable Goods
.
Blood Royal
At his chivalrous, rakish best in a story of mistaken identity, kidnapping, and old-world romance, Richard Chandos takes us on a romp through Europe in the company of a host of unforgettable characters. This fine thriller can be read alone or as part of a series with
Blind Corner, An Eye For a Tooth, Fire Below
and
Perishable Goods
.
Brother of Daphne
Daphne is ‘well-born, elegant, beautiful, and not especially bright’. In this, Yates’ earliest collection of stories, we meet the Pleydell clan and encounter their high-spirited comic adventures. It is a world of Edwardian gentility and accomplished farce that brought the author instant fame when the stories appeared in
Windsor Magazine
.
Cost Price
A story from Dornford Yates’ later career, of stolen treasure, set against a backdrop of World War II: adventure, a travelling circus and much more besides. Lots of favourite Yates characters are here, as well as some new ones, like the Portuguese mule in trousers, and a few striking villains. This is the legendary Chandos’ final fictional appearance. A tense, assured plot and vintage comedy from a master of the genre.

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