, the third published novel by David Storey, is longer and more ambitious than its two predecessors,

(1960) and

(1960). Where these earlier novels were largely realistic,

incorporates realism within a high Gothic mode and its style is intense and dramatic, sometimes melodramatic. The novel focuses on the tortured physical and emotional passion between the fragile Leonard Radcliffe and the muscular Victor Tolson and builds to a corpse-strewn climax.

Storey’s earlier novels, This Sporting Life and Flight into Camden, had central characters who were also first-person narrators, but Radcliffe has a third-person narrator, although not an omniscient one. Even with its title character, the novel rarely offers any in-depth evocation and

3885 words

Citation: Tredell, Nicolas. "Radcliffe". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 May 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2489, accessed 27 November 2024.]