Peter Trahier thought it was a small matter to walk out of his office without permission in order to talk with a man who might be able to further his political career...What possible harm could his action have had? Phyllis Bentley, while painting a vivid picture of the industrial West Riding of Yorkshire, gives us a chain of events that immediately follows; a sequence of cause and effect ripples through the whole community, its impetus continually increasing, till it surges with tragic force against the young man's own doorstep. This is Dr Bentley's finest piece of story-telling.

Author Biography

Phyllis Bentley (1894-1977) was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, where she was educated until she attended Cheltenham Ladies College, Gloucestershire. In 1932 her best-known work, Inheritance, was published to widespread critical acclaim and commercial success. This was in contrast to her previous efforts, a collection of short stories entitled The World's Bane, and several poor-selling novels. The success of Inheritance made her the most successful English regional novelist since Thomas Hardy, and she produced two more novels to create a trilogy; The Rise of Henry Morcar and A Man Of His Time. This success made her a much demanded speaker and she became an expert on the Bronte family. Over her career she garnered many awards; an honorary DLitt from Leeds University (1949); a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (1958); awarded an OBE (1970).