The Clocks in This House All Tell Different Times

Xan Brooks

The massive hypocrisies of 1920's Britain are subtly revealed. Not only is Britain unfit for and unworthy of its heroes: the callous, condescending 'care' given to damaged souls by the upper class is unforgivably inhuman, as is the cynical exploitation and abuse of working class girls. You'll get the Orwellian flavour that socialism is a guilt-evading luxury of the privileged.

Extract

When her hours are free she reads newspapers with a frowning concentration, familiarising herself with an adult world of labour disputes and unemployment statistics. The nation is experiencing hard times, it appears, and this suggests there must have been a time when it wasn't. At the library she borrows Sherlock Holmes and Three Men In A Boat and The Old Curiosity Shop, which she devours in chunks, conscious of her heart racing. Poor Nell and her grandad. That horrible, horrible Snipe. She re-reads The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and is relieved to be reminded that it does all end happily.

Parallels