Dog at Clambercrown

The Dog at Clambercrown takes its name from a mysterious pub - seductive and frightening, never visited, only heard of - that fascinates Brooke's child narrator in this beautiful and utterly original work of autobiographical fiction.Both a journey through Europe and a return to the forbidden kingdoms of a Kentish childhood, the novel interweaves past and present as Brooke, responding to the magical potency of "e;Abroad"e;, summons the obsessions and terrors of his youth, and conjures an almost pagan vision of the English countryside - even as he sits down to tea with the Sicilian mafia.First published in 1955, The Dog at Clambercrown epitomises what Anthony Powell termed as Brooke's unique genre of "e;reminiscence lightly touched with fiction"e;. Disarmingly clever, deliciously opinionated and irrepressibly amusing, this neglected classic of gay literature is ripe for rediscovery.'One of the most interesting and talented of contemporary writers' - Anthony Powell'He is subtle as the devil' - John Betjeman'Here is a writer possessed by the magic-the voodoo-of childhood' -- New Statesman