In 1926, Hugh Walpole published Reading: An Essay to share his deep love for books and to champion the intrinsic joys of reading. Written with warmth and eloquence, this essay isn’t just about books—it’s about the profound, almost magical role they play in our lives.
It was lovely to hear recently on Facebook that an online reading group is embarking on a ‘Rogue July’ reading of Rogue Herries (and for the adventurous and dedicated reader, the subsequent follow on novels in the Herries Chronicles series of books!)
Recently I’ve taken some time out now I live in Cumbria to make pilgrimages to the key places where Hugh Walpole spent his time in
It’s been a sunny start to June in Cumbria and what better reason to get out and about and explore the beautiful countryside that inspired
In 1926 the London Daily Express commissioned and published a collection of sixteen essays on religion by well-known people (mostly authors) including Hugh Walpole. Listen to Hugh’s thoughts on his spiritual life in this audiobook reading of his full essay.
Hugh Walpole contributed to a series of short booklets published in 1928, edited by Dr. Percy Dearmer, of King’s College, London, in which Hugh Walpole writes a deeply intimate autobiographical insight into his his thoughts and feelings towards spirituality and how his faith was formed.
I recently had the great pleasure to be interviewed on the Countrystride podcast about Hugh Walpole’s life and works, especially about Hugh’s time spent living
This 1927 work is the third and final in Walpole’s Jeremy series. Jeremy’s home is in Polchester, a fictional English cathedral town in Walpole’s imagination. In this book Jeremy goes to boarding school.
Once again the end of the year is nearly upon us and the festive season is just around the corner. What better way to celebrate than to delve into the bookshelf and pull out another Christmas tale from the Hugh Walpole library.
Hugh Walpole owned a large model ship that took pride of place in his writing room at Brackenburn. Where did it come from and how did it end up in a church in Fife?
With the sad passing of Queen Elizabeth II this week I looked through my Hugh Walpole collection to see how I could prepare an appropriate article of tribute.
We’ve got some very exciting news to share on The Walpole Chronicles blog today. We’ve moved to Hugh’s beloved county of Cumbria!
A story of young woman’s alienation from the society which holds one captive, whose life is suddenly disrupted, by a stumbling progression through constrained social cliques and frustrated romantic attachments, haunted by religious shadows.
Last week I had the immense pleasure to talk to Ahmed Khalifa. the host of the excellent Dark Fantastic Podcast, about Hugh Walpole’s life and
In April 1940, in the midst of the second world war, Hugh Walpole wrote an observatory article of the time in “This Week” magazine. It
Eleven short stories from The Windsor Magazine in the 1920s, Best British Short Stories of 1922, and Best British Short Stories of 1923.
Three generations of the Trenchard family live together in comfortable domesticity until Katherine, the favourite daughter, meets and falls in love with Philip, back from some years in Russia, and the whole stability of the family is threatened.
Perrin and Traill are masters at a grim old-fashioned second-rate boarding public school in Cornwall – Perrin has been there many years and the youthful Traill has just arrived. Antagonism grows between the two turns into active dislike following an unfortunate incident which eventually has devastating consequences.
Rachel, a spirited young girl, has to choose between Francis Breton, her difficult cousin who has been disowned by the family, and Roddy Seddon, a conventional and rather boring but wealthy young man.
Hjalmar Johanson is a boyish unworldly Swedish body builder who comes to Walpole’s fictional cathedral town of Polchester. He has a vision of transforming the town and its populace to a healthier and more beautiful state.
I recently had the great fortune to acquire an article first printed in 1930 in ‘The Colophon” a limited edition quarterly for book lovers, ,
The supernatural story of how a man’s grief for the recent loss of his friend turns into companionship reaching out from the other side.
As an avid collector of Hugh Walpole books and ephemera it’s always exciting when a once in a lifetime opportunity comes along to acquire personal
For the latter part of his life, Hugh Walpole lived in Brackenburn, a country house on the shores of Derwentwater in The Lake District and
In early 1924 Hugh Walpole was living in London at 24 York Terrace, overlooking Regents Park. By this time he had become the successful author
One of the fascinations of researching and collecting Hugh Walpole’s works is the insights you can get into how the characters and stories of his
Apart from collecting Hugh Walpole’s books, I’ve also taken to tracking down the many magazines that Hugh contributed to – and there were many of
The story of an arrogant 19th-century archdeacon in conflict with other clergy and laity was certain to bring comparisons with Trollope’s Barchester Towers (The Manchester Guardian ’s review was headed “Polchester Towers”), but unlike the earlier work, The Cathedral is wholly uncomic….
The Golden Scarecrow, in nine chapters, presents nine stories of nine children, united by location, more or less. A tenth story of a tenth life, divided into Prologue and Epilogue, provides a different sort of unity.
The story of Jeremy and his two sisters, Helen and Mary Cole, who grow up in Polchester, a quiet English Cathedral town. There is the Jampot, who is the nurse ; Hamlet, the stray dog ; Uncle Samuel, who paints pictures and is altogether ‘queer’; of course, Mr. and Mrs. Cole, and Aunt Amy.
Hamlet is Jeremy’s dog. This 1923 book is Hugh Walpole’s second volume in his Jeremy semi-autobiographical trilogy (Jeremy and Jeremy at Crale being the others) about a 10 year old boy. It’s the story of Jeremy and his two sisters, Helen and Mary Cole, who grow up in Polchester, a quiet English Cathedral town.
Written by Hugh Walpole, this is the literary biography of Joseph Conrad (1857 – 1924) who is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in English literary history.
The Old Ladies (1924) is a study of a timid elderly spinster exploited and eventually frightened to death by a predatory widow.
Olva Dune is a Cambridge undergraduate who commits a murder and at that moment feels the presence of God. In a tour de force Walpole novelizes the Francis Thompson poem The Hound of Heaven, about a fearful soul pursued by an insistently loving God.
Written in the first person, The Secret City is a novel in three parts of a journey through post World War I Russia and the Revolution, during a period of Civil War and economic collapse. Listen to the audiobook
The year is 1919 and peace has sprung upon the world after the unspeakable carnage of World War I. Listen to the full audiobook.
Walpole’s first novel (1909), The Wooden Horse is the story of the Trojans, a family which accepted tranquilly the belief that they were the people for whom the world was created.
Portrait Of A Man With Red Hair is a romantic macabre, a thriller of a melodrama written in 1925 and dedicated to his good friends Ethel and Arthur Fowler with whom he stayed with on many occasions whilst he was on his literary tours of America.
Upon the evening of Christmas Eve, when the earth was snow-lit, and the street-lamps sparkled with crystals, and the rime on the doorsteps crackled beneath
Since it’s nearly Halloween what better time to celebrate the darker side of Hugh Walpole’s writing. Reading some of the many macabre books and short
Whilst Hugh Walpole was a prolific novelist, he also wrote a number of theatrical plays, playwrights adapted his novels for the stage and he played
The Society of Old Friends is a society formed at the turn of the 20th Century comprising of a small group of booksellers and publishers
At the beginning of April 1912 Hugh spent a fortnight with Percy Anderson in the South of France, then drove over to Cannes to visit
On my visit to the Lake District in 2019, one morning I visited the museum in Keswick, where on display was one of Hugh Walpole’s
Whilst Hugh Walpole is best known for his championing of the Cumbrian countryside through the Herries Chronicles series, his time as a writer also saw
I first discovered the work of Hugh Walpole in an Oxfam charity shop in Temple Fortune, North London back in November 2011. I distinctly remember