Lunchtime read: What's Become of Waring

What’s Become of Waring is one of the books that has been described even by Powell himself as a sort of dress rehearsal for Dance to the Music of Time. It has the same feel and the same voice from the narrator.

Things start at a wedding where old friends meet and then part just as quickly leaving you wondering who Eustace and Roberta are before things settle down and the story appears to start.

There are other similarities with Dance, with the narrator working for a publishing company that relies quite heavily on its star writer, T.T. Waring, who produced popular travel books.

The introduction sets out a brief history of the publishing firm Judkins and Judkins, run by two brothers, and gives the distinct impression that its future prosperity is far from assured. A new book from Waring is imminent and the sooner it arrives the better.

The same social scene that Nicholas Jenkins inhabits in Dance to the Music of Time is here and so this feels comfortable. It appears to be heading into slightly more satirical country.

More tomorrow…