Fanfare for Tin Trumpets (1932)

60/2021. Fanfare for Tin Trumpets by Margery Sharp, 1932, was her second novel and another mildly satirical comedy, also one of her few novels with a male protagonist. This story is about a young man who decides to spend a year trying to be a writer, of vaguely considered novels or short stories or plays or..., after his father dies and he inherits £100. He works out a frugal budget and rents a room with a friend attending teacher training college, but then our hero falls in love with an overbudget actress. Oops. This isn't as laugh aloud funny as some of Sharp's novels but even in the early novels her astute eye for human behaviour is always amusing to me (and it's definitely more Furrowed Middlebrow than some of her later more satirical work).

Quotes

The English Way of Death: "On Mr. French's death he had been surprised to feel practically no sorrow, only an additional warmth of affection towards his friend; and in view of the exceptional circumstances had even managed to mention this feeling in so many words. But that was a couple of days ago, and the incident could now be considered closed."

Make-up: "You want either," said Charlie Coe impartially, "to take some off or put some on. It doesn't matter which, but just now you look like a corpse."

Age and dignity, or not, lol: "The sunken mouth puckered into a grin, the beady eyes sparkled, her whole aged countenance was suddenly alive with that pure bawdy gusto that makes some parts of Shakespeare so unsuitable for the use of schools." ( )

Margery Sharp's second novel.

Alastair French has received a small legacy upon his father's death, and decides to use it to move to London for a year and become a writer. All goes well until the lovely Cressida appears, and all of Alastair's careful budgeting is completely set to naught.

Amusing; an enjoyable light novel. Long out of print; very hard to come by. Re-publishers - take note! ( )