There is no such thing as an ordinary life. But Kenneth Brill's is more extraordinary than most. By the time he is arrested for espionage towards the end of the Second World War he has an incredible story to tell.
Under interrogation he describes his unusual childhood, shares the decadent details of his training as a painter at the prestigious Slade School of Art in the 1930s and explains just why he was so very friendly with the prostitutes of London's Soho underworld; he narrates his heroic actions as a camouflage officer before El Alamein, when he helped pull off one of the greatest acts of deception in the history of warfare, and accounts for his part in a night-time break-in of the royal residence of Buckingham Palace.
This is a life lived to the full, whether as son, friend, lover, teacher or pupil. The only question is: whose side is he really on?
'A huge, complex novel, at turns both blackly funny and bleakly moving, driven by truly original characters' Daily Mail
'Clever, subtle, and rewarding' Times Literary Supplement
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Book Description Soft Cover. Condition: new. Seller Inventory # 9780330518659
Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. Towards the end of the Second World War a young British artist called Kenneth Brill is arrested for painting landscapes near the old village of Heathrow. The authorities suspect his paintings contain coded information about the new military airfield that is to be built there. Brill protests that he is merely recording a landscape that will soon disappear. Under interrogation a more complicated picture emerges as Brill tells the story of his life - of growing up among the market gardens of The Heath, of his life on the London art scene of the 1930s, and his brief spell as a master at a minor public school. But a darker picture also comes to light, of dealings with the prostitutes and pimps of the Soho underworld, of a break-in at a royal residence and of connections with well-known fascist sympathisers at home and abroad.So who is the real Kenneth Brill? The hero of El Alamein who, as a camouflage officer, helped pull off one of the greatest acts of military deception in the history of warfare, or the lover of Italian futurist painter and fascist sympathiser Arturo Somarco? Why was he expelled from the Slade? And what was he doing at Hillmead, the rural community run by Rufus Quayle, friend of Hitler himself? Vanishing sees the world through the eyes of one of the forgotten geniuses of British Art, a man whose artistic vision is so piercing he has trouble seeing what is right in front of him. An exquisite tale of war, art and sexuality. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780330518659
Book Description paperback. Condition: New. Language: ENG. Seller Inventory # 9780330518659
Book Description Paperback / softback. Condition: New. New copy - Usually dispatched within 4 working days. 'A sprawling novel of war, betrayal, art and the truth of storytelling itself' (Independent) from the Man Booker Prize-shortlisted Gerard Woodward. Seller Inventory # B9780330518659
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Brand New. main market ed. edition. 400 pages. 7.76x5.12x1.22 inches. In Stock. Seller Inventory # __0330518658
Book Description Condition: New. A new, blackly comic novel of camouflage and mystery from the Man Booker Prize shortlisted Gerard Woodward Num Pages: 400 pages. BIC Classification: FA. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 199 x 131 x 44. Weight in Grams: 362. . 2015. Main Market ed. Paperback. . . . . Seller Inventory # V9780330518659
Book Description Condition: New. A new, blackly comic novel of camouflage and mystery from the Man Booker Prize shortlisted Gerard Woodward Num Pages: 400 pages. BIC Classification: FA. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 199 x 131 x 44. Weight in Grams: 362. . 2015. Main Market ed. Paperback. . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland. Seller Inventory # V9780330518659
Book Description Paperback. Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 6666-MAC-9780330518659
Book Description PAP. Condition: New. New Book. Shipped from UK. Established seller since 2000. Seller Inventory # FV-9780330518659