Recommended Read: Of Love and Hunger by Julian Maclaren - Ross.
Recommended Read. Seaside Noir. Brit Grit. Black Humour.
I must confess, I’d never heard of this book or its author until recently when I was discussing ‘seaside noir’ - Brighton Rock, Weirdo etc - and it was recommended to me.
Julian Maclaren-Ross seems to have been a bit of a rogue, to be sure, and he certainly seems to have lived a varied and colourful life. Of Love and Hunger is a novel inspired by his time as a door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman in the 1930s. It is rich with great characters and has a great sense of time and place.
Although it was written in 1943, Of Love and Hunger is really like a breath of fresh air. Maclaren-Ross has a strong authorial voice and the exploits of the novel’s protagonist are both tragic and humorous. Of Love and Hunger is an immensely satisfying read and the foreword by Paul Willits is also well-worth checking out.