Wednesday 3 November 2010

"Tomorrow the Apricots" by Douglas Hayes

I tracked this book down following a mention of Douglas Hayes in a biography of Julian Maclaren-Ross. Apparently "Jay" both reviewed and admired this author, though his books have long since fallen out of fashion.

First impressions were not propitious, as even back in 1973 publishers seemed to feel the need for a half-naked woman in army uniform on the cover, thus conditioning one to expect a Virgin Soldiers type of book. Anybody buying it on that supposition would however be in for an unwelcome surprise. This is a serious, well-crafted novel. Written in the first person and the dramatic present, it feels heavily auto-biographical and one can see why JMR liked Hayes so much, since it feels very much like some of his own army stories from WWII.

My only reservation about this book is its length; at 130 pages it is hardly a novel, except by the trashy, contemporary standards of some publishers who pass you off with a novella, or extended short story but still expect you to pay the price of a full length novel. Having said that, though, there is nothing wrong with brevity; after all, Heart of Darkness is one of the greatest works of fiction ever written.

I have not been able to find anything out about Hayes, who seems to have slipped into total obscurity. I do not even know if he is alive or dead, or whether he is the same Douglas Hayes who wrote the screenplay of a comedy film in 1963. Does anyone out there know any of the answers?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The same author who wrote The Comedy Man subsequently filmed.
Tomorrow the Apricots is the third of a WW2 trilogy.

Lexietta said...

I would guess Douglas Hayes would be pretty old by now, or maybe no longer with us. I adored his books so much that I wrote to him back in the 1970s. He replied, and thus began a brief correspondence. He sent me his latest book, Quite a Good Address, which, obviously being pretty autobiographical exposed the sadness of post war years, and the struggle for actors as the repertory system began its slow decline. I was a little in love with the protagonist! The book is a continuation of the series of which A Player's Hide was one. He was in London, but also spent time abroad writing. I wish we had kept in touch....he was a wonderful correspondent and if anyone knows if he is still alive I would love to know.....

Lexietta said...

Douglas Hayes is/was a lovely man. We had a brief correspondence in the early 70s - I have his letters still. He sent me a copy of Quite a Good Address, a wonderful evocation of post war London, which followed on from the war trilogy and the earlier books including A Players Hide. I was a little in love with the protagonist. I think there was a lot of autobiographical stuff in the novels. If anyone can give me news of him - is he still alive? - I would love to know.

Charlie P said...

Following on from what Lexietta has posted I think I came across his books by listening to a recommendation on Radio 4 (A Good Read?) in I think the 70's about his first book 'My father in his Dizzerbell'. Having borrowed them from Suffolk Library I thought the series of books were really excellent. They have been out of print for many years now and the library have no copies. A couple of years ago I tried to find out more about him, but even the publishers claimed no knowledge of him. I wondered if his name was a nom de plume. It seemed that he must have been involved with the theatre in some capacity, and I wondered who he was. It would be lovely to discover he is still alive but alas I fear not.