Review of "George Passant: Strangers and Brothers #2" by C.P. Snow

  

I first read C.P. Snow's 'Strangers and Brothers' series some time ago, and it became a favorite. The novels focus on an English barrister/civil servant, Lewis Elliot, who rises from poverty to a position of influence in the early-to-mid 1900s. Elliot is present in the entire eleven-book series, but he's not always the central character.

Storywise, 'George Passant' is the second book in the series.

*****

Lewis Eliot was a junior clerk in his town's 'Council Education Office' when he first met George Passant.



Lewis took night classes at the local College of Art and Technology (aka the School), and George, a solicitor/managing clerk at the law firm Eden & Martineau, taught Fundamentals of Criminal Law.



Lewis was drawn into George's social circle, a cluster of young people (called 'the group') that George - then in his mid-twenties - collected around him. All the group, both men and women, were students at the School. The group often met in cafés.....



...... and then developed the practice of spending weekends at a farmhouse ten miles away, where they would cook their own food, pay a shilling a night for a bed, and talk until daybreak.



*****

When the novel 'George Passant' opens around 1930, Lewis is a London barrister in his mid-twenties, and George - now in his early thirties - is still just a solicitor/managing clerk at Eden & Martineau. George hopes to be made a partner, but Mr. Eden disapproves of George's 'way of life' and won't support a promotion.



George has continued to maintain his social circle (the group), which still spends weekends at a farmhouse in the country. The group is composed of a cadre of young people who admire George for his independence and visionary ideas. George encourages his adherents to think for themselves, reject social conventions, and pursue their dreams.



George does everything he can to support his followers. Thinking of his own time in George's circle, Lewis recalls, "George had set us moving, lent us money....it was the first time we had been so near to a generous-hearted man...We became excited over the books he told us to read and the views he stood by, violent, argumentative, four square. We were carried away by his belief in human beings and ourselves."

George's support for a charismatic young man in his group, Jack Cotery, has serious repercussions. Jack works for a newspaper publisher named Mr. Calvert, who helps pay for Jack's printing classes at the School.



When Mr. Calvert's teenage son Roy develops an innocent crush on Jack, the publisher gets angry and withdraws his financial support for Jack's classes. George intervenes and gets a partial victory, but Jack still can't afford to continue his education.

Jack is an enterprising fellow however, and he embarks on a series of financial schemes, some of which skirt the law. Jack convinces George to be his partner in two of these enterprises.....



.....and before long, the authorities accuse George, Jack, and Jack's girlfriend Olive Calvert of financial fraud - specifically misleading investors to get money.



Lewis Eliot becomes the group's barrister, to defend them in court.



Of course, Lewis's major concern is his friend George, who's VERY NERVOUS about the upcoming trial. When Lewis reads George's diary to prepare for the case, he realizes why.



George's journal contains passages like, "This randy fit is going on too long. Last night I could not resist taking the train to London. I was inflamed by the vision of one of our prettiest [prostitutes].....Tonight it was still on me. I took the familiar train to Nottingham. I found a pair of old friends in the first pub...but they were booked...so I moved on. I have hazy recollections of hordes of women that I kissed."

Worse yet, George's diary refers to Katherine, and Freda, and Daphne, all young women in George's group. In Lewis's time, George would have considered it COMPLETELY INAPPROPRIATE to sleep with women in his circle; however, George's desires apparently got the best of him. In fact the farmhouse is the site of rampant sexual activity among people in the group, and George is terrified this will come out in court.

We follow along as Lewis Eliot and his former boss Herbert Getliffe defend George and his alleged co-conspirators.



That's the core of the story, with tangential action that adds interest to the narrative. For instance:

🔴 Mr. Martineau (of Eden & Matineau), a capable and respected solicitor, undergoes a religious conversion. He becomes a devout Christian, leaves the law firm, gives away his money, and becomes a member of 'The Brotherhood of the Road.'



🔴 Olive Calvert, a young woman from a wealthy family, seems to have no direction in life. She dallies with the rapscallion Jack Cotery as well as a respectable educated man called Arthur Morcom, who pines for her.



🔴 George has troubles besides the lawsuit. He's frustrated about doing most of the work at Eden & Martineau while being paid a managing clerk's salary; he could help himself by attending Eden's soirées, but he gets awkward among upper class people; his current girlfriend Daphne is maneuvering to marry him; and he must help his parents financially, but spends too much money on himself (wink wink).



As before, there's a good bit of British slang in the book. For instance:

🔴 Mr. Eden tells Lewis an older barrister must assist him for George's trial, saying, "[The jury would] resent all the [youthful] brilliance right from the start. You'd only have to make a clever suggestion, and they'd distrust you. They'd be jibbing from all the good qualities of your generation..." (In this context, 'jibbing ' means resisting, ignoring.)



🔴 George's mother is talking about Mr. Martineau doing a bunk saying, "That's the place old Mr. Martineau started his acting tricks, isn't it? I should like to know what culch he's getting up to now." (In this context, culch means foolishness.)



🔴 George has an entry in his diary that reads: "The last weekend was full of drunken nights, of decrepit nights. I went to Nottingham, finding money drip away as usual. I was still on the hunt and finished at Connie's....Then I realized once again that no other girl of the past year is fit to take her place. I just had time for a huzzlecoo; then I went back on the last train. (In this context, huzzlecoo means a romantic interaction.)



This isn't among the most compelling books in the series, but it's an engaging tale that's important to the continuing story. 

Rating: 4 stars