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Republished to mark new editions of Olivia Manning s Balkan Trilogy some Thoughts on a Neglected Author
Itâs odd how Portsmouth seems to produce or stimulate writers and stories. Conan Doyle was a penniless doctor in Southsea (grubby, tarry Pompeyâs green seaside twin sister). Charles Dickens was born there. H.G. Wells toiled in a draperâs shop in Southsea and hated it. The city features often, with its grotesque, ferocious prostitutes known as âPortsmouth Brutesâ in Patrick OâBrianâs matchless series of novels about the Navy in Napoleonic Times, and of course in C.S.Foresterâs currently under-rated âHornblowerâ stories. The murder victim (as he turns out to be) in Josephine Teyâs extremely ingenious âThe Singing Sandsâ is a young man from Portsmouth who used to love crossin