______________First published in 1977, A Postillion Struck by Lightning is volume one of Dirk Bogarde's best-selling memoirs.Following Bogarde from childhood through adolescence, to the beginnings of his budding career, A Postillion Struck by Lightning is a heartfelt memoir, offering insight into what created the drive and charisma that eventually made him a star. Dreamy, sun-soaked summers full of freedom spent with his y...

_______________'The autobiography comes full circle - appropriately enough, because this is a book in which people come to terms with the past, make peace with inner demons, learn to say goodbye to loved ones and become sensitive, caring human beings' - The Independent**_______________First published in 1993, A Short Walk from Harrods is volume six of Dirk Bogarde's best-selling memoirs.**Forced to return to...

First published in 1978, Snakes and Ladders is volume two of Dirk Bogarde's best-selling memoirsSnakes and Ladders follows Bogarde from the challenges of his army training camp at Catterick, through the horrors of war, to his glittering – if often trying – film career. We see the thoughtful boy finding his way alongside his fellow recruits, to emerge from the war a thoughtful man, shaped in many ways by his harrowing experiences.Somewhat f...

First published in 1994, this is Dirk Bogarde's fifth novel.Following on from his previous novel, Jericho, evoking the manifold themes and compelling rural French atmosphere of its predecessor, A Period of Adjustment tells the story of William Caldicott.Still recovering from his ruined marriage and the tragic death of his estranged brother, William attempts to build a new life in the south of France with his young son. However, he soon finds himself being attacked from anot...

First published in 1991, this is Dirk Bogarde's fourth novel.With his divorce proceedings looming, writer William Caldicott is in desperate need of some respite. As fate would have it, he receives a cryptic letter of farewell from his estranged brother James, along with the keys to James' house France.Sensing the potentially reformative aspect of such a break, William sets out in search of his brother. He rapidly becomes embedded in the fabric of rural France, learning that...

_______________'An absorbing volume' - The Spectator_______________First published in 1989, A Particular Friendship is a collection of letters following Dirk Bogarde's first four memoirs.'London guests staying hate it. Keeps them awake all night they complain. The bleating in the utter stillness. I heal with it, as you did.'This epistolary collection finds B...

________________'Absorbing... his gift for dialogue is exceptional' - The Observer________________First published in 1983, An Orderly Man is volume three of Dirk Bogarde's best-selling memoirs.After completing work on Visconti's Death in Venice, the celebrated actor seeks a refuge from 20 years of 'continual motion'. This dream of a peaceful retreat materia...

Originally published in 1980, this is Dirk Bogarde's first novel.In the uneasy aftermath of WWII, a group of ordinary British soldiers and their families find themselves stationed as peacekeepers at an outpost in the Java Sea. Whilst attempting to return the island to Dutch control, they are subject to violent attacks by the locals who want their freedom.As the Empire crumbles, the island is plunged into chaos and violence amidst a nationalist uprising. Selfishness, sex, gr...

______________'Desperately moving' - The Daily TelegraphFirst published in 1986, Backcloth is volume four of Dirk Bogarde's best-selling memoirsFilling the gaps left between his previous memoirs, as well as highlighting new episodes, Backcloth explores the patterns of pleasure and pain that have made up Bogarde's extraordinary life.Based on personal letters, notebooks and diaries a...

First published in 1984, this is Dirk Bogarde's third novel.Set in the shadow of Hollywood opulence – the gaudy wastes of Los Angeles – West of Sunset is a sharp and potent satire of movie-making America. However, the excessive glitter is embedded in a deeper plot about a successful man's fall from grace. Hugo Arlington, a celebrated young writer, had the power to destroy people. His widow, Alice, is not the only person to be haunted by his death and life, and gradually th...

First published in 1997, this is Dirk Bogarde's sixth and final novel.The Grayles have lived at Hartleap since Canute. They know this and are proud of the fact. Now they stand around the deathbed of their longest-serving nanny who is about to slip away.Ada Stephens – known as Nanny Grayle and well into her nineties – will not go quietly. In the strange clarity that comes with the last remission, she looks at the saddened faces about her and surprises them all. She says that...

First published 1981, this is Dirk Bogarde's second novel.The fabulous but wavering old Lady “Cuckoo” Peverill, lives with her husband, Napoleon-mad military historian, Archie. Dissatisfied and overcome by sheer boredom, she ventures down to the lake at the edge of their estate, pockets filled with stones, she begins to walk into the water. Before she is too deeply submerged, she is pulled away by sparsely-clothed drifter, Marcus Pollock.Feigning that he merely saved her fr...