Antigua, Penny, Puce (1937), a barbed tale of sibling rivalry, gave its
title to a never-issued one penny puce-and-white stamp from Antigua with
George VI's portrait on it and three puce pigs eating at a puce trough.
Jane and Oliver are the siblings who fight for possession of the stamp.
Philip Larkin praisede it as 'unique among novels' for 'its variety of
original invention, not to mention its humour'. It can be read as a
political parable about colonialism and the conflict in Spain between
Communists and the Fascists.
They Hanged my Saintly Billy (1957), Graves' last major novel, is
subtitled The Life & Death of Dr William Palmer and, like much of
Graves' fiction, is based on fact, in this case the life of a notorious
surgeon, racehorse owner and a confessed forger who got girls into
trouble, doped horses, robbed a few people. But, Graves' novel asks, was
he a poisoner? Palmer's actual trial took place in 1856, and the novel,
as we would expect of a writer with Gfraves' classic skills, has all the
immediacy and spiciness of contemporary life. It is told through
interviews with Palmer's friends and foes, and we are involved in
piecing the tale together.
Programme editor: Patrick Quinn