Name: Farewell Leicester Square
ISBN: 9781903155035

Betty Miller

A 1935 novel by Jonathan Miller's mother about a young film-director and his encounters with anti-Semitism. Preface by Jane Miller.

Farewell Leicester Square

S.M.

Written in 1935, this novel was not published until 1941 because it centered around a "mixed" marriage between a Jewish man, Alec, and a non-Jewish woman, and portrayed the casual and frequent antisemitism Alec suffered. <br /><br />I was engrossed by Betty Miller's writing, especially her fresh and often unexpected metaphors and similes. She is also good at portraying the inner lives of her characters and I was surprised at how modern and natural the dialogue is. <br /><br />I read several reviews that said the book wasn't fast-paced enough. I think that's what I liked about the novel; so much tiny detail not just about being Jewish (which the author was), but about the movie business and relationship dynamics. I particularly enjoyed the details about Alec's boyhood in Brighton and Rottingdean, and his dreams of being a film director. 

Farewell Leicester Square

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