Bring Forth The Body is Volume IX of the novel sequence Alms for Oblivion by Simon Raven, published in 1974. [1] It was the ninth novel to be published in The Alms for Oblivion sequence and is also the ninth novel chronologically. The story takes place in England in 1972.
Somerset Lloyd-James – MP and under-secretary of Lord Canteloupe. Dies right at the beginning of the book, on 10 May 1972. Major or minor character in Fielding Gray , The Rich Pay Late , Friends in Low Places, The Judas Boy , Places Where They Sing and Come Like Shadows .
Captain Detterling – MP and former captain. Partner of Gregory Stern. Makes an unofficial investigation on the death of Somerset Lloyd-James together with Leonard Percival. Major and minor character in Fielding Gray , Sound The Retreat , The Sabre Squadron , The Rich Pay Late , Friends in Low Places , The Judas Boy and Come Like Shadows .
Dolly – Faithful housekeeper of Somerset Lloyd-James for many years.
Stupples – Detective Superintendent. Investigates the death of Somerset Lloyd-James.
Pulcher – Detective Sergeant. Investigates the death of Somerset Lloyd-James.
Carton Weir – MP. Right-hand man of Lord Canteloupe. Appeared in The Rich Pay Late, Friends in Low Places and The Judas Boy.
Lord Canteloupe – Minister of Commerce. Loves food, drink and sex despite faltering health. Major and minor character in Sound The Retreat , The Sabre Squadron , Friends in Low Places, The Judas Boy , Places Where They Sing and Come Like Shadows .
Peregrina Lennox Lloyd-James – Aged mother of Somerset Lloyd-James.
Helene Morrison – Wife of Peter Morrison. Appeared in The Rich Pay Late and Friends in Low Places.
Nickie Morrison – Eldest son of Morrison's. Has become an imbecile because of meningitis. Appeared in Friends in Low Places.
Peter Morrison – MP. After being out of politics 1956 – 68, Morrison made a minor comeback. He is suggested by captain Detterling to replace Somerset Lloyd-James as under-secretary of Lord Canteloupe. Major character in Fielding Gray , Sound The Retreat , The Rich Pay Late and Friends in Low Places.
Leonard Percival – Employed in intelligence. Makes an unofficial investigation on the death of Somerset Lloyd-James together with Captain Detterling. Appeared in The Sabre Squadron and The Judas Boy .
Maisie Malcolm – A very decent and friendly prostitute who has served Fielding Gray, Somerset Lloyd-James, Lord Canteloupe and other persons in high places for many years. Appeared in The Rich Pay Late , Friends in Low Places and The Judas Boy .
Max de Freville – Retired gambler and businessman. Appeared in The Rich Pay Late , Friends in Low Places, The Judas Boy and Come Like Shadows .
Roger Constable – Provost of Lancaster College. Still a man of high moral standing. Appeared in Fielding Gray , The Sabre Squadron , The Rich Pay Late , Friends in Low Places, The Judas Boy and Places Where They Sing .
Elvira Constable – Wife of Roger Constable. Somewhat nervous. Appeared in Places Where They Sing .
Tom Llewyllyn – Writer and historian. Fellow of Lancaster College. Major character in The Rich Pay Late , Friends in Low Places, The Judas Boy , Places Where They Sing and Come Like Shadows .
Baby Llewyllyn – 12-year-old daughter of Tom Llewyllyn. Very grown up for her age. Takes a liking to Captain Detterling. Appeared in Places Where They Sing .
Fielding Gray – Rather successful writer who lives in a small coastal town. Major or minor character in Fielding Gray , The Sabre Squadron , Friends in Low Places, The Judas Boy , Places Where They Sing and Come Like Shadows .
Jonathan Gamp – Entertaining friend of Somerset Lloyd-James. Member of high society with unknown occupation. Appeared in The Rich Pay Late and Friends in Low Places.
Gregory Stern – Publisher for Fielding Gray and business partner of Captain Detterling. Happily married to Isobel. Appeared in Fielding Gray , The Rich Pay Late , Friends in Low Places, The Judas Boy , Places Where They Sing and Come Like Shadows .
Ivan Blessington – Old school mate of Morrison, Gray and Lloyd-James. Appeared in Fielding Gray and The Sabre Squadron . Mentioned in The Rich Pay Late .
Meriel Weekes – Was in 1945 one of the housekeepers of the school attended by the major characters. Mother of Somerset Lloyd-James's bastard son.
James Weekes – Bastard son of Somerset Lloyd-James.
This part of the sequence revolves around the life of Somerset Lloyd-James but tells in part also the story of Captain Detterling and Leonard Percival, who investigate the death of Lloyd-James. When the story opens on 10 May 1972, Captain Detterling arrives at Somerset Lloyd-James's to discuss the health of Lord Canteloupe, since the Minister of Commerce seems broken down by his heavy work routine. Dolly, the housekeeper, who is in a state of shock, shows the captain the body of Lloyd-James in a bathtub filled with blood. Everything seems to indicate a suicide. The police explain to the captain that the affair officially will be regarded as a suicide caused by exhaustion. The government don’t want the police to look too deeply into the matter since some scandal may be revealed. However, the police agree to let Detterling be part of a silent investigation to find the truth about why Lloyd-James killed himself.
In the evening the captain has a rather boozy dinner with his distant cousin Canteloupe who seems to be in rather good health, despite the rumours, but drinks more than ever. Detterling suggests that Canteloupe make Peter Morrison his new under-secretary. At the time of his death Lloyd-James helped Canteloupe to sell a new kind of light metal for a British company and also planned how to blacken the name of competing companies. Detterling talks the always "moral" Morrison into accepting the job. Detterling and Leonard Percival, who suffers from stomach ulcers, attend the funeral of Lloyd-James and start their investigation right after the service. During this investigation a number of people are visited by the couple and the first is Maisie Malcolm (whose surname is revealed here for the first time), the prostitute frequented by Lloyd-James for many years. She has nothing to tell, except stories of a sexual nature. After this, they go to Corfu to interview Max de Freville and also see the grave of Angela Tuck, turned into a bizarre mausoleum by the heartbroken Max.
Detterling and Percival discuss many issues during the investigation and for the first time Captain Detterling reveals why he, after so many years in the army, never reached a higher rank than that of captain. During the war, he had signed an order for gasoline, without checking the number of gallons. Another officer had apparently sold much of this gasoline on the black market and, through his negligence, Detterling became a suspect when this affair was revealed. Eventually he was let off the hook but in reality his career came to a halt. After this story they visit Lloyd-James's mother, who mentions that she hadn’t had "real" connection with her son since he was twelve even though he visited her once or twice a year. Roger Constable, provost of Lancaster, is the next person on the list and he reveals a story about how Lloyd-James stole the contents of an essay he was given a prize for from an unpublished essay written some 20 years earlier. However, nothing could be proved. Tom Llewyllyn, who lives with his odd daughter "Baby" at the college, also discusses this essay. When Detterling and Percival visits Fielding Gray he talks about the party that took place in 1945 which ended with Lloyd-James being sick and passing out.
During a pause there is held a memorial (and, indeed, memorable) dinner for Lloyd-James with nine guests: Carton Weir, Tom Llewyllyn, Peter Morrison, Jonathan Gamp, Gregory Stern, Kapten Detterling, Lord Canteloupe, Fielding Gray and Maisie Malcolm. During this dinner Peter Morrison reveals a story he has just been told by old schoolmate Ivan Blessington who heard it from Lloyd-James himself recently: after the infamous party in 1945 the mean Lloyd-James had left half a crown instead of the ordinary five shillings for cleaning up. The outraged housekeeper, a young woman, had gone searching for Lloyd-James and found him sleeping. As it turned out the two of them had sex and she became pregnant. Lloyd-James didn’t know of this until recently when she wrote to him, telling him she had born him a son (officially with another) in 1946. She was now a widow and lived in poor circumstances and therefore asked Lloyd-James for some help. According to Blessington, Lloyd-James had been happily surprised and had been looking forward to meet his son.
Percival and Detterling trace the woman in question, Meriel Weekes, and visit her. It was her shop that Lloyd-James had been visiting on his last day. Her son is living with her and this young man, James Weekes, has become physically disfigured and mentally retarded after a car crash. Before that he was involved in crime, and crashed when he was chased by the police. Meriel Weekes tells Detterling and Percival about how shocked Lloyd-James had been during the meeting though he had provided them with some money. In the last discussion between Detterling and Percival they understand how the somewhat religious Lloyd-James had been broken down by what he considered to be a cruel joke on God’s part.
The Boy Friend is a musical by Sandy Wilson. Its original 1954 London production ran for 2,078 performances, briefly making it the third-longest running musical in West End or Broadway history until they were all surpassed by Salad Days. The Boy Friend marked Julie Andrews' American stage debut.
Lloyd Vernet Bridges Jr. was an American film, stage and television actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. He was the father of four children, including the actors Beau Bridges and Jeff Bridges. He started his career as a contract performer for Columbia Pictures, appearing in films such as Sahara (1943), A Walk in the Sun (1945), Little Big Horn (1951) and High Noon (1952). On television, he starred in Sea Hunt 1958 to 1961. By the end of his career, he had re-invented himself and demonstrated a comedic talent in such parody films as Airplane! (1980), Hot Shots! (1991), and Jane Austen's Mafia! (1998). Among other honors, Bridges was a two-time Emmy Award nominee. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 1, 1994.
Clifton College is a public school in the city of Bristol in South West England, founded in 1862 and offering both boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18. In its early years, unlike most contemporary public schools, it emphasised science rather than classics in the curriculum, and was less concerned with social elitism, for example by admitting day-boys on equal terms and providing a dedicated boarding house for Jewish boys, called Polack's House. Having linked its General Studies classes with Badminton School, it admitted girls to every year group in 1987, and was the first of the traditional boys' public schools to become fully coeducational. Polack's House closed in 2005 but a scholarship fund open to Jewish candidates still exists. Clifton College is one of the original 26 English public schools as defined by the Public Schools Yearbook of 1889.
Jean-Baptiste Perrée was a French Navy officer and Rear-admiral.
Virginia Field was a British-born film actress.
Lloyd's of London is a 1936 American historical drama film directed by Henry King. It stars Freddie Bartholomew, Tyrone Power, Madeleine Carroll, and Guy Standing. The supporting cast includes George Sanders, Virginia Field, and C. Aubrey Smith. Loosely based on historical events, the film follows the dealings of a man who works at Lloyd's of London during the Napoleonic Wars. Lloyd's of London was a hit; it demonstrated that 22-year-old Tyrone Power, in his first starring role, could carry a film, and that the newly formed 20th Century Fox was a major Hollywood studio.
Robert Laman Webber was an American actor. He appeared in dozens of films and television series, roles that included Juror No. 12 in the 1957 film 12 Angry Men.
Morning Star is Volume I of the novel sequence First Born of Egypt by Simon Raven, published in 1984.
Battle B-Daman is a Japanese manga series by Eiji Inuki which ran in CoroCoro Comics by Shogakukan from 2002 to 2005. An anime adaptation was released in January 2004. It premiered in the United States in April 2005. It is the first show of the B-Daman series to be dubbed in English. In Japan, the second season, titled Battle B-Daman: Fire Spirits!, was superseded by Crash B-Daman, a new series with an all new cast and story. The toyline was originally manufactured by Takara and was licensed by Hasbro for release in United States.
The Duchess of Richmond's Ball was a ball hosted by Charlotte Lennox, Duchess of Richmond in Brussels on 15 June 1815, the night before the Battle of Quatre Bras. Charlotte's husband Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond, was in command of a reserve force in Brussels, which was protecting that city in case Napoleon Bonaparte invaded.
Fielding Gray is Volume IV of the novel sequence Alms for Oblivion by Simon Raven, published in 1967. It was the fourth novel to be published in The Alms for Oblivion sequence though it is the first novel chronologically. The story takes place during the period right after World War II, from May to September 1945 Fielding Gray is also the name of a character who features in this and six of the other nine volumes of the Alms for Oblivion series.
Sound The Retreat is Volume VII of the novel sequence Alms for Oblivion by Simon Raven, published in 1971. It was the seventh novel to be published in The Alms for Oblivion sequence though it is the second novel chronologically. The story takes place in India from November 1945 to June 1946.
Come Like Shadows is Volume VIII of the novel sequence Alms for Oblivion by Simon Raven, published in 1972. It was the eighth novel to be published in The Alms for Oblivion sequence and is also the eighth novel chronologically. The story takes place in Corfu in 1970.
The Survivors is Volume X of the novel sequence Alms for Oblivion by Simon Raven, published in 1976. It is the tenth and last novel to be published of the sequence and is also the tenth novel chronologically. The story takes place in Venice in 1973.
Richard Fraser was a Scottish film, television, and stage actor. He is perhaps best known for his role in the 1945 film The Picture of Dorian Gray.
The siege of Malta, also known as the siege of Valletta or the French blockade, was a two-year siege and blockade of the French garrison in Valletta and the Three Cities, the largest settlements and main port on the Mediterranean island of Malta, between 1798 and 1800. Malta had been captured by a French expeditionary force during the Mediterranean campaign of 1798, and garrisoned with 3,000 soldiers under the command of Claude-Henri Belgrand de Vaubois. After the British Royal Navy destroyed the French Mediterranean Fleet at the Battle of the Nile on 1 August 1798, the British were able to initiate a blockade of Malta, assisted by an uprising among the native Maltese population against French rule. After its retreat to Valletta, the French garrison faced severe food shortages, exacerbated by the effectiveness of the British blockade. Although small quantities of supplies arrived in early 1799, there was no further traffic until early 1800, by which time starvation and disease were having a disastrous effect on the health, morale, and combat capability of the French troops.
Major General Sourith Don Sasorith was a Royal Lao Government commanding officer during the Laotian Civil War. Appointed to command the Royal Lao Air Force on two occasions, he was also entrusted two other times with command of a Military Region. At the war's end in 1975, Sourith Don Sasorith was condemned to a communist re-education camp.
The 1917 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were published on 4 June and 19 June.
Lord Hawkesbury was launched in the United States in 1781, probably under another name. She entered Lloyd's Register in 1787. She made six voyages as a whaler. On her second whaling voyage she "the first parcel of ambergris 'by any English whaler'". She was lost on the seventh after a squadron of French naval vessels had captured her. One of her original, British crew succeeded in regaining sufficient control from her prize crew to enable him to run her aground, wrecking her.