Lord Raingo

Lord Raingois a novel by British novelistArnold Bennett,published in 1926.

Lord Raingo

Title page forLord Raingo(1926)
Author	Arnold Bennett
Language	English
Publication date	1926
Publication place	United Kingdom

Summary

The plot summary, as detailed in a 1927 edition of theCrawfordsville Review,explains it as a detailed drawing of the character of a middle-aged English millionaire, who is made Minister of Records and raised to thepeerage.

Promotion

The novel was published as aserialin theLondon Evening Standardand was heavily promoted within this newspaper and theDaily Express,both then owned byLord Beaverbrook.As part of the story, readers were asked to surmise on the identity of the fictional character Lord Raingo and which person he was based upon. Newspapers reviewing the work, such asThe Age,suggested that the character was based on the lateLord Rhondda,noting the "striking resemblances" between the two businessmen, who each "became millionaires before taking a prominent part in public life".In September 1926, a week prior to the first instalment, theEvening Standardpromoted the novel on their front page with a suggestion that discussions would arise from surmising who the real identity of Lord Raingo is. The paper believed this may also raise a question of "literary ethics" and encouraged readers to make their own determinations as to whether the character was a real person, or a fictional character based on a real person.

Reception

The novel was praised by theMontreal Gazette,who described it as a great novel which "is thoroughly readable" and "an excellent satire on the spirit and methods of modern politics".Likewise, a writer for theHartford Courantpraised the work, particularly highlighting the sick-room scenes which were described as ranking among "the best work ever achieved by Mr Bennett", commenting on how they believed the scenes were faithful to reality.In contrast, it was criticised in an entry to theDaily MailbyLord Birkenhead.Upon reading the critique, Bennett hurriedly started to prepare a response letter, at which point his secretary advised him that the newspaper had requested a response from Bennett.Lord Birkenhead expressed concern that Bennett was using real people within his novels, to which Bennett responded that he had discounted this suggestion numerous times already, stating that "If a novelist is entitled to deal with modern politics, then in order to obtainverisimilitudehe must devise, for some of his personages, individuals who bear some resemblance to individuals in real life ".Bennett charged the paper a £60 sum for his response.

Television adaption

The novel was adapted into a 1966 British TV series, which ran for 4 episodes across April to May on BBC2, starringKenneth More,Janet SuzmanandJoss Ackland.It was the first of several mini series Kenneth More made for the BBC, later ones includingThe Forsyth SagaandThe White Rabbit.

Reception

The series was praised byThe Guardianfor its "strong story and extraordinarily interesting characters."TheObserversaid "you really want to know what happens next."

References

This article incorporates text fromThe Crawsfordshire Review,a publication from 1927, now in thepublic domainin the United States.

External links

• Complete bookat Public Library
• Lord Raingoat BFI
• Lord RaingoatIMDb