Angel Pavement

"What do they call this street? Angel Pavement, isn't it? That's a dam' queer name for a street, though I've known queerer names in my time." (Golspie).

Tucked away in the City of London, lies a dingy, almost forgotten side street known as Angel Pavement. Here can be found the headquarters of Twigg & Dersingham, suppliers of veneers and inlays to the furniture trade. Business is slow and the staff struggle against a tide of growing competition, rising prices and recession. Into their midst descends the mysterious and charming Mr Golspie and the promise of a brighter future. Be sure, life will never be the same again for all those concerned with the firm...the likes of Herbert Norman Smeeth, the cashier; Harold Turgis, the clerk; Lilian Matfield, the secretary-typist; and the boss, Howard Bromport Dersingham!

Angel Pavement is one of the great London a vivid evocation of the sprawling and crowded metropolis during the era of the painful Depression of the inter-war years. It is also a splendidly perceptive examination of what happens to a small group of office staff when the destructive force of a rapacious financial predator is unleashed among them.

This is J.B. Priestley at his best...indeed most critics agree that Angel Pavement was his finest novel, with only Bright Day a near contender! It arrived just after the huge success of The Good Companions, and, though it is darker than the delightful earlier novel, it proved just as popular...and probably more significant.

Great Northern Books of Ilkley have been bringing out new editions of a number of Priestley's works, and that Angel Pavement was the choice in 2012 proved a source of pleasure to all Priestley fans...and, hopefully, the availability of the novel once again will help new readers discover the unique style and magic of J.B. Priestley.