The Life of Graham Greene (1904-1939)

by Norman Sherry

  33 Brighton Rock, p. 36.

  34 Ibid., pp. 34–35.

  35 Ibid.

  36 Ibid., p. 36.

  37 Ibid., pp. 32, 34.

  38 Ibid., p. 36.

  39 Ibid., p. 52.

  40 Ibid., p. 210.

  41 Ibid., pp. 101–2.

  42 Ibid., p. 226.

  43 Journey Without Maps, Penguin edition, 1978, p. 250.

  44 Brighton Rock, p. 141.

  45 Ibid., p. 186.

  46 Ibid., p. 92.

  47 Otto Preminger, An Autobiography, Doubleday (U.S.A.), 1977, p. 153.

  48 Brighton Rock, p. 52.

  49 Ibid., p. 164.

  50 ‘Frederick Rolfe: Edwardian Inferno’, Collected Essays, Penguin edition, 1970, pp. 130–2.

  51 Brighton Rock, p. 139.

  52 ‘Frederick Rolfe: A Spoiled Priest’, Collected Essays, pp. 137–8.

  53 T. S. Eliot, Selected Essays, Harcourt Brace (U.S.A.), 1950, p. 380.

  54 Charles Baudelaire, Intimate Journals, trans. Christopher Isherwood, City Lights Books, 1983, p. 24.

  55 Brighton Rock, p. 167.

  56 Ibid., p. 104.

  57 Ibid., p. 200.

  58 Ibid., p. 203.

  59 Ibid., p. 179.

  60 Ibid., p. 243.

  61 Ibid., p. 246.

  62 Ibid., p. 177.

  63 Rose Macaulay, Letters to a Friend, p. 135.

  64 The Times, 17 February 1966.

  65 Ways of Escape, p. 61.

  40 ‘I want to get out of this bloody country’

  1 Walter Allen, As I Walked Down New Grub Street: Memories of A Writing Life, University of Chicago Press, 1981, p. 100.

  2 Letter to Hugh Greene, 16 January 1938.

  3 Ways of Escape, Penguin edition, 1981, p. 59.

  4 Letter to Hugh Greene, 11 June 1936.

  5 Ibid., 30 July 1936.

  6 Ibid., 31 August 1936.

  7 Ibid., 19 August 1937.

  8 Letter to David Higham, 8 December 1937.

  9 Ibid., 3 January 1938.

  10 Ibid., undated but probably 8 January 1938.

  11 Letter to Hugh Greene, 16 January 1938.

  12 Letter to David Higham, 11 January 1938.

  13 T. H. O’Brien, Civil Defence (HMSO), 1955, p. 101.

  14 Letter to Hugh Greene, 22 January 1938.

  15 Diary entry, 12 January 1938.

  16 Ways of Escape, p. 9.

  17 Letter from Arthur Calder-Marshall to author, 8 October 1977.

  18 J. Maclaren-Ross, ‘Excursion in Grecneland’, Memories of the Forties, Alan Ross, 1965, p. 15.

  19 Letter to Hugh Greene, 16 January 1938.

  20 Letter from Arthur Calder-Marshall, 8 October 1977.

  21 Letter to his mother, 7 February 1938.

  22 The Lawless Roads, Heinemann uniform edition, 1955, pp. 17, 27.

  23 Letter to Father Parsons from Tom Burns, 5 January 1938.

  24 The Lawless Roads, p. 76. Parsons’s unpublished autobiography is housed in the archives of Georgetown University Library.

  25 Letter to Graham from Vivien, 27 February 1938.

  26 Interview with Vivien Greene, 23 June 1977.

  27 Interview with Vivien Greene, August 1977.

  28 The Lawless Roads, p. 19.

  29 Ways of Escape, p. 60.

  30 The Lawless Roads, pp. 24–5.

  31 Letter to Vivien, 28 February 1938.

  32 The Lawless Roads, p. 23.

  33 Ibid., p. 26.

  34 Ibid., p. 35.

  35 Ibid., p. 59.

  36 Ibid., p. 62.

  37 Ibid., p. 100.

  38 Ibid., pp. 76–7.

  39 Ibid., p. 87.

  40 Ibid., p. 100.

  41 Ibid., p. 86.

  42 Ibid., pp. 49–50.

  43 Ibid., p. 70.

  44 Ibid., p. 262.

  45 Ibid., pp. 32–3.

  46 Ibid., p. 268.

  47 Ibid., p. 107.

  48 Ibid., p. 268.

  49 Ibid., p. 78.

  50 Ibid., pp. 255–7.

  51 Ibid., p. 176.

  52 Ibid., pp. 114–15.

  53 Ibid., p. 119.

  54 Ibid., pp. 120–1.

  55 Ibid., pp. 121–2.

  56 Ibid., p. 125.

  57 Letter to Nancy Pearn, 7 March 1938.

  41 The Lawless Roads

  1 The Lawless Roads, Heinemann uniform edition, 1955, p. 128.

  2 Ibid.

  3 Ibid., pp. 130–1.

  4 Ibid., p. 154. When I went to Frontera and Villahermosa in 1978 I could find no record of a Dr Winter, not surprisingly since, with the Shirley Temple libel case looming up, Greene would have been circumspect and changed the dentist’s name. Perhaps Dr Winter’s real name was related to the weather – Snow? – though I am still searching for evidence. There was, however, a dentist in the area called Carter!

  5 Ibid., p. 135.

  6 Ibid., pp. 137–8.

  7 Ibid., p. 139.

  8 Ibid., p. 140.

  9 Ibid., p. 143.

  10 Ibid., p. 196.

  11 Ibid., p. 152.

  12 Ibid., p. 158.

  13 Ibid., p. 151.

  14 Ibid., p. 162.

  15 Ibid., pp. 164–6.

  16 Ibid., p. 167.

  17 Ibid., pp. 168–9.

  18 Ibid., pp. 169–70.

  19 Ibid., p. 178.

  20 Ibid., pp. 182–4.

  21 Ibid., pp. 184–5.

  22 Letter to his mother, 13 April 1938.

  23 The Lawless Roads, p. 188.

  24 Ibid., p. 192.

  25 Ibid., p. 193.

  26 Letter to his mother, 13 April 1938.

  27 The Lawless Roads, p. 204.

  28 Ibid., p. 209.

  29 Ibid., p. 211.

  30 Ibid., p. 214.

  31 Ibid., p. 215.

  32 Ibid., p. 217.

  33 Ibid., p. 218.

  34 Ibid., p. 228.

  35 Ibid., p. 265.

  42 The Power and the Glory

  1 The Lawless Roads, Heinemann uniform edition, 1955, p. 279.

  2 The Times, 1971.

  3 The Lawless Roads, p. 157.

  4 Marie-Françoise Allain, The Other Man: Conversations with Graham Greene, trans. Guido Waldman, Bodley Head, 1983, p. 118.

  5 The Lawless Roads, p. 270.

  6 Quoted in Ways of Escape, Penguin edition, 1981, p. 35.

  7 Marie-Françoise Allain, op. cit., p. 159.

  8 The Lawless Roads, pp. 138–9.

  9 Ways of Escape, p. 64.

  10 The Power and the Glory, Heinemann uniform edition, 1960, p. 1.

  11 The Lawless Roads, p. 130.

  12 Ibid., p. 156.

  13 Ibid., and The Power and the Glory, p. 34.

  14 The Power and the Glory, p. 42.

  15 The Lawless Roads, p. 178.

  16 The Lawless Roads, p. 180 and The Power and the Glory, p. 208.

  17 The Lawless Roads, pp. 29–30.

  18 Ibid., p. 30.

  19 Ways of Escape, p. 66.

  20 The Lawless Roads, p. 129.

  21 Ibid.

  22 Ibid., p. 150.

  23 George Creel, Collier’s Weekly, 23 February 1935.

  24 The Power and the Glory, p. 25.

  25 The Lawless Roads, pp. 34–5.

  26 Ibid., p. 12.

  27 Francis McCullagh, Red Mexico, Louis Carrier & Co., 1928, p. 235.

  28 The Lawless Roads, p. 13.

  29 Ibid., p. 129.

  30 Ibid., p. 150.

  31 ‘solo uno de ellos, el Padre Macario Fernandez Aguado, permanecio a salto de mata, siempre en el monte o en la selva, auxiliando dentro de su desoladora soledad a aquellos catolicos que todavia tenian el valor de confesar su fe.’

  32 The Power and the Glory, p. 161.

  33 Ibid., p. 166.

  34 Ibid., p. 164.

  35 Ibid., pp. 169–70.

  36 The Lawless Roads, p. 143.

  37 ‘The Escapist�
�, Spectator, 13 January 1939, pp. 48–9.

  38 The Lawless Roads, pp. 215–16.

  39 Ibid., p. 216.

  40 The Power and the Glory, p. 200.

  41 Ibid., p. 200–1.

  42 Ibid., p. 201.

  43 Ibid., pp. 105–6.

  44 The Lawless Roads, p. 192.

  45 Ways of Escape, p. 65.

  46 The Lawless Roads, p. 193.

  47 The Power and the Glory, p. 115.

  48 Ibid.

  49 The Lawless Roads, pp. 229–30.

  50 The Power and the Glory, p. 97.

  51 Ibid., p. 98.

  52 Ways of Escape, p. 66.

  53 The Power and the Glory, p. 228.

  54 The Lawless Roads, p. 195.

  55 Ibid., p. 210.

  56 The Power and the Glory, p. 236.

  57 Ibid., p. 256.

  58 Ibid., p. 271.

  59 Ibid., p. 273.

  60 Ibid., p. 281.

  61 A Sort of Life, Penguin edition, 1974, p. 60.

  62 ‘Frederick Rolfe: Edwardian Inferno’, Collected Essays, 1970, p. 131.

  63 Marie-Françoise Allain, op. cit., p. 160.

  64 Letter from Edith Sitwell to Graham Greene, 11 April 1945.

  65 The Power and the Glory, p. 87.

  66 A Sort of Life, p. 121.

  67 Marie-Françoise Allain, op. cit., p. 20.

  68 Letter to Ben Hubsch, 25 April 1938.

  69 The Lawless Roads, pp. 287–8.

  70 Ibid., p. 289.

  Acknowledgments

  First, I must thank my subject Graham Greene, not only for his enthusiasm and his patience but for allowing me access to all his private papers and complete freedom to do as I would with all his copyright works. He promised not to interfere with what I made of all this material so generously given, and he has been as good as his word, correcting only a few small errors of fact that crept into the proofs of my book. Thanks also to Vivien Greene, who over many years withstood the fossicking of a literary detective and remained throughout generous and warm.

  I am also grateful to Auberon Waugh for allowing me to quote from his father’s letters, and to Sir Harold Acton for permission to quote from his letters to Greene. Peter Quennell kindly let me use some lines from his works and the Countess Strachwitz (Barbara Greene) gave her consent to my quoting from her book Land Benighted. Above all, I must thank Sally Leach, Katherine Henderson and Carey Thornton for steering me through the Greene archives at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas, Austin, and supplying me with countless photocopies and photographic prints.

  For generously allowing me to use so many photographs from the Greene family collection, I must warmly thank both Vivien Greene and Elisabeth Dennys. Anne Forbes kindly sent me the picture of her father Kenneth Richmond, and James Wilson, the most selfless of men, allowed me to plunder his family collection. The Countess Strachwitz also generously allowed me to use a few of her African photographs alongside those Graham Greene took himself. Nicholas Dennys sent me the rare photograph of Graham Greene being sketched by Geoffrey Wylde.

  My thanks are also due to the Bell family, Nigel Finch (BBC ‘Arena’ programme), John W. F. Dulles, Richard Sinkin and Jan Rus for photographs so freely given, and to the United Methodist Mission (New Jersey) for the picture of Dr Harley with his children. Permission has also been sought and given for pictures from the archives of the following: Bassano Studios/National Portrait Gallery, London – no. 1; Nottingham Diocesan Archives – no. 22; Brompton Oratory – no. 38; the Hulton Picture Company – nos 28, 29, 37, 39; courtesy the British Library – no. 30 and the illustration here; 20th Century Fox Films – no. 57, Shirley Temple in a scene from Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm; and Weintraub Screen Entertainment – nos 55, 56, filming Brighton Rock. Feliks Topolski gave me permission to use his cover drawing for the first issue of Night and Day, and a few of my own pictures are included in the book.

  Many others over a period of thirteen years have made a contribution to this book: not least the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lancaster, Professor Philip Reynolds, who took an active interest in my early efforts, read the first eighty pages and gave me invaluable advice. Dr Ronald Calgaard, President of Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas (an administrator characterised by the qualities of vision and drive) followed closely the book’s development and strenuously supported it to the end. Dr Ram Singh made himself, as only a friend can, ever available, ever useful. My twin brother Alan was always ready to meet me returning from abroad, at sea ports and airports, and continues to face the awkward destiny of being identical. Bernard Lifshutz never wavered, never failed in his support, whilst Richard Sinkin brought me through some tight scrapes as I followed Greene’s footsteps and he mine, in sometimes difficult jungle or mountainous conditions. His parents, Fay and William Sinkin, have been surrogate parents to me. And finally, Dr Robert Still has kept me alive during a succession of illnesses brought about by the difficulties of travel.

  Over the years I have had the invaluable support of a number of secretaries – Elaine Layer, herself a poet; Dee Escobedo; Anne Dalton; Elisa Albert Bass; Grace Alaquinez. I would especially like to thank Lucy Kilmer for her unstinting involvement and passionate interest in the book. My new secretary Linda Clark helped in the final stages of Volume One and has already accepted the responsibilities of Volume Two.

  I have to thank my publishers for the help they gave me, especially during 1988. Anthony Colwell has gone on working well past midnight, ever watchful of textual and printing difficulties; one was aware of his knowledge and skill in all branches of publishing. Anne Chisholm made some very necessary changes to the final text, and Jill Sutcliffe showed an uncanny ability for spotting errors. But it has been Graham Carleton Greene’s support throughout the writing of the book that has been an absolute necessity, particularly during those periods when I seemed unable to bring the work to a successful conclusion. His patience has bordered on the miraculous and I am happy to call him friend.

  For a short period in 1977 I had the assistance of Susan August Brown who read Greene’s difficult handwriting (sometimes, in its worst moments, it takes on the character of the scratchings of a chicken); and at the period when I was partially blinded Liz Smith also deciphered and typed Greene’s manuscript writings. I owe much to Carmen Flores’s assistance during my research. Russ Newell’s early morning reveilles in North Carolina spurred me to begin writing the book.

  Some people took on willingly the onerous task of reading the typescript in its first draft – its original length being one thousand and five hundred pages – and these I salute, in particular David Holloway, formerly literary editor of the Daily Telegraph; Jonathan Clowes, my literary agent; Nicholas Scheetz, the archivist of Georgetown University Library; and the following brilliant scholars, Professors Peter Balbert, Robert ter Horst, John Halperin, Kenneth Muir, Ian Watt and Cedric Watts. Watts also read the proofs and checked the index and his intimate knowledge of Brighton is apparent in important aspects of Chapter 39. My distinguished colleagues, Professors William Breit and John Stoessinger both read the first nineteen chapters and made highly constructive comments. Edwin Thumboo, Dean at the National University of Singapore, read the typescript long into the night. Graham Greene’s bibliographers, the late Alan Redway and Dr Neil Brennan, were selflessly helpful. Sylvia Sherry was in on the book’s conception and saw it through to the end and where there is special evidence of good sense, tact and intelligence, it must be said that she is the original owner of these qualities.

  I am conscious that I may have failed to recall all those who, in these long years of research, have assisted me. I ask their forgiveness. However, I can record my indebtedness to the following: Victoria Aarons, Walter Allen, James Andrew, Farid Anthony, Father Joseph Appleyard, Clemonceau Ari, Mr and Mrs Armstrong, Francis Arnold, Merton Atkins, Monsignor Atkinson, Harold Atkins who helped me in my study of Nottingham, Arthur Abrams and Moses Dumbuya (who shared my Liberia
n adventures), G. E. Brice, A. R. C. Bolton, Mrs Blom, Tom Burns, Mrs Ave Barham, the late Sir Basil Blackwell, Rene Berval, Professor Tony Bottomley, Dr Jacques Barzun, Professor Muriel Bradbrook, Sir Thomas Bazeley, Charles Blitzer, Jane Bywaters, Hon. Thomas Brima, Miss Phyllis Calvert, Claud Cockburn, Canon Cummins, Dr Mario Curreli, John Caincross, Roger Coster, Elton R. Cude, Ian Carr, Nigel Cottam, Dr Frank Cancian, the late James Carr, Arthur Calder-Marshall, Josine Couch, Carla v Delft, Bernard and Mercedes Darby-shire, S. R. Denny, Guy Denison, Bernard Diederich, the late Basil Dean, Nigel Dennis, Ian Dalrymple, Hon. Fulton Dumbar, Peter Duffell, Father Leopoldo Duran, Canon Brian Dazely, Dr John Donahue, Father Dike, D. J. Enright, Alicia and Raul Ezquerro, the late A. S. Frere, Philip French, Brito Fonchez, Sr Figuerrero, Olga Franklin, Gabriel Fielding, Hon. Joseph M. N. Gbadyu, H. R. Gaines (better known as Ill-gotten), Eva Greene, Edward Greene, E. R. Guest, the late Dr Raymond Greene, the late Sir Hugh Greene, the late Ben Greene, Kate Greene, the late Felix Greene, Francis Greene, Edward Paul Greene, Audrey Greene, De Witt Greene, Peter Glenville, Tom Guinzburg, Harry Gottlieb, James Greene, Dr Gary Gossen, R. J. B. Granville, Simon Grove, Tom Greene, Mr G. E. B. Harrison, Father Hamilburg, the late Miss Caroline Hill, the late Trevor Howard, Douglass Hunt, Professor David Leon Higdon, Jim Hopkinson, Cecil Hodges, Professor Samuel Hynes, William Igoe, the Rt Hon. Douglas Jay MP, Adam Jones, Henry and Charlotte Jordan, Harry Johnson, Michael Korda, Justin Kell, Marie Karim, Frank Kersnowski, Mrs Kelly, John Keen, Margarete Kleiber, the late Leland Lyons, the late John Lehmann, Leslie Horace Leslie-Smith, Nigel Lloyd, David Low, Dr Michael Lechat, the late Harold Lee, Irwin C. Lieb, John Leefe, David and Jo Lopez, Tom Laughton, the late Manuel Landa, Rey Leal, the late Col Alan Maude, Col Murray, Michael Meyer, Malcolm Muggeridge, the late Patrick Monkhouse, Sr Pedro Sanchez Mejorada, Michael Mewshaw, Ambassador Joseph G. Morris, Gordon Morris, Dr Paul Murray, Dr Mark Magenheim, Richard Muirie, Kent Mullikin, Eric Morris, The Rt Rev. James T. McGuinness, the late Joseph G. MacLeod, the late Monica McCall, Juan Torres Morales, the late Tom McGann, Mario Maurino, Major J. McGregor-Cheers, Dr Davidson Nicol, the late Beverley Nichols, Anthony Nichols, Rigel and Edwin Newman, Erik Nielsen, the late Miss C. O’Grady, the late Sean O’Faolain, Ian Ogilvie, Dr Marion Oettinger, Thomas F. O’Connell, Charles Orsinger, the late Ian Parsons, the late Mrs Mary Leonard Pitchett, G. L. Pearson, Don Pelito, the late Otto Preminger, M. B. Pescod, Charles Pick, Gerald Pollinger, Mrs Mervyn Peake, the late Sir Cecil Parrott, Professor Clive Probyn, Señora Pro, Sir V. S. Pritchett, Gordon Phillips, Rev. Gene D. Phillips, SJ, Keith Reeson, A. L. Rowse, the late Cecil Roberts, W. Rees Mogg, Piers Paul Read, Lady Read, the late Sir Ralph Richardson, the late Mrs Zoe Richmond, Jeffrey Richards, Ruben Munguia, Dianne Ramirez, Hannah Strauss, Mrs Joy Ross, R. S. Stanier, the late Frank Swinnerton, John Spencer, the late John Sut.ro and Gillian Sutro, the Hon. Mrs Stoner-Saunders, Ragnar Svanstrom, Mario Soldati, Irene Selznick, Betty Saunders, Shamay Scimeca, Bill Scanlan, Philip Stratford, Scott Steves, Willis Salomon, R. R. Timberlake, the Rt Hon. Lord Tranmire, the late A. J. P. Taylor, Alun Thomas, Keith Cross Thompson, Clemenceau Uri, Peter Ustinov, the Hon. Mrs Elizabeth Varley, Dr James Vinson, the late Rex Warner, Mrs Caroline Weston, H. I. Willis, the late Col A. L. Wilson, the late Alec Waugh, the late Antonia White, Dr Carl Wood, Dr Harry Wilmer, Derek Winterbottom, Trevor Wilson, Harvey Curtis Webster.