The Life of Graham Greene (1904-1939)

by Norman Sherry

  in love with Gwen Howell, 151–4; plays Russian roulette, 154–60; joins Communist Party & visits Paris, 161–4; begins to write novels, 164–6; first reviews, 167–70; battle with Acton, 168–70; looks for a job, 171–2; meets Vivien Dayrell-Browning, 179–81; pursues Vivien, 181–6; proposal rejected by Vivien, 187–93; beginning of Catholicism, 192–3; Vivien tries to end romance, 195–8; wavers between Vivien & China, 197–208; offers celibate marriage, 200–3, 212, 273, 292; writing ambition, 202; first novel rejected, finishes second, 314–16; resigns from BAT, 209–10; tutors in Ashover, 213–14, 215–17; despairing in love, 218–23; engagement to Vivien, 227–30

  job with Nottingham Journal, 233–4, 235–7; life in Nottingham, 235, 246–7, 251–3, 264–5; Ivy House, 238–44, 281; tries The Times again, 247–9; engagement to Vivien, 249; conversion to Catholicism, 223, 249, 254–64, 274; character of, as young man, 266, 267, 284; not a good liar, 269–70; competes for love, 270–3; joins The Times, 286–8; General Strike, 298–303; special constable, 302; ‘hard working talent’, 305–17; in hospital for appendicitis, 318–26; epilepsy scare, 327–35; renewed interest in espionage, 330; disappointed with priest’s advice, 333–5

  marries Vivien, 347–55; The Man Within, 361–4; first novel sale and success, 364–71; escapes, 373; ‘great scheme’ with Heinemann, 377; disappointment of 2nd & 3rd novels, 383–7; life in Chipping Campden, 388–90, 398–404, 416–17, 444; competitiveness with Raymond, 396–8; learns from disappointments, 404–6; secrecy of, 419; Priestley threatens suit, 435–8; later feelings about Priestley, 439–41; success of Stamboul Train, 441–2, 447; reviews for Spectator, 447–8; politics, 461, 468–9; sexual wanderings, 470–3, 500–1; first child expected, 473–4; mother-in-law’s cremation, 476–7; move to Oxford, 477–80; Yambo copies from, 482–3; goes to Sweden, 484–90; bitterness towards Herbert, 497–500; daughter (Lucy) born, 503–5

  plans Liberian trip, 509–12; in Freetown, 515–18; to Bolahun, 520–30; ‘poor innocent’ in Liberia, 527; meets President Barclay, 532–3; asks for wrong village, 534–8

  relationship with natives, 536, 539–40, 550, 558–9; handles carriers’ revolt, 542–3; stop at Dr Harley’s mission, 547–8; meets Col Davis, 551–3; falls ill in Liberia, 548, 553–6; trucks carry party to Grand Bassa, 556–8; Monrovia & home again, 559–62; reasons for Liberian trip, 562–4; lectures to Anti-Slavery Society, 569–70; writes Journey Without Maps, 576, 578, 580

  move to Clapham Common, 567–9; London literary life, 572, 575–6, 585; tries to go to Moscow, 579–80; first hand film experience, 598–604; writes Brighton Rock, 606, 649–50, 655; edits Night and Day, 608–11, 615–20; son (Francis) born, 586, 605, 608; Spanish Civil War, 610–13; Shirley Temple libel suit, 619–24; sexuality, 644; appearance and character of in maturity, xviii, 653–5, 660–1, 665–6; plans Mexican trip, 656–8, 661–2; starts Mexico trip in US, 662–8; would-be priest, 724; return from Mexico, 725; The Lawless Roads published, 695–8; writes The Power and the Glory, 700–1, 722

  Greene, Graham Carleton (nephew), 586

  Greene, Helga (sister-in-law), 47

  Greene, Herbert (brother), 10, 19, 345, 396; starts School House Gazette, 29; works for Asiatic Petroleum, 171; Cousin Ave and, 177; family quarrel with Hugh & BBC, 32–3; alcoholism & drifting, 496–500; Japanese spy, 613; character in England Made Me, 69, 493–6; Secret Agent in Spain, 614–15

  Greene, Hugh (brother), xv, 10, 19–20, 24; on parents, 48; on Dr Fry, 50; dislikes school, 74, 345; on Chipping Campden, 389; closeness to Greene, 14–15, 390, 397; at Merton College, 396, 486; to Sweden with Greene, 487–90; unsuccessful Chatto & Windus interview, 490–1; has son, 586; Herbert Greene and, 32–3, 614; Greene invites to Mexico, 657

  Greene, Lucy Caroline (daughter), birth of, 503–5, 606–7

  Greene, Marion (mother): background & character, 4, 46–9, 132; remote to children, 35–7, 102–3, 401; appearance, 38, 46; loving marriage, 3, 46, 345; Greene’s education, 15–16; on Greene’s character, 20; runaway Greene and, 87–8; on Kenneth Richmond, 109; reaction to Greene’s conversion, 261; Greene’s health, 319, 329, 330–1; Greene’s wedding and, 351; death of, 49

  Greene, Mary (aunt), 49

  Greene, Maud (aunt), 28

  Greene, Molly (sister), 10, 86–7

  Greene, Nora (aunt), 20–1, 90–1, 430; parody of Miss Wills’s kiss, 32

  Greene, Polly, see Greene, Mary

  Greene, Raymond (brother), 10, 177, 345, 388; on family, 5, 39; success at school, 70, 116; suggests Richmond for analysis, 92–3; Greene borrows revolver, 155; Greene and epilepsy, 332, 335; success of, 178, 396–8; throat trouble, 345; first marriage, 384, 472; fame as climber, 397, 445, 510

  Greene, Sir Graham (uncle), 38, 52, 613; in It’s a Battlefield, 463–4

  Greene, Tooter (cousin), 16, 464; close to Greene, 28; unscarred by school, 65–6; German espionage with Greene, 137–8, 140; on the town with Greene, 178, 374; on Greene in love, 185; on Herbert, 496

  Greene, Vivien (wife), character of, 359–60; mother’s letter on honeymoon, 355; life in Chipping Campden, 387, 389–90, 444; recalls hard times in Chipping Campden, 400–1; teaches Greene affection, 401–4; feels effect of Greene’s realism, 417–18; loses both parents, 474–7; first child (Lucy), 473–4, 487, 503–5, 510; Greene misses while in Liberia, 529, 553; move to Clapham Common, 568; has son (Francis), 605, 606, 608; reflects on Greene’s restlessness, 665; protective wife, 660–1; to USA with Greene, 662–5. See also Dayrell-Browning, Vivien

  Greene, William (grandfather), 37–8

  Greenwood, Walter, Love on the Dole, 478

  Grieg, Nordahl, 429–30

  Grierson, John, 594, 598

  Grigson, Geoffrey, 607–8

  Grisewood, Harman, 272–3

  Guest, Eric, 45, 110, 115; on Berkhamsted School, 41; on Greene’s change, 109; on Vivien Dayrell-Browning, 185; helps Greene move, 340–1; visits courts with Greene, 363

  Guinness, Helga, on Greenes, 359–60, 368–9

  Gun for Sale (Greene): character models, 241, 318–19, 628; Nottingham and, 235, 238, 240, 251, 253; writing of, 571, 578, 580; film rights, 585–6

  Haggard, H. Rider, 17, 18, 19

  Hallam, Arthur Henry, 611–12

  Hamilton, Hamish, 576

  Hardy, Thomas, 227, 337, 384; Famous Tragedy of the Queen of Cornwall, 144; Human Shows, 311

  Harley, Dr & family (mission), 547–8

  Harlow, Jean, 589

  Harper, Charles, & Lord Teignmouth, The Smugglers, 362

  Harris, Sir John, 511, 512–13, 570

  Harris, Wilson, 448–9, 585

  Hart, Fred, 417

  Hart-Davis, Rupert, & Book Society, 424–5, 432, 442

  Hartley, L. P., 485

  Hastings, Sir Patrick, 620–1

  Hayward, John, 393–4

  Hazlitt, William, 596

  Heart of Darkness (Conrad), 421

  The Heart of the Matter (Greene), 626

  Heinemann (publishers): reject The Episode, 315, 316; buy The Man Within, 364–6; ‘Great Scheme’, 377, 392–3; reject biography of Rochester, 392–3; Greene has nightmare about, 420–1; not interested in Mexico, 659

  Hemingway, Ernest, almost shoots Herbert G., 614–15

  Herbert, Mr (godfather), 4, 41

  Heuser, Kurt, The Inner Journey, 564

  Hewart, Lord Chief Justice, 622

  Heydoern, Herr, 520–1, 527

  Higham, David (literary agent), 370, 421, 485, 576, 657–8; social relationship with Greene, 359, 390; seeks advice on his play, 451–2

  Hitchcock, Alfred, 590, 607

  Hitler, Adolf, rise of, 659–60

  Hodges, Cecil, 57–8

  Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 565–6

  Holmes, Valentine, 621

  The Honorary Consul (Greene), 416

  Horniman, Roy, Gesellschaftspiel, 657

  Hortobagy (film), 594

  ‘A House of Reputation’ [story] (Greene), 269

  Howard, Brian, 148

/>   Howell, Gwen, 270–1, 643; Greene falls in love with, 150, 151–4; poetry about, 168

  Hubsch, Ben, 568–9

  Hueffer, see Ford, Ford Madox

  Hugel, Baron Friedrich von, xx

  Human Personality (Myers), 93

  Hunt, Violet, 576

  Huxley, Aldous, 312–13, 465, 467; Crome Yellow, 417–18; likes The Man Within, 369

  Hypocrites’ Club, 119, 121

  ice, splinter of, 8–9, 322–3, 413, 418

  ‘If You Were Dead’ [poem] (Greene), 158

  ‘The Improbable Tale of the Archbishop of Canterbridge’ (Greene), 126

  Independent Labour Party, Greene joins, 461

  Ingersoll, Robert G., 426

  The Inner Journey (Heuser), 564

  ‘The Innocent’ [story] (Greene), 9, 178–9

  The Intelligent Man’s Guide Through World Chaos (Cole), 410, 433

  Ireland: Greene debates on, 114; Greene visits in 1923, 134

  ‘Irritation’ [poem] (Greene), 125–6

  Isherwood, Christopher, 311, 347

  It’s a Battlefield (Greene): hospital experience and, 324; Uncle Graham as character, 463–4; Lady Ottoline Morrell in, 464–6; John Middleton Murry in, 466–8; Nottingham sources, 240, 241; political convictions of, 468–9; structure & theme of, 480–2; sources of, 242, 457–62; writing of, 427, 433, 449–51, 454, 456–7; Greene finishes, 479–80

  Jacobs, W. W., ‘The Monkey’s Paw’, 128

  James, Henry: Greene writes about, 585; Princess Casamassima, 433; The Wings of the Dove, 405

  Jay, Douglas, 379

  Jenkins, Alan, 611

  Journey Without Maps (Greene), 8, 18, 263, 654; cooler than reality of trip, 522–3; kinds of maps, 528–9; writing of, 576, 578, 580; publication of, 564–6; libel case, 565, 609. See also Liberia

  Jovanovich, William, 483

  Joyce, James, 281; screaming daughter, 277; Portrait of the Artist, 68; Ulysses, 163

  ‘The Jubilee’ [story] (Greene), 571, 572–4

  Jung, Carl, 93, 95

  Keats, John, xvi

  Kelley, F. C., Blood-Drenched Altars, 704

  Kennedy, Margaret, A Long Time Ago, 450

  Kidnapped (film), 624–5

  Kinglake, A. W., 481

  Kingsley, Mary, 564

  Kingsmill, Hugh, 618

  Kipling, Rudyard, childhood of, 67

  Korda, Alexander, 590, 595, 604; works with Greene, 599, 600–3

  Kreuger, Ivar, 484, 491

  Krishnamurti, 376

  Kruger, Herr, 713–14

  Laminah, 518, 538–9, 561

  Lane, John, 166

  Lang, Fritz, 597

  Laski, Marghanita, 649

  Laughton, Charles, 589–90

  The Lawless Roads (Greene): childhood memories in, 9, 72; turkeys & gangsters, 665–7; novel rises from, 700, 723; motivations behind, 85, 695–8; reaction to, 695. See also Mexico; The Power and the Glory; San Antonio

  Lawrence, D. H., 465; The Plumed Serpent, 662

  Lawrence, Frieda, 467

  Left Review, 611

  Leigh, Vivien, 602–3

  Leonard, Mary, see Pritchett, Mary

  libel suits: Priestley threatens, 435–8; Journey Without Maps, 565, 609; Shirley Temple, 619–24, 656–8, 725

  Liberia: Greene plans trip to, 509–12; Greene’s trip to Bolahun, 520–30; Greene’s liking for natives, 524; map, 528; President Barclay, 532–3; travelling through the wilds of, 533–46; Zigita of ‘evil spirits’, 540–1; Dr Harley’s mission, 547–8; travelling to Grand Bassa, 548–58; Grand Bassa, 557–9; Monrovia, 559–60. See also Journey Without Maps

  ‘The Lieutenant Died Last’ [story] (Greene), 599

  Life of John Sterling (Carlyle), 315

  Little Nellie Kelly (film), 272

  The Little Train (Greene), 209

  The Little Wings (Dayrell-Browning), 182–3

  The Living Room [play] (Greene), 334

  London Mercury, slow to pay, 387

  A Long Time Ago (Kennedy), 450

  Longman, 657–8, 660

  The Lost Childhood (Greene), 74–5, 91

  Love on the Dole (Greenwood), 478

  Loveday, Betty, 122–3

  Lubbock, Percy, The Craft of Fiction, 315

  Lynd, Sylvia, 431

  Macario (Fernandez Aguado), Father, 710–12

  Macaulay, Rose, 639, 649

  MacDonald, Ramsay, 399

  MacDonald, Robert, 482

  Mackenzie, Ronald, 425

  Maclaren-Ross, J., 569, 628, 661–2

  Macleod, Joseph Gordon, 121, 143, 147, 311; The Fog Spider, 128; BBC airing, 148; on Greene’s writing ambition, 165; in love, 186

  Macneice, Louis, 616

  Magnificent Obsession (film), 596

  Man of Aran (film), 594

  The Man Who Could Work Miracles (film), 599

  The Man Within (Greene): betrayal and, 71, 83; plot & parallels to Greene’s life, 371–5; writing of, 361–4; success of, 369–71; first novel sale, 364–6

  Manchester Guardian, 172

  Mansfield, Katherine, 467

  Mantichorean Society, 121–2

  Mark (headman), 529–30, 539

  Marks, John, 615

  Marshall, Herbert, 590

  martyrdom, The Power and the Glory, 717–18

  Masariegos, Don Porfirio, see Pelito, Don

  Masefield, John: on Greene’s train, 311–12; Multitude and Solitude, 231

  Mason, A. E. W., 595

  Matthews, Ronald, Mon Ami Graham Greene, 82

  Maude, Colonel, 287, 301, 328

  Maugham, W. Somerset, 437, 567

  Maupassant, Guy de, 443

  Mauriac, François, 470

  Mayer, Louis B., 598

  McCullough, Francis, Red Mexico, 704

  Mediterranean Blues (Cloud), 412

  Mexican Martyrdom (Parsons), 704

  Mexico: Greene arranges trip, 606, 656–8, 660; Greene enters, 669–70; map, 669; Mexico City, 670; boat to Frontera, 674–6; puritan Tabasco, 677–81, 710; Chiapas by mule, 681–7; German farmer, 685–7, 703–4; persecutes Catholics, 671, 677–80, 681, 694, 704–6, 709–12; Yajalon, 687–90; to Las Casas by mule, 690–4; Greene’s strong reactions to, 671–4. See also The Lawless Roads, The Power and the Glory

  Meyer, Michael, 278

  The Ministry of Fear: Greene’s mother and, 35–6; childhood sources for, 14, 76, 80; first loves in, 152–3, 177; Minney, R. J., 581–2

  Mon Ami Graham Greene (Matthews), 82

  ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ (Jacobs), 128

  Monkhouse, Patrick, 148

  Monro, Katherine, 166

  Morgan, Charles, 479

  Morrell, Lady Ottoline, 142; character in It’s a Battlefield, 464–6

  Mosley, Sir Oswald, 461

  Moss, Geoffrey, Defeat, 135

  Muggeridge, Malcolm, xix, 616, 618, 662

  mules, Greene travels by, 683–7, 689–93

  Munos, Father, 696

  Munro, H. H. (‘Saki’), 67

  Murry, John Middleton, in It’s a Battlefield, 466–8

  Mussolini, Benito, 289, 659–60

  Myers, W. H., Human Personality, 93

  The Name of Action (Greene): writing of, 381–2; disappointing reception, 383–6

  Nesbit, Edith, 17, 18

  Nesbitt, Catherine, 385

  Newman, John H., Cardinal, xxi, Apologia Pro Vita Sua, 9

  ‘The News in English’ [story], 285–6

  Nicholl, Maurice, 93

  Nichols, Anthony, 39, 43, 47

  Nichols, Beverley, 142, 601

  Nicolson, Harold, 509

  Night and Day [magazine]: Greene edits, 608–11, 615–20, 657; cover, 625; collapse of, 622–4, 655, 656, 658

  Nobel, Barbara, 368

  Norris, Sir Lewis, Epic of Hades, 82

  Nottingham: Greene’s isolation, 246–7, 251–3, 264–5, 373; Hamilton Road house, 235; Ivy House, 238–44, 281; changes Greene’s attitudes, 267


  Nottingham Journal, 233–4, 235–7, 283

  Noyes, Alfred, 17, 218

  O’Grady, Clodagh, 178–9

  The Old School [essays] (ed. Greene), 88, 266–7, 492–3, 498

  Olivier, Laurence, 602

  Orient Express (Dos Passos), 422

  Orient Express (film), 590–1

  Orient Express (Greene), see Stamboul Train

  Orwell, George, 605

  Our Man in Havana, 137, 614

  Oxford, Greene’s life at, 119–31

  Oxford Outlook (magazine): estab. by Beverly Nichols, 142; publishes Greene, 126; Greene edits, 142–7, 167; Blackwell and, 145, 146

  Ozep, Feodor, 410

  Paddy (pet dog), 216, 239, 242–3; eats Friday meat, 261; sick on tinned salmon, 241–2

  Palliser, Anthony, xviii

  Park, Mungo, 564

  Parnell (film), 591–2

  Parrott, Sir Cecil, 39, 45, 46, 69

  Parsell, Father, 527

  Parsons, Ian: Chatto jobs on offer, 490; Night and Day, 608, 609, 618, 623

  Parsons, Major James, 55

  Parsons, Wilfred, Father, 710; Mexican Martyrdom, 663, 704

  Paul, Saint, 375

  Pearn, Nancy (literary agent), 576–7, 578–81, 583–4, 669–70

  Pearson, G. L., 287

  Pekoe (pet dog), 388, 402; death of, 434

  Pelito, Don, 720–2

  Peters, A. D., 166, 315

  pets, childhood, 8–9

  Pirandello, Luigi, 194

  Playfair, Nigel, 288–9

  Plomer, William, 616

  The Plumed Serpent (Lawrence), 662

  Poe, Edgar Allan, 3

  poetry, Greene’s preferences in, 128–9, 337

  ‘The Poetry of Modern Life’ [story] (Greene), 81

  politics: in writing, 452, 638; socialism, 410–11, 433, 461, 489–90

  Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Joyce), 68

  The Potting Shed (Greene), Nottingham sources, 240, 251

  Pound, Ezra, 141, 420

  Powell, Anthony, 611; Venusberg, 450

  Powell, Dick, 589

  The Power and the Glory (Greene): 18, 626; dentist, 678, 701–2; Las Casas and, 691; Germans in Mexico, 685–7, 703–4; policeman, 680, 705–8; Rasmussen family, 687–90, 702–3; prison source, 713–14; Indian cemetery, 715–17; martyrdom, 717–18; Judas figure, xv, 717–18, 719–22; whisky priest, 708–13; religious theme, 695–6, 698–700, 723–4; writing of, 700–1, 722. See also The Lawless Roads