Lord Raingo is a novel by British novelist Arnold Bennett, published in 1926.
Summary
The plot summary, as detailed in a 1927 edition of the
Crawfordsville 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 the peerage.
Promotion
The novel was published as a serial in the
London Evening Standard and was heavily promoted within this newspaper and the
Daily Express, both then owned by
Lord 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 as
The Age, suggested that the character was based on the late
Lord 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, the
Evening Standard promoted 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 the
Montreal 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 the
Hartford Courant praised 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 the
Daily Mail by
Lord 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 obtain
verisimilitude he 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, starring
Kenneth More,
Janet Suzman and
Joss Ackland. It was the first of several mini series Kenneth More made for the BBC, later ones including
The Forsyth Saga and
The White Rabbit.
Reception
The series was praised by
The Guardian for its "strong story and extraordinarily interesting characters."
The
Observer said "you really want to know what happens next."
External links
-
Complete book at Public Library
-
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Lord Raingo at BFI
