A Harlot's Progress by David Dabydeen Paperback Book

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A HARLOT'S PROGRESS reinvents William Hogarth's famous painting of 1732 which tells the story of a whore, a Jewish merchant, a magistrate and a quack doctor bound together by sexual and financial greed.

FORMATPaperback CONDITIONBrand New Publisher Description

Can we ever know the truth about the past? David Dabydeen liberates the black slave boy from Hogarth's 1732 engravings to tell his own story in an exhilarating, vivid series of half-truths, myths and fantasies.A HARLOT'S PROGRESS reinvents William Hogarth's famous painting of 1732 which tells the story of a whore, a Jewish merchant, a magistrate and a quack doctor bound together by sexual and financial greed. Dabydeen's novel endows Hogarth's characters with alternative potential lives, redeeming them for their cliched status as predators or victims. The protagonist - in Hogarth, a black slave boy, in Dabydeen, London's oldest black inhabitant - is forced to tell his story to the Abolitionists in return for their charity. He refuses however to supply parade of grievances, and to give a simplistic account of beatings, sexual abuses, etc. He will not embark upon yet another fictional journey into the dark nature of slavery for the voyeuristic delight of the English reader. Instead, the old man ties the reader up in knots as deftly as a harlot her client- he spins a tale of myths, half-truths and fantasies; recreating Africa and eighteenth-century London in startlingly poetic ways. What matters to him is the odyssey into poetry, the rich texture of his narrative, not its truthfulness. In this, his fourth novel, David Dabydeen opens up history to myriad imaginary interpretations, repopulating a vanished world with a strange, defiantly vivid and compassionate humanity.

Notes

A poetic interpretation of Hogarth's famous painting, presenting alternative lives and motives of the doctor, merchant, whore and slave.

Author Biography

David Dabydeen was born in Guyana. He has published three novels and three collections of poetry, and has won a number of prizes. His last novel, "The Counting House," was shortlisted for the 1997 IMPAC Award.

Review

David Dabydeen's new novel takes as its starting point Hogarth's painting of 1732...and sets out to release the people it represents - prostitute, merchant, quack doctor and slave boy - from easy moralism, both the artist's and our own... Dabydeen has an imaginative mastery of the period, and can render it a hundred ways * Observer *Exhilarating...Beguiling and provocative * The Times *The best of the younger generation of Caribbean novelists -- Penelope LivelyHis strong vision… suggests that, for the recreation of lost meaning, it is necessary to strike off the fetters of narrative, and be released into poetry. -- Hilary Mantel * The Independent *

Promotional

Can we ever know the truth about the past? David Dabydeen liberates the black slave boy from Hogarth's 1732 engravings to tell his own story in an exhilarating, vivid series of half-truths, myths and fantasies.

Kirkus UK Review

A cleverly constructed novel which offers alternative lives to the characters depicted in William Hogarth's famous prints of 1732 (which tell the story of a whore, a Jewish merchant, a magistrate and a quack doctor bound together by greed). The protagonist (in Hogarth, a black slave boy; here, London's oldest black inhabitant) tells his story to the Abolitionists in return for charity - a tale of myths and fantasy, recreating Africa and 18th-century London in startlingly poetic ways. (Kirkus UK)

Prizes

Short-listed for James Tait Black Memorial Book Prize: Fiction 2000

Review Text

David Dabydeen's new novel takes as its starting point Hogarth's painting of 1732...and sets out to release the people it represents - prostitute, merchant, quack doctor and slave boy - from easy moralism, both the artist's and our own... Dabydeen has an imaginative mastery of the period, and can render it a hundred ways

Review Quote

"David Dabydeen's new novel takes as its starting point Hogarth's painting of 1732...and sets out to release the people it represents - prostitute, merchant, quack doctor and slave boy - from easy moralism, both the artist's and our own... Dabydeen has an imaginative mastery of the period, and can render it a hundred ways." -Observer "Exhilarating...Beguiling and provocative." -The Times "The best of the younger generation of Caribbean novelists." -

Details ISBN0099288729 Author David Dabydeen Year 2000 ISBN-10 0099288729 ISBN-13 9780099288725 Format Paperback Publication Date 2000-05-04 Imprint Vintage Place of Publication London Country of Publication United Kingdom DEWEY 823.914 Illustrations illustrations Media Book Pages 288 Publisher Vintage Publishing DOI 10.1604/9780099288725 UK Release Date 2000-05-04 AU Release Date 2000-05-04 NZ Release Date 2000-05-04 Illustrator Luke Seguin-Magee Birth 1969 Affiliation Dr. Robert M. Pressman Position Former senior instructor and associate head, English (deceased) Qualifications Psy.D. Alternative 9781446496800 Audience General We've got this

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