Beverley Nichols
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John Beverley Nichols (born September 9, 1898 in Bower Ashton, Bristol, died September 15, 1983 in Kingston, London), was an English writer, playwright, actor, novelist and composer.
He went to school at Marlborough College, and went to Balliol College, Oxford University, and was President of the Oxford Union and editor of Isis.
Between his first novel Prelude published in 1920 and Twilight in 1982 he wrote more than 60 books and plays on topics such as travel, politics, religion, cats, novels, mysteries and children's stories, authoring six novels, five detective mysteries, four children's stories, six autobiographies, and six plays. He is perhaps best remembered, first, as a writer for Woman's Own (as was fellow columnist Monica Dickens) — it was because of his columns in Woman's Own that Alan Bennett's mother encouraged him to apply to Balliol, although he chose Exeter; and second, for his gardening books, the first of which Down the Garden Path, was illustrated — as were many of his books — by Rex Whistler (1905-1944). This bestseller — which has had 32 editions and has been in print almost continuously since 1932 — was the first of his trilogy about Allways, his Tudor thatched cottage in Glatton, Cambridgeshire.
Another trilogy written between 1951 and 1956 documents his travails renovating Merry Hall, Meadowstream, a Georgian manor house in Agates Lane, Ashtead, Surrey, where he lived from 1946 to 1956, and its gardens. These feature his gifted but laconic gardener "Oldfield" A.E. Newby.
The Sudbrook trilogy (1963–1969) concern Nichols's late 18th-century attached cottage at Ham, (near Richmond), Surrey. He authored two books on cats (Cats' A. B. C. and Cats' X. Y. Z). His political novel was Cry Havoc! (1933).
Nichols ghostwrote Dame Nellie Melba’s "autobiography" Memories and Melodies (1925).
He wrote A Case of Human Bondage published in 1966, about the marriage and divorce of William Somerset Maugham and Gwendoline Maud Syrie Barnardo, which was highly critical of Maugham.
The autobiographies feature Arthur R. Gaskin who was Nichols’ manservant from 1924 until his death from cirrhosis in 1966.
He appeared in the 1931 film Glamour directed by Seymour Hicks and Harry Hughes playing the part of the Hon. Richard Wells.
Nichols' long-term homosexual partner was Cyril Butcher.
He died from complications after a fall.
Contents |
[edit] Selected bibliography
[edit] Gardening, homes and restoration
- Down the Garden Path (1932) ISBN 978-0-88192-710-8
- A Thatched Roof (1933) ISBN 978-0-88192-728-3
- A Village in a Valley ISBN 978-0-88192-729-0
- Green Grows the City ISBN 978-0-88192-779-5
- Merry Hall (1951) ISBN 978-0-88192-804-4
- Laughter on the Stairs (1953) ISBN 978-0-88192-460-2
- Sunlight on the Lawn (1956) ISBN 978-0-88192-467-1
- Garden Open Today (1963) ISBN 978-0-88192-533-3
- Garden Open Tomorrow (1968) ISBN 978-0-88192-552-4
[edit] Novels
[edit] Mysteries
- No Man's Street (1954)
- The Moonflower (1955) (aka The Moonflower Murder)
- Death to Slow Music (1956)
- The Rich Die Hard (1957)
- Murder by Request (1960)
[edit] Plays
- Avalanche (1933)
[edit] Autobiographies
[edit] Political
[edit] Biography
- A Case of Human Bondage (1966)
[edit] Children's Books
- The Tree that Sat Down (1945)
- The Stream that Stood Still (1948)
- The Mountain of Magic (1950)
- The Wickedest Witch in the World (1971)
