Eric Malpass

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Eric Lawson Malpass (November 14, 1910 - October 16, 1996) was an English novelist noted for his humorous and witty descriptions of rural family life, in particular that of his creation, the extended Pentecost family. However, Malpass also wrote historical fiction, ranging in scope from the late Middle Ages to Edwardian England.

Born in Derby and educated at King Henry VIII School, Coventry, Malpass, while writing in his spare time, worked in a bank before becoming, in 1947, an employee at the BBC. After his initial successes, especially with Morning's at Seven, he turned to writing full-time. Married with children, he lived in Long Eaton, Derbyshire until his death.

Interestingly, Malpass acquired his most devoted readership on the Continent, particularly in Germany, where most of his books were translated.

[edit] Novels

• Beefy Jones (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1957)
• Morning's at Seven (introducing the Pentecost Family) (London: Heinemann, 1965)
• At the Height of the Moon (Tales from the Pentecost Family) (London: Heinemann, 1967)
• Fortinbras Has Escaped (Tales from the Pentecost Family) (London: Pan Books, 1970)
• Oh My Darling Daughter (London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970)
• Sweet Will (Part I of The Shakespeare Trilogy) (London: Macmillan, 1973)
• The Cleopatra Boy (Part II of The Shakespeare Trilogy) (London: Macmillan, 1974)
• A House of Women (Part III of The Shakespeare Trilogy) (London: Macmillan, 1975)
• The Long Long Dances (London: Corgi, 1978)
• Summer Awakening (London: Corgi, 1978)
• The Wind Brings Up the Rain (London: Heinemann, 1978)
• The Lamplight and the Stars (London: Hamlyn, 1985)
• Of Human Frailty (a biographical novel of Thomas Cranmer) (London: Robert Hale, 1986)
• Pig-in-the-Middle
• The Raising of Lazarus Pike

All his novels were republished in 2001 by House of Stratus.

[edit] Short Stories

• The Return of the Moon Man

[edit] Filmed versions

Malpass's books have never been filmed in his native England. Rather, it was mainly in Germany again where his success story continued on the big screen.

• Morgens um sieben ist die Welt noch in Ordnung (In the Morning at Seven the World Is Still in Order) (West Germany, 1968) — directed by Kurt Hoffmann, starring Archibald Eser (as seven year old Gaylord Pentecost), Gerlinde Locker, Werner Hinz, Agnes Windeck and Diana Körner; music by James Last; based on Morning's at Seven
• Wenn süß das Mondlicht auf den Hügeln schläft (When Sweet Moonlight Is Sleeping in the Hills) (West Germany, 1969) — a sequel to the 1968 movie; directed by Wolfgang Liebeneiner, with more or less the same cast; based on At the Height of the Moon
• Als Mutter streikte (When Mother Went On Strike) (West Germany, 1974) — directed by Eberhard Schröder, starring Johanna Matz, Gila von Weitershausen, Gaby Dohm and Elisabeth Flickenschildt; based on Oh My Darling Daughter
• Mon ami Gaylord (France, 1979) — a six-part mini-series directed by Pierre Goutas, also based on Morning's at Seven.