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Monday Morning
Published days after his twenty-first birthday, Hamilton's Dickensian debut novel follows a writer's attempts to set down to work on a fated Monday morning.
- GenresFiction
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1925
5 people are currently reading
76 people want to read
About the author
Patrick Hamilton
90 books292 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
He was born Anthony Walter Patrick Hamilton in the Sussex village of Hassocks, near Brighton, to writer parents. Due to his father's alcoholism and financial ineptitude, the family spent much of Hamilton's childhood living in boarding houses in Chiswick and Hove. His education was patchy, and ended just after his fifteenth birthday when his mother withdrew him from Westminster School.
After a brief career as an actor, he became a novelist in his early twenties with the publication of Monday Morning (1925), written when he was nineteen. Craven House (1926) and Twopence Coloured (1928) followed, but his first real success was the play Rope (1929, known as Rope's End in America).
The Midnight Bell (1929) is based upon Hamilton's falling in love with a prostitute, and was later published along with The Siege of Pleasure (1932) and The Plains of Cement (1934) as the semi-autobiographical trilogy 20,000 Streets Under the Sky (1935).
Hamilton disliked many aspects of modern life. He was disfigured badly when he was run over by a car in the late 1920s: the end of his novel Mr. Stimpson and Mr. Gorse (1953), with its vision of England smothered in metal beetles, reflects his loathing of the motor car. However, despite some distaste for the culture in which he operated, he was a popular contributor to it. His two most successful plays, Rope and Gas Light (1938, known as Angel Street in the US), made Hamilton wealthy and were also successful as films: the British-made Gaslight (1940) and the 1944 American remake, and Alfred Hitchcock's Rope (1948).
Hangover Square (1941) is often judged his most accomplished work and still sells well in paperback, and is regarded by contemporary authors such as Iain Sinclair and Peter Ackroyd as an important part of the tradition of London novels. Set in Earls Court where Hamilton himself lived, it deals with both alcohol-drinking practices of the time and the underlying political context, such as the rise of fascism and responses to it. Hamilton became an avowed Marxist, though not a publicly declared member of the Communist Party of Great Britain. During the 1930s, like many other authors, Hamilton grew increasingly angry with capitalism and, again like others, felt that the violence and fascism of Europe during the period indicated that capitalism was reaching its end: this encouraged his Marxism and his novel Impromptu in Moribundia (1939) was a satirical attack of capitalist culture.
During his later life, Hamilton developed in his writing a misanthropic authorial voice which became more disillusioned, cynical and bleak as time passed. The Slaves of Solitude (1947), was his only work to deal directly with the Second World War, and he preferred to look back to the pre-war years. His Gorse Trilogy—three novels about a devious sexual predator and conman—are not generally well thought of critically, although Graham Greene said that the first was 'the best book written about Brighton' and the second (Mr. Stimpson and Mr. Gorse) is regarded increasingly as a comic masterpiece. The hostility and negativity of the novels is also attributed to Hamilton's disenchantment with the utopianism of Marxism and depression. The trilogy comprises The West Pier (1952); Mr. Stimpson and Mr. Gorse (1953), dramatized as The Charmer in 1987; and in 1955 Hamilton's last published work, Unknown Assailant, a short novel much of which was dictated while Hamilton was drunk. The Gorse Trilogy was first published in a single volume in 1992.
Hamilton had begun to consume alcohol excessively while still a relatively young man. After a declining career and melancholia, he died in 1962 of cirrhosis of the liver and kidney failure, in Sheringham, Norfolk.
He was born Anthony Walter Patrick Hamilton in the Sussex village of Hassocks, near Brighton, to writer parents. Due to his father's alcoholism and financial ineptitude, the family spent much of Hamilton's childhood living in boarding houses in Chiswick and Hove. His education was patchy, and ended just after his fifteenth birthday when his mother withdrew him from Westminster School.
After a brief career as an actor, he became a novelist in his early twenties with the publication of Monday Morning (1925), written when he was nineteen. Craven House (1926) and Twopence Coloured (1928) followed, but his first real success was the play Rope (1929, known as Rope's End in America).
The Midnight Bell (1929) is based upon Hamilton's falling in love with a prostitute, and was later published along with The Siege of Pleasure (1932) and The Plains of Cement (1934) as the semi-autobiographical trilogy 20,000 Streets Under the Sky (1935).
Hamilton disliked many aspects of modern life. He was disfigured badly when he was run over by a car in the late 1920s: the end of his novel Mr. Stimpson and Mr. Gorse (1953), with its vision of England smothered in metal beetles, reflects his loathing of the motor car. However, despite some distaste for the culture in which he operated, he was a popular contributor to it. His two most successful plays, Rope and Gas Light (1938, known as Angel Street in the US), made Hamilton wealthy and were also successful as films: the British-made Gaslight (1940) and the 1944 American remake, and Alfred Hitchcock's Rope (1948).
Hangover Square (1941) is often judged his most accomplished work and still sells well in paperback, and is regarded by contemporary authors such as Iain Sinclair and Peter Ackroyd as an important part of the tradition of London novels. Set in Earls Court where Hamilton himself lived, it deals with both alcohol-drinking practices of the time and the underlying political context, such as the rise of fascism and responses to it. Hamilton became an avowed Marxist, though not a publicly declared member of the Communist Party of Great Britain. During the 1930s, like many other authors, Hamilton grew increasingly angry with capitalism and, again like others, felt that the violence and fascism of Europe during the period indicated that capitalism was reaching its end: this encouraged his Marxism and his novel Impromptu in Moribundia (1939) was a satirical attack of capitalist culture.
During his later life, Hamilton developed in his writing a misanthropic authorial voice which became more disillusioned, cynical and bleak as time passed. The Slaves of Solitude (1947), was his only work to deal directly with the Second World War, and he preferred to look back to the pre-war years. His Gorse Trilogy—three novels about a devious sexual predator and conman—are not generally well thought of critically, although Graham Greene said that the first was 'the best book written about Brighton' and the second (Mr. Stimpson and Mr. Gorse) is regarded increasingly as a comic masterpiece. The hostility and negativity of the novels is also attributed to Hamilton's disenchantment with the utopianism of Marxism and depression. The trilogy comprises The West Pier (1952); Mr. Stimpson and Mr. Gorse (1953), dramatized as The Charmer in 1987; and in 1955 Hamilton's last published work, Unknown Assailant, a short novel much of which was dictated while Hamilton was drunk. The Gorse Trilogy was first published in a single volume in 1992.
Hamilton had begun to consume alcohol excessively while still a relatively young man. After a declining career and melancholia, he died in 1962 of cirrhosis of the liver and kidney failure, in Sheringham, Norfolk.
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July 2, 2020
Monday Morning, first published in 1925, and Patrick Hamilton’s first novel, has been something of a holy grail for many of his fans as it has been out of print for many decades. Some of us have been waiting years to read this book.
On 2nd August 2018, Abacus finally republished Monday Morning as part of an extensive reissue programme.
This thread from The Patrick Hamilton Appreciation Society GoodReads group gives you an indication of the tortuous journey to this book finally seeing the light of day.
So was it worth the wait? In a word, yes. Not because it’s any kind of masterpiece but because, for those who revere this wonderful writer it provides many early indications of how his writing would develop. Monday Morning is a quietly charming tale of young love partly set in a boarding house. Many of the themes Hamilton would go on to develop so memorably are present here, albeit often in nascent form: well observed characters and dialogue, prostitutes, pubs, boarding houses, unrequited love, philosophy, London, and Brighton.
Where it differs from many of Hamilton's later books is that it ends happily and, if I'm honest, a bit too neatly.
If you’re new to Hamilton, Hangover Square, The Slaves of Solitude and The Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky trilogy are his masterpieces. Craven House, The West Pier, and Mr. Stimpson And Mr.Gorse are all very enjoyable. Once you’ve read those you’ll doubtless want to complete his bibliography, including Monday Morning. Below is a list of everything he produced.
Patrick Hamilton's novels
Monday Morning (1925)
Craven House (1926, revised edition 1943)
Twopence Coloured (1928)
The Midnight Bell (1929)
The Siege of Pleasure (1932)
The Plains of Cement (1934)
Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky (1935 - trilogy of The Midnight Bell, The Siege of Pleasure, and The Plains of Cement)
Impromptu In Moribundia (1939)
Hangover Square (1941)
The Slaves of Solitude (1947)
The West Pier (1952)
Mr. Stimpson And Mr.Gorse (1953)
Unknown Assailant (1955)
The Gorse Trilogy: The West Pier, Mr Stimpson And Mr Gorse, Unknown Assailant
Patrick Hamilton's plays
Rope: A Play (1929)
Gas Light (1938)
The Duke in Darkness (1943)
The Man Upstairs (1953)
Angel Street (1966)
Patrick Hamilton's radio plays
Money with Menaces (1939)
To the Public Danger (1939)
On 2nd August 2018, Abacus finally republished Monday Morning as part of an extensive reissue programme.
This thread from The Patrick Hamilton Appreciation Society GoodReads group gives you an indication of the tortuous journey to this book finally seeing the light of day.
So was it worth the wait? In a word, yes. Not because it’s any kind of masterpiece but because, for those who revere this wonderful writer it provides many early indications of how his writing would develop. Monday Morning is a quietly charming tale of young love partly set in a boarding house. Many of the themes Hamilton would go on to develop so memorably are present here, albeit often in nascent form: well observed characters and dialogue, prostitutes, pubs, boarding houses, unrequited love, philosophy, London, and Brighton.
Where it differs from many of Hamilton's later books is that it ends happily and, if I'm honest, a bit too neatly.
If you’re new to Hamilton, Hangover Square, The Slaves of Solitude and The Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky trilogy are his masterpieces. Craven House, The West Pier, and Mr. Stimpson And Mr.Gorse are all very enjoyable. Once you’ve read those you’ll doubtless want to complete his bibliography, including Monday Morning. Below is a list of everything he produced.
Patrick Hamilton's novels
Monday Morning (1925)
Craven House (1926, revised edition 1943)
Twopence Coloured (1928)
The Midnight Bell (1929)
The Siege of Pleasure (1932)
The Plains of Cement (1934)
Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky (1935 - trilogy of The Midnight Bell, The Siege of Pleasure, and The Plains of Cement)
Impromptu In Moribundia (1939)
Hangover Square (1941)
The Slaves of Solitude (1947)
The West Pier (1952)
Mr. Stimpson And Mr.Gorse (1953)
Unknown Assailant (1955)
The Gorse Trilogy: The West Pier, Mr Stimpson And Mr Gorse, Unknown Assailant
Patrick Hamilton's plays
Rope: A Play (1929)
Gas Light (1938)
The Duke in Darkness (1943)
The Man Upstairs (1953)
Angel Street (1966)
Patrick Hamilton's radio plays
Money with Menaces (1939)
To the Public Danger (1939)
March 3, 2024
The book is Hamilton's first (he was only 21) and while you can unquestionably see that in the subject matter (it being a little more frothy, lightweight, and lacking in the cynicism of his later books) it does, nonetheless, already have that wonderful Hamilton style that makes reading his books so enjoyable.
The plot revolves around a young man named Anthony who has ambitions of writing a novel but is always procrastinating or being distracted by other things. Hence the title ('I will begin my life next Monday morning'). More than once he assures us (and himself) that he will start his novel next Monday morning, that he will ask Diane to marry him two weeks from now on Monday morning, that he will begin his life properly on the Monday morning following the completion of his acting tour. The book is a gentle reminder of youth and the hopes and dreams of making our way in the world as adults but life getting in the way. He lives in a boarding house and barely writes a single chapter of his novel, has flights of fancy, falls in love with Diane (causing more flights of fancy), then somehow finds himself becoming an actor. The story isn't any more complex than that. A young man gently finding his way in life.
As I say, it lacks the heartbreak of his other novels (age will do that to you) but his writing already has that familiar tempo and style which made the book such a breeze to read. Ultimately, the story is quite lightweight and trivial but I give it a higher mark purely because of the enjoyment I had in reading it. Hamilton is fast becoming a favourite of mine which is why I wanted to read his first novel. As expected, it doesn't pack quite the punch as his later works but to think a 21-year-old could write like this, so effortlessly and assuredly, is still very impressive.
A wonderful if gentle read that I would definitely recommend.
The plot revolves around a young man named Anthony who has ambitions of writing a novel but is always procrastinating or being distracted by other things. Hence the title ('I will begin my life next Monday morning'). More than once he assures us (and himself) that he will start his novel next Monday morning, that he will ask Diane to marry him two weeks from now on Monday morning, that he will begin his life properly on the Monday morning following the completion of his acting tour. The book is a gentle reminder of youth and the hopes and dreams of making our way in the world as adults but life getting in the way. He lives in a boarding house and barely writes a single chapter of his novel, has flights of fancy, falls in love with Diane (causing more flights of fancy), then somehow finds himself becoming an actor. The story isn't any more complex than that. A young man gently finding his way in life.
As I say, it lacks the heartbreak of his other novels (age will do that to you) but his writing already has that familiar tempo and style which made the book such a breeze to read. Ultimately, the story is quite lightweight and trivial but I give it a higher mark purely because of the enjoyment I had in reading it. Hamilton is fast becoming a favourite of mine which is why I wanted to read his first novel. As expected, it doesn't pack quite the punch as his later works but to think a 21-year-old could write like this, so effortlessly and assuredly, is still very impressive.
A wonderful if gentle read that I would definitely recommend.
July 8, 2017
Having spent the day today sat in the Reading Room of the New York Public Library, finally reading a first edition of Hamilton's Monday Morning, I figured now would be a fine time to post my initial thoughts.
As previously noted up above, it's a comparatively short novel, despite the book being 312 pages thick, and I managed cover to cover in under four hours, with two piss calls. Thank you, bladder.
I tend to be a completeist. It's a problem, a disease. When it comes to bands that I truly love, I scoop up whatever bootlegs I can find... but I very seldom, if ever, make for live recordings, preferring instead to stick with demos and/or unreleased studio abortions. Similarly, when it comes to art exhibits, no matter how much I might love the finished works of my favourite painters, I'm always infinitely more intrigued and fascinated by their sketch books.
Both of the above examples are tied together by being unique windows into the creative process, which is precisely why I rate Monday Morning so highly. To dismiss these windows as mere juvenilia would be a mistake. Hamilton's first published work was, if nothing else, an important piece of the whole... you can't trace any creative arc without giving serious consideration to the first step... or, indeed, to mis-steps, perceived or non. Bootlegs of unreleased demos, artists' preliminary sketches, a writer's earliest efforts... often dismissed, but not by me.
So... Monday Morning contains a number of signposts to what was to come, and what, eventually, the reader would expect from Patrick Hamilton: rooming houses with adroitly-sketched characters, pubs and prostitutes, unrequited love, offhand philosophising [in this novel's case, religions and organized belief systems]... and, stylistically, Hamilton's beloved Comedic Capitals are There Throughout. Anthony, the novel's central figure, journeys through Hamilton's usual London and Brighton, but also spends time further afield in Sheffield, Paris and, briefly, Liverpool. For a character defined by his habitual procrastination, the fucker managed to get around.
On the debit side, the novel's ending was much too tidy for my own liking. Predictable and saccharine. It was almost as if Hamilton was eager to leg it down the pub, hoping to meet a hooker along the way. Which, you know, might've been the case.
So there you have it. I wouldn't like to spoil anything for you by saying much more, as I'm still confident that it will eventually return to print.
As previously noted up above, it's a comparatively short novel, despite the book being 312 pages thick, and I managed cover to cover in under four hours, with two piss calls. Thank you, bladder.
I tend to be a completeist. It's a problem, a disease. When it comes to bands that I truly love, I scoop up whatever bootlegs I can find... but I very seldom, if ever, make for live recordings, preferring instead to stick with demos and/or unreleased studio abortions. Similarly, when it comes to art exhibits, no matter how much I might love the finished works of my favourite painters, I'm always infinitely more intrigued and fascinated by their sketch books.
Both of the above examples are tied together by being unique windows into the creative process, which is precisely why I rate Monday Morning so highly. To dismiss these windows as mere juvenilia would be a mistake. Hamilton's first published work was, if nothing else, an important piece of the whole... you can't trace any creative arc without giving serious consideration to the first step... or, indeed, to mis-steps, perceived or non. Bootlegs of unreleased demos, artists' preliminary sketches, a writer's earliest efforts... often dismissed, but not by me.
So... Monday Morning contains a number of signposts to what was to come, and what, eventually, the reader would expect from Patrick Hamilton: rooming houses with adroitly-sketched characters, pubs and prostitutes, unrequited love, offhand philosophising [in this novel's case, religions and organized belief systems]... and, stylistically, Hamilton's beloved Comedic Capitals are There Throughout. Anthony, the novel's central figure, journeys through Hamilton's usual London and Brighton, but also spends time further afield in Sheffield, Paris and, briefly, Liverpool. For a character defined by his habitual procrastination, the fucker managed to get around.
On the debit side, the novel's ending was much too tidy for my own liking. Predictable and saccharine. It was almost as if Hamilton was eager to leg it down the pub, hoping to meet a hooker along the way. Which, you know, might've been the case.
So there you have it. I wouldn't like to spoil anything for you by saying much more, as I'm still confident that it will eventually return to print.
July 12, 2019
3.5 Stars
A fascinating insight into how Hamilton’s work was set to develop over the years, this debut novel offers early glimpses of many of the writer’s trademark tropes – more specifically, men who become infatuated with unsuitable women; forthright comic characters complete with various eccentricities; the challenges of writing, acting and other artistic pursuits; the seedy atmosphere of Earl’s Court with its smoky bars and pubs; the lure of prostitutes and heavy drinking: and of course, the loneliness of tawdry boarding-houses and hotels. It’s a lovable little novel – rather amusing and optimistic compared to Hamilton’s other work, but characteristically strong on dialogue too.
To read the rest of my review, please click here:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2019...
A fascinating insight into how Hamilton’s work was set to develop over the years, this debut novel offers early glimpses of many of the writer’s trademark tropes – more specifically, men who become infatuated with unsuitable women; forthright comic characters complete with various eccentricities; the challenges of writing, acting and other artistic pursuits; the seedy atmosphere of Earl’s Court with its smoky bars and pubs; the lure of prostitutes and heavy drinking: and of course, the loneliness of tawdry boarding-houses and hotels. It’s a lovable little novel – rather amusing and optimistic compared to Hamilton’s other work, but characteristically strong on dialogue too.
To read the rest of my review, please click here:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2019...
April 8, 2017
A pithy and witty summation of the stupid follies of love, vanity and the search for 'our great purpose' when we are young. It is a very lightweight novel but even at 21 you can see Hamilton's obsession with unrequited love, prostitutes and alcohol bubbling below the surface.
The ending was too happy and clean for my liking and I would have preferred the 'pretend' ending; Hamilton obviously didn't have enough life experience to stick with that.
I read this in the British Library in a day, and I was chuckling away in parts and I was amazed how Hamiltonesque it was for his first attempt.
The ending was too happy and clean for my liking and I would have preferred the 'pretend' ending; Hamilton obviously didn't have enough life experience to stick with that.
I read this in the British Library in a day, and I was chuckling away in parts and I was amazed how Hamiltonesque it was for his first attempt.
April 6, 2023
I'll read anything by Patrick Hamilton, very much breaking my own rules in the process. This is his first novel, and it shows.
Perhaps I'll re-read it, because it was hard not to be distracted by (over-)thinking about what to say in my usual review. Or whether to say anything. Why do we post reviews online? Various reasons, but keeping loose contact with a small group of friends is a major part of it. There are people who I know will very likely read my reviews, and I've got them in mind when posting on here. Well, one of them is no longer with us, and I will miss their reviews and their comments on my own. Colour me existentially crisis'd when it comes to digital labour on this forgotten outpost of the amazon empire.
There's probably a book or two on digital grief.
Perhaps I'll re-read it, because it was hard not to be distracted by (over-)thinking about what to say in my usual review. Or whether to say anything. Why do we post reviews online? Various reasons, but keeping loose contact with a small group of friends is a major part of it. There are people who I know will very likely read my reviews, and I've got them in mind when posting on here. Well, one of them is no longer with us, and I will miss their reviews and their comments on my own. Colour me existentially crisis'd when it comes to digital labour on this forgotten outpost of the amazon empire.
There's probably a book or two on digital grief.
November 10, 2019
Monday Morning feels more humorous and not quite as dark as Hamilton's later novels, yet there's a hint--at least, I see one as someone who has read some of his later works--that our heroes may meet with darker times down the road. Monday Morning definitely suggsts the quality of novelist Hamilton would become.
June 19, 2023
I have been meaning to read Patrick Hamilton for years and with the re-publication of his once scarce debut novel I started at the beginning. It is very much a first novel and I suspect and hope greater works were to come. However, I did enjoy it immensely and recognised some of Anthony in myself with his desire for life to start one Monday Morning.
May 4, 2020
I am fairly certain that P-Ham was just recounting the days and weeks leading up to writing this book. Very meta. His first novel, a bit heavy handed with language but otherwise very enjoyable.
November 7, 2020
Monday Morning was Patrick Hamilton’s first novel, written he was nineteen and besides being a pretty enjoyable book, has so many hints of where his career (and life) is going to go, it becomes uncanny.
Essentially it’s a study of naivety, Anthony being one of the most naive protagonists I’ve ever read. It’s odd because Hamilton is clearly writing what he knows; the boarding house life, working as a bit-part actor, planning to write a novel and falling in love too easily with the wrong people but Anthony’s naivety can’t be Hamilton’s as Hamilton writes it so clearly and perceptively. However, Hamilton’s later life, especially his love life shows him acting on the naive assumptions that Anthony holds, so he must have seen his foolish actions whilst being unable to stop himself acting on them, a theme that runs through many of his other works, particularly The Midnight Bell and Hangover Square.
The book introduces him through his objects, they are a little too obvious; a brand new razor, a barely smoked pipe, some newly framed pictures of poets but the most interesting is an inscription on a book where he’s tried to fancy the text up by writing in a cod-mediaeval style, revealing both his pretensions and their lack of solid base.
Anthony really wants to be a Great Poet because he actually likes poems, but decides to become a Great Novelist because those make money. He’s never really read any novels, has no idea how to plan or write a novel and I imagine he never shall. Even towards the end of the book only thinks of novels as a physical object, imagining the cover and pages and print but not the contents.
Anthony’s naivety is never far from awkwardness, and while Patrick Hamilton may be designated the bard of the early-mid twentieth century pub, he’s also especially attuned to awkwardness, especially awkward conversations. Like most things, Anthony has an idea of love, of what it looks like, sounds like and feels like but no actual experience. He takes a friend’s sister on a date to a gallery where;
“The agony of looking at too many pictures commenced.”
He knows pictures should be romantic but neither he nor she are very much engaged. He’s compiled a list of useful conversation topics that he’s organised under the acronym of ‘Begcoc’ but her responses aren’t the ones he planned for, so the conversation dies. Later he tries to declare his eternal love, telling her that he loves her beyond all possible words, to which she responds that she thought he might feel that. As bad as this love is, it’s not as bad as his friend St John who says he loves a 12 year old called Betty because she’s the only girl around, and ends up playing hide and seek with her. (He then disappears from the book).
Anthony then falls in love with a girl only a little younger than him called Diana, who spends school holidays in the boarding house he lives with. She is also naive but feels she isn’t, she has a number of older men writing her love letters, some much older, and likes to feel she’s a cruel mistress to them but also a cute little thing who just needs to be tamed. Their relationship mainly consists of Anthony declaring his true love and Diana enjoying the compliment but not feeling much back.
He finds himself embroiled in the theatre, being a minor actor in a touring company, going to exotic places like Sheffield, which twilight never turns into ‘purple beauty’. He gets drunk a few times and considers himself a dangerous, louche fellow. He breaks up with Diana and writes a poem which he tries to throw into the sea, except the wind doesn’t play along properly. To be honest, despite gaining some experience, he hasn’t gained much wisdom yet.
Returning to London he sees Diana and re-falls in love. Feeling as though he’s lost her he decides to have a night on the town;
“He was in Piccadilly at ten and morosely started his Wild Night”. After a few drinks he decides to go back home, sweep Diana off her feet and make her love him. She says she does and the book ends - ostensibly a happy ending. However, most of their romantic conversation consists of him trying to correct a word she’s mispronouncing and the last words of the book is a promise he makes to her that he will one day return home as stinking drunk as a man they see on the street. It’s structurally a happy ending but the reader greatly suspects things aren’t going to be happy for much longer.
The book is called Monday Morning, as that is when Anthony vows to begin his life, this fated Monday morning never comes and that is what makes this book as unsettling as it is light and breezy. As he never reaches that Monday morning in the book, the expectation is that he never will. The book could have ended halfway through or could have been twice as long and he could be as naive and useless as he was at the beginning.
Essentially it’s a study of naivety, Anthony being one of the most naive protagonists I’ve ever read. It’s odd because Hamilton is clearly writing what he knows; the boarding house life, working as a bit-part actor, planning to write a novel and falling in love too easily with the wrong people but Anthony’s naivety can’t be Hamilton’s as Hamilton writes it so clearly and perceptively. However, Hamilton’s later life, especially his love life shows him acting on the naive assumptions that Anthony holds, so he must have seen his foolish actions whilst being unable to stop himself acting on them, a theme that runs through many of his other works, particularly The Midnight Bell and Hangover Square.
The book introduces him through his objects, they are a little too obvious; a brand new razor, a barely smoked pipe, some newly framed pictures of poets but the most interesting is an inscription on a book where he’s tried to fancy the text up by writing in a cod-mediaeval style, revealing both his pretensions and their lack of solid base.
Anthony really wants to be a Great Poet because he actually likes poems, but decides to become a Great Novelist because those make money. He’s never really read any novels, has no idea how to plan or write a novel and I imagine he never shall. Even towards the end of the book only thinks of novels as a physical object, imagining the cover and pages and print but not the contents.
Anthony’s naivety is never far from awkwardness, and while Patrick Hamilton may be designated the bard of the early-mid twentieth century pub, he’s also especially attuned to awkwardness, especially awkward conversations. Like most things, Anthony has an idea of love, of what it looks like, sounds like and feels like but no actual experience. He takes a friend’s sister on a date to a gallery where;
“The agony of looking at too many pictures commenced.”
He knows pictures should be romantic but neither he nor she are very much engaged. He’s compiled a list of useful conversation topics that he’s organised under the acronym of ‘Begcoc’ but her responses aren’t the ones he planned for, so the conversation dies. Later he tries to declare his eternal love, telling her that he loves her beyond all possible words, to which she responds that she thought he might feel that. As bad as this love is, it’s not as bad as his friend St John who says he loves a 12 year old called Betty because she’s the only girl around, and ends up playing hide and seek with her. (He then disappears from the book).
Anthony then falls in love with a girl only a little younger than him called Diana, who spends school holidays in the boarding house he lives with. She is also naive but feels she isn’t, she has a number of older men writing her love letters, some much older, and likes to feel she’s a cruel mistress to them but also a cute little thing who just needs to be tamed. Their relationship mainly consists of Anthony declaring his true love and Diana enjoying the compliment but not feeling much back.
He finds himself embroiled in the theatre, being a minor actor in a touring company, going to exotic places like Sheffield, which twilight never turns into ‘purple beauty’. He gets drunk a few times and considers himself a dangerous, louche fellow. He breaks up with Diana and writes a poem which he tries to throw into the sea, except the wind doesn’t play along properly. To be honest, despite gaining some experience, he hasn’t gained much wisdom yet.
Returning to London he sees Diana and re-falls in love. Feeling as though he’s lost her he decides to have a night on the town;
“He was in Piccadilly at ten and morosely started his Wild Night”. After a few drinks he decides to go back home, sweep Diana off her feet and make her love him. She says she does and the book ends - ostensibly a happy ending. However, most of their romantic conversation consists of him trying to correct a word she’s mispronouncing and the last words of the book is a promise he makes to her that he will one day return home as stinking drunk as a man they see on the street. It’s structurally a happy ending but the reader greatly suspects things aren’t going to be happy for much longer.
The book is called Monday Morning, as that is when Anthony vows to begin his life, this fated Monday morning never comes and that is what makes this book as unsettling as it is light and breezy. As he never reaches that Monday morning in the book, the expectation is that he never will. The book could have ended halfway through or could have been twice as long and he could be as naive and useless as he was at the beginning.
August 26, 2021
3.0 stars.
Hamilton was still 19 when he wrote his debut novel.
Those who have been wowed by some of his later efforts will not be wowed by this early effort.
But it's undeniably a curio, an interesting look at a very young author pursuing his vocation - to be a writer. It shows Hamilton as a writer with potential, still finding his way, doing his apprenticeship.
The plot, or what there is of it, is about a young lad of 18, Anthony, who is alone in the city staying at rooms in a hotel. He is orphaned, and his aunt, who looked after him hasn't long to live.
Staying in the city, Anthony has the desire to be a successful writer, especially a poet. But he knows novels sell more than poetry books, so he will start his career as a novelist instead.
He is making a proper start to Life and he will begin this start on Monday Morning.
But however much he wants to be successful, he doesn't get far in composing his novel. Distractions come to him easily, and he doesn't find composing a story to be easy.
Procrastination seems to be his forte, as he puts things off, asserting that maybe the NEXT Monday will be when he gets things done, and begins to live Life.
His progress with writing is not enhanced when he meets Diane, a young lady staying at the hotel with her mother. He falls in love with her, but it seems the same feelings are not as strong in her for him.
Anthony also meets an actor, and finds himself in the second half of the book travelling with a theatre company touring the provinces with a new play. These sections, I feel, were the better parts of the book. It seems the young Hamilton was writing a story that was semi-autobiographical, that there may have been quite a lot of him put in the Anthony character. The writing style may at times seem a bit overdone, and there's a lot of youthful energy and a naivete in the story and the book's main protagonist.
The best way to approach this book is not to expect too much, just view it as an apprentice effort.
As a 19 year-old, Hamilton had potential, and would mature significantly in the following years - the 1930's and 40's, which were his heyday.
Hamilton was still 19 when he wrote his debut novel.
Those who have been wowed by some of his later efforts will not be wowed by this early effort.
But it's undeniably a curio, an interesting look at a very young author pursuing his vocation - to be a writer. It shows Hamilton as a writer with potential, still finding his way, doing his apprenticeship.
The plot, or what there is of it, is about a young lad of 18, Anthony, who is alone in the city staying at rooms in a hotel. He is orphaned, and his aunt, who looked after him hasn't long to live.
Staying in the city, Anthony has the desire to be a successful writer, especially a poet. But he knows novels sell more than poetry books, so he will start his career as a novelist instead.
He is making a proper start to Life and he will begin this start on Monday Morning.
But however much he wants to be successful, he doesn't get far in composing his novel. Distractions come to him easily, and he doesn't find composing a story to be easy.
Procrastination seems to be his forte, as he puts things off, asserting that maybe the NEXT Monday will be when he gets things done, and begins to live Life.
His progress with writing is not enhanced when he meets Diane, a young lady staying at the hotel with her mother. He falls in love with her, but it seems the same feelings are not as strong in her for him.
Anthony also meets an actor, and finds himself in the second half of the book travelling with a theatre company touring the provinces with a new play. These sections, I feel, were the better parts of the book. It seems the young Hamilton was writing a story that was semi-autobiographical, that there may have been quite a lot of him put in the Anthony character. The writing style may at times seem a bit overdone, and there's a lot of youthful energy and a naivete in the story and the book's main protagonist.
The best way to approach this book is not to expect too much, just view it as an apprentice effort.
As a 19 year-old, Hamilton had potential, and would mature significantly in the following years - the 1930's and 40's, which were his heyday.
February 4, 2022
4.5 stars
Making my way through Hamilton's lesser-known novels; this is his very first novel written in his early twenties. Similar to Craven House, it is much lighter fare than his better-known works (The Slaves of Solitude, Hanover Square). It is very funny and mordantly perceptive. He captures the thoughts and dreams of the young so well.
Anthony is eighteen and on his own. He is starting out in Life. He has a plan. He will write a novel and will not do such a silly thing as fall in love; no, he will Love. He has such good intentions. His days will be disciplined and productive. It is Thursday. All of this will start on Monday morning.
Of course, the days and hours get away from him; Thursday comes around and he must resolve to start his plan of Life again on Monday morning.
He has some long Thinks about the novel he will write. It will be about youth and will end tragically.
Some funny things happen, a year goes by and at the end we realize that Hamilton has written the story of youth that his character was hoping to write after all. And I disagree with other reviewers that it has a "happy ending." It's the opposite of a happy ending and Hamilton is perfectly aware of this.
A genuinely perceptive, utterly guileless and convincing novel. I loved it.
Making my way through Hamilton's lesser-known novels; this is his very first novel written in his early twenties. Similar to Craven House, it is much lighter fare than his better-known works (The Slaves of Solitude, Hanover Square). It is very funny and mordantly perceptive. He captures the thoughts and dreams of the young so well.
Anthony is eighteen and on his own. He is starting out in Life. He has a plan. He will write a novel and will not do such a silly thing as fall in love; no, he will Love. He has such good intentions. His days will be disciplined and productive. It is Thursday. All of this will start on Monday morning.
Of course, the days and hours get away from him; Thursday comes around and he must resolve to start his plan of Life again on Monday morning.
He has some long Thinks about the novel he will write. It will be about youth and will end tragically.
Some funny things happen, a year goes by and at the end we realize that Hamilton has written the story of youth that his character was hoping to write after all. And I disagree with other reviewers that it has a "happy ending." It's the opposite of a happy ending and Hamilton is perfectly aware of this.
A genuinely perceptive, utterly guileless and convincing novel. I loved it.
July 4, 2020
Very much - and very obviously - a first novel, this is an utterly delightful and compelling story told with a light and witty touch. Any lover of Patrick Hamilton will immediately recognise his trademarks: the lovelorn male, the self-possessed and self-obsessed female, the cast of characters superbly delineated in a sentence or two, and the backdrop of stage and boarding house.
Monday Morning is far less heavy and intense than, say, the Gorse stories or Craven House, and infinitely less intense and polished than the classic and immense Slaves Of Solitude and Hangover Square. However, what it loses in comparison it gains in approachability; this story isn't your genial Professor of English and Human Psychology talking to you, it's your mate. (Hey, I know what I mean.)
Hamilton the writer is, incredibly and unjustly, so underrated. He should be up there in the common psyche with Dickens and any number of modern writers. But fashion in the reading world changes slowly. Oh well, never mind - back to Monday Morning: highly recommended, well worth a few hours of your time.
Monday Morning is far less heavy and intense than, say, the Gorse stories or Craven House, and infinitely less intense and polished than the classic and immense Slaves Of Solitude and Hangover Square. However, what it loses in comparison it gains in approachability; this story isn't your genial Professor of English and Human Psychology talking to you, it's your mate. (Hey, I know what I mean.)
Hamilton the writer is, incredibly and unjustly, so underrated. He should be up there in the common psyche with Dickens and any number of modern writers. But fashion in the reading world changes slowly. Oh well, never mind - back to Monday Morning: highly recommended, well worth a few hours of your time.
April 28, 2023
Eighteen-year-old Anthony is a complete innocent (he doesn't even know how to dance at the start) living in a private hotel in Kensington and dreaming about the wonderful things he will do with his life. He intends to start writing a novel on Monday morning. He falls in love with a young girl also staying at the hotel and writes poetry and love letters but she doesn't really seem to be in love with him. He tries for journalist jobs on national papers but his utter lack of experience always results in a recommendation (studiously ignored) to start with the provincials. An acquaintance with an actor lands him a job as an assistant stage manager but he doesn't even know what a prop is; nevertheless he gets a small part as an actor and goes with the company on tour. He avoids prostitutes and travels to Paris.
It's quite funny in places and an amiable narrative of an inexperienced and utterly gauche lad trying to fall in love.
It's quite funny in places and an amiable narrative of an inexperienced and utterly gauche lad trying to fall in love.
December 8, 2021
Interesting to read the juvenile version of the elements that would characterise his mature writing - the capacity for self delusion, the lack of real intimacy between people, conversation as a combative art with all its mental manouevering, the uncanny ear for vernacular speech, life in boarding houses, theatre with its glamour stripped away, encounters with prostitutes. Missing only is the thundering bitch, though you wonder if Diane, too, is the juvenile version.
At one point on a train journey through the London suburbs he describes the view: "There were endless horrid black villas and yellow hoardings under the grey, humid day. There were children in the yards behind the villas, and women at work. Hard, patchy work, with no expectation whatever of eventual triumph over the dirt and disorder."
At one point on a train journey through the London suburbs he describes the view: "There were endless horrid black villas and yellow hoardings under the grey, humid day. There were children in the yards behind the villas, and women at work. Hard, patchy work, with no expectation whatever of eventual triumph over the dirt and disorder."
October 18, 2020
Patrick Hamilton is one of those amazing authors who can get under your skin. In that sense, he reminds me of Patricia Highsmith. And no one can describe the theater world or life in London before the war (and even during the war). A great author. His first book is as strong as his others.
September 8, 2020
Enjoyed in parts, I could see the Patrick Hamilton of the future in the writing. Not his best novel for me however still enjoyable. If anyone is a fan of this author, then this novel should be read.
March 10, 2021
Patrick Hamiltons debut novel which, i believe, he wrote at the age of 21. A glimpse of the brilliant novels that are to follow
November 13, 2019
Ok, I love Patrick. When I was first recommended to read hangover square by a young man with impeccable taste in literature I knew I was going to love him and I do and the love affair has never faltered until now. Monday morning, for me, was not a good book. It was however Hamilton’s first ever novel so he can be forgiven for this. I’m glad I have read it as I like to read anything and everything he has done but for me it just wasn’t what I wanted from a PH book. I want pubs, I want anguish, I want ladies of the night and too much alcohol and cigarettes. This book was Hamilton before all these things got hold of his soul. It was upbeat and twee. Lots of ‘jolly goods’ and ‘ever so’s’, lots of dances and fawning. I want to be transported into 1930s London (the dodgy end) when I read Hamilton - not to a tea dance.
May 8, 2022
Interesting & excellent.
Not what you expect. It reads more like 1930s Waugh, crossed with a little of ‘This Side Of Paradise’.
Slight comedic and fun.
The only real link to later work is the seedy boarding houses, and alcohol.
The central character is actually quite repellent! But you are interested in what befalls his work shy perspective.
One star light for a poor ending. Something others have commented on too.
Not what you expect. It reads more like 1930s Waugh, crossed with a little of ‘This Side Of Paradise’.
Slight comedic and fun.
The only real link to later work is the seedy boarding houses, and alcohol.
The central character is actually quite repellent! But you are interested in what befalls his work shy perspective.
One star light for a poor ending. Something others have commented on too.
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