The Love Department

A gullible and innocent young man named Edward Blakeston-Smith moves to London and is hired by Lady Dolores Bourhardie, a well-known advice columnist, to track down a man known as Septimus Tuam. Tuam, another young man, is not gullible or innocent. He has been wreaking havoc among married women of a certain age in the suburb of Wimbledon. Often described by his victims as beautiful, Tuam causes them to fall in love with him, despite being “a figure of fun almost, with his soft corduroy suit and peculiar speech.” Lady Delores has received many letters from broken-hearted women about Tuam and wants all the information Edward can provide about him. Her intentions are to stop him.

The book is of course about love. Seeking it, finding it, show more abusing and squandering it, and taking advantage of others in the name of it. Edward, to whom love is a stranger, is now responsible for its restoration. “All this wretched love thing,” said Edward. “Is it the cause of everything?” And of course, it is. show less

This early novel dates from 1966, and having read a few of Trevor's later novels I found it quite surprising. Trevor almost sums it up himself on the last page: "A farce in a vale of tears". As in later novels such as The Children of Dynmouth, Trevor seems most at home with odd characters, misfits and eccentrics.

The central characters are Edward, a naive, innocent young man who is given his first job by Dolores, a sort of agony aunt who believes marriages should be preserved at all costs, and the wonderfully named Septimus Tuam, a confidence trickster who preys on unhappily married middle aged women by pretending to fall in love with them. Dolores asks Edward to investigate Tuam, and the ensuing events take many farcical turns.

An show more enjoyable read but rather lighter and less substantial than anything else I have read by Trevor. show less

Great read. Amazing insight into human nature. Story told in a slightly surreal manner. Very funny. Trevor is a great writer.