Francis King Summary

The title story of Francis King's latest short story collection, Indirect Method (1980), suggests covertly the way this talented and prolific writer proceeds in his own fiction: the direct method is n... Read more

In the following review of The Firewalkers, Everson comments favorably on the novel's writing and on the character Cedric. He warns readers that although the novel was reissued in the Gay Moder... Read more

In the following review, Seymour-Smith praises the structure and depth of Frozen Music. There is some confusion about the nature of fictions that are too short to call novels but too long to call shor... Read more

In the following review of The Woman Who Was God, Lesser criticizes what she perceives as King's lack of empathy for his characters, especially Ruth St. Just, and maintains that the too-clever ... Read more

In the following review of Punishments, Abel briefly describes what she feels are the two “punishments” found in the novel. Punishments by Francis King is a subtle, thoughtfully planned ... Read more

In the following review of Visiting Cards, Illis notes that there is a serious side to King's comic novel. Francis King, former President of PEN International, has written a novel about the Pre... Read more

In the following review of The Ant Colony, Sage examines King's treatment of his characters, especially Jack and Iris. Export the English if you want to have a good look at them, their absurdit... Read more

In the following review of Secret Lives: Three Novellas, Davenport-Hines judges King's novella, a tale of emotional isolation, as the strongest in the collection, which also includes novellas b... Read more

In the following review of Yesterday Came Suddenly, Lively commends King's memoir, which she feels is an engaging and moving work, in large part because of King's use of anecdotes and le... Read more

In the following review of Yesterday Came Suddenly, Keates praises King's “busy, populous chronicle of a literary life.” The boy Francis King tasted “a brine-like salt ... Read more

In the following review of The One and Only, Woods criticizes what he views as overwritten passages, but states that the story is “well told” and unique. The past comes back to haunt you... Read more

In the following review of Ash on an Old Man's Sleeve, Scammell praises the novel's treatment of sexuality. [In Francis King’s novel, Ash on an Old Man’s Sleeve,] Elliott B... Read more

In the following review of Dead Letters, Haigh takes issue with the main plot, which concerns Prince Stefano and Steve's relationship. There is a tradition of novels whose power resides in allu... Read more

In the following review of The Ant Colony, Binding finds honesty and objectivity in King's satirical novel about the British Institute in Florence at the end of World War II. To Florence, not l... Read more

In the following review of The Ant Colony, Illis writes that despite the many likeable characters in the novel, the story is not compelling. The English novel is regularly accused of being too quiet, ... Read more

In the following review of Secret Lives: Three Novellas, Binding praises King's title novella for its portrayal of characters carrying burdensome secrets and of a man dying of AIDS. In conversa... Read more

In the following review of Yesterday Came Suddenly, Fitzgerald summarizes King's autobiography, commenting on its story-like quality and on King's modesty in relation to his achievements... Read more

In reviewing King's Yesterday Came Suddenly alongside Giles Gordon's Aren't We Due a Royalty Statement? and William Trevor's Excursions in the Real World, Beer concludes th... Read more

In the following review of Frozen Music, Profumo asserts that although King's prose is looser here than in his short stories, the narrated novella succeeds in its exploration of a father and so... Read more

In the following review of Ash on an Old Man's Sleeve, Scammell praises the novel's treatment of sexuality. [In Francis King’s novel, Ash on an Old Man’s Sleeve,] Elliott B... Read more

In the following review of Dead Letters, Haigh takes issue with the main plot, which concerns Prince Stefano and Steve's relationship. There is a tradition of novels whose power resides in allu... Read more

In the following review of The Woman Who Was God, Glazebrook asserts that King includes too much detail and too many fleeting characters in his novel. However, Glazebrook does praise King's wel... Read more

In the following review of Punishments, Lezard claims that the novel's principal drawback is its simplistic plot, but that this simplicity is made up for by the depth of the Michael Gregg chara... Read more

In the following review of Visiting Cards, Fitton praises the novel, despite his questions about its unlikely premise. Visiting Cards, a jocose novel about the conference procedures of a World Associa... Read more