Richard Llewellyn is one of the more prolific authors of the twentieth century, with a total of twenty-three novels written in a little less than forty years, together with two stage plays and contributions to diverse film scripts, all produced in a crowded and varied life. Yet he stands apart from other novelists of his period, belonging to no movement or literary tradition and, indeed, professing never to read modern novels. As a consequence of this independence, his work has received little or no academic attention as yet, while newspaper and magazine reviewers find difficulty in assessing it. Llewellyn appears to have influenced few writers of any significance in the English language. However, he continues to command a large, worldwide popular audience, and sales of his novels remain high.

Part of Llewellyn's significance is due to his unique stance. His work is a personal statement made in a...