A psychological study of marriage, loyalty and justice, A WAY THROUGH THE WOOD is a remarkable post-war novel.

'A superb storyteller' SUNDAY TIMES 'I'd place him up there with Graham Greene' Philippa Gregory

'Balchin writes about timeless things, the places in the heart' Ruth Rendell

'Balchin has been absurdly overlooked for too long' Julian Fellowes

James Manning is perfectly content. He has a successful life as a businessman in the city, a bright young thing of a wife, Jill, and an idyllic home in the countryside, where he is a local magistrate. The only fly in the ointment is the 'Honbill' - the Honourable William Bule, a gentleman with too much time on his hands.

When a young man is knocked off his bicycle and subsequently dies, James is sure that Bule is the culprit - after all, he saw a scratch on the Honbill's car the day of the accident and it matches the description to a T. But events take an unexpected turn when James discovers that it was really Jill driving that night, and he is torn between obligations to his wife and to his profound sense of right and wrong.

A WAY THROUGH THE WOOD was the inspiration for SEPARATE LIES, a 2005 British film adapted by Academy Award-winning writer Julian Fellowes and starring Tom Wilkinson, Emily Watson and Rupert Everett.

About the Author
Nigel Balchin was born in 1908 and graduated in Natural Science from Cambridge University. During the Second World War he worked as a psychologist in the personnel section of the British War Office, before becoming Deputy Scientific Advisor to the Army Council. He wrote numerous books, including How to Run a Bassoon Factory (under the pseudonym Mark Spade), and Darkness Falls from the Air. He died in 1970.

Reviews
One of the hopes of British novel-writing . . . A writer of genius -- John Betjeman
The missing writer of the Forties . . . Balchin's professional skill gives a meaning to brilliance which the word doesn't usually possess -- Clive James * NEW REVIEW *
[An] inexplicably neglected author * THE TIMES *
Balchin writes about timeless things, the places in the heart -- Ruth Rendell * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *
Balchin has been absurdly overlooked for too long -- Julian Fellowes
I'd place him up there with Graham Greene -- Philippa Gregory
A remarkable storyteller * DAILY MAIL *
A brilliant novelist . . . A writer of real skill * NEW STATESMAN *
He tells a story gloriously * DAILY TELEGRAPH *
Balchin has the rare magnetic power that draws the human eye from one sentence to the next * EVENING STANDARD *
Probably no other novelist of Mr. Balchin's value is so eminently and enjoyably readable . . . [He] never lets the reader down -- Elizabeth Bowen * TATLER *
Balchin has done so much to raise the standard of the popular novel * TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT *
A superb storyteller * SUNDAY TIMES *
The novelist of men at work * GUARDIAN *
Balchin can tell an exciting story as well as any novelist alive * SUNDAY CHRONICLE *
Mr. Balchin is a writer of such considerable and varied gifts . . . He is certainly one of the most intelligent novelists * TIME AND TIDE *
He can always be relied on to give us the set-up magnificently * BBC *
One of the best writers, and certainly one of the best stylists, to come out of the war years -- Michael Powell
Perhaps the most successful British author to emerge during the war * SATURDAY EVENING POST *



Book Information
ISBN 9781474601207
Author Nigel Balchin
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Publisher Orion Publishing Co
Weight(grams) 240g
Dimensions(mm) 196mm * 128mm * 30mm