
NOCTURNE - By Frank Swinnerton - 1917 - TO MARTIN SECKER - THIS “NOCTURNE”
INTRODUCTION BY H.G. WELLS
PART ONE - EVENING
CHAPTER I: SIX O’CLOCK
CHAPTER II: THE TREAT
CHAPTER III: ROWS
CHAPTER IV: THE WISH
PART TWO - NIGHT
CHAPTER V: THE ADVENTURE
CHAPTER VI: THE YACHT
A quietly observant novel unfurls in the world of everyday London, following a man who drifts through the familiar streets of his youth while confronting the quiet disquiet of middle age. The narrative is less about grand events than about the small, often unnoticed moments that shape a life—an evening walk, a lingering conversation, the soft glow of streetlamps at dusk. Through a steady, detached voice, the story captures the subtle tension between memory and the present, inviting listeners to linger on the texture of ordinary experience.
The prose glides with a literary elegance that feels both intimate and expansive, echoing the reflective tone of early twentieth‑century writers. As the protagonist navigates relationships and personal aspirations, the novel offers a gentle meditation on the desire to alter one’s circumstances without losing the quiet beauty of the world around him. Listeners will find a richly textured portrait of a life lived in the margins of grand narratives, where the true drama lies in the ordinary.
Language
en
Duration
~5 hours (295K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Etext produced by Audrey Longhurst, Mary Meehan and the PG Online Distributed Proofreading Team. HTML file produced by David Widger
Release date
2005-02-26
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1884–1982
A prolific English novelist, critic, and essayist, he spent decades at the center of literary life while writing more than fifty books of his own. His fiction and criticism helped connect late Victorian traditions with the modern literary world that followed.
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