The Long Long Dances (Pentecost)

The madcap Pentecost family live in idyllic rural surroundings in a huge, ramshackle farmhouse: life is never dull at Cypresses Farm. From marital friction, to Derek Bates’ motorbike and various careless visitors, the family cheerfully takes each new crisis in its stride. To add to the mayhem, Grandpa employs a new farm manager, with an eight-year-old daughter in tow. Then, out of the blue, elderly Aunt Dorothea turns up with her dashing but ageing French suitor. These hilarious stories of the outrageous Pentecost family, begun in Morning’s at Seven, are full of eccentricity as well as an enormous zest for life.

Eric Malpass worked in a bank after leaving school, but his firm ambition was to become a novelist and he wrote in his spare time for many years. His first book, ‘Morning’s at Seven’, was published to wide acclaim. With an intuitive eye for the quirkiness of family life, his novels are full of wry comments and perceptive observations. This exquisite sense of detail has led to the filming of three of his books. His most engaging character is Gaylord Pentecost – a charming seven-year-old who observes the strange adult world with utter incredulity. Eric Malpass also wrote biographical novels, carefully researched and highly evocative of the period. Amongst these is ‘Of Human Frailty’, the moving story of Thomas Cramner. With his amusing and lovingly drawn details of life in rural England, Malpass’ books typify a certain whimsical Englishness – a fact which undoubtedly contributes to his popularity in Europe. Married with a family, Eric Malpass lived in Long Eaton, near Nottingham, until his death in 1996.