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The Secret Kingdom (novel)

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The Secret Kingdom
First edition
AuthorWalter Greenwood
LanguageEnglish
GenreDrama
PublisherJonathan Cape
Publication date
1938
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint

The Secret Kingdom is a 1938 novel by the British writer Walter Greenwood. Like his best-known novel Love on the Dole it is set in Salford.[1] It portrays the working-class socialist Byron family, and particularly the eldest daughter Paula who tries to establish an independent identity after finding working a parlour maid. She encounters Bert Treville in nearby Manchester and the two begin a courtship. After his death due to heavy drinking, she brings up her son Lance as a single-mother, throwing her effort into her talented child she is vindicated when he emerges as a talented concert pianist - performing on national radio in the final scene.

Adaptation

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In 1960 it was adapted into an eight-part BBC television series of the same title.[2] Greenwood had in the 1940s had written a screenplay based on the story, but it remained unproduced.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Hopkins p.218
  2. ^ Baskin p.48
  3. ^ Hopkins p.109

Bibliography

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  • Baskin, Ellen. Serials on British Television, 1950-1994. Scolar Press, 1996.
  • Hopkins, Chris. Walter Greenwood's Love on the Dole: Novel, Play, Film. Oxford University Press, 2018.