Furys Saga
5 primary works • 6 total works
Book 1
Before writing The Furys, James Hanley outlined his plan to his publisher:
'I want to show the downfall of a whole family excepting one, and that is the woman. That woman is heroic, powerful, exercises a tremendous influence over her family. I shall show her under every light. I cannot attempt to describe in detail the amazing lives of these people, sometimes fantastic, but never, never divorced from reality. Working class lives are full of colour, of poetry, there is the stuff of drama in the most insignificant things.'
The Furys, the first in the sequence, is set in Liverpool, renamed Gelton, in 1911. Set during the 'Great Liverpool Transport Strike', it centres upon a decisive moment in the lives of the Fury family. Fanny Fury has pinned all her frustrated hopes on her youngest son, Peter. Struggling against poverty and family resentment, she sends Peter to train for the priesthood. Seven years later, and in disgrace, he returns home to face her pain and rage.
'It's great . . . I really think it is different in quality, texture, atmosphere, view-point, art and purpose from any other book I know. It's a wonderful thing to have done. . .The character of the mother is a masterpiece, and so - only second to her - is Mr Fury. I never recall reading of the mysterious and involved link between married people so profoundly and touchingly portrayed.' John Cowper Powys
Book 2
Although admired by fellow writers like E. M. Forster, Henry Green and William Faulkner and winning comparisons with Joseph Conrad and Dostoyevsky, James Hanley is not as well known as he should be. Without doubt, he was one of the major British writers of the twentieth-century. Faber Finds is proud to be reissuing his Furys saga, making all five novels available for the first time.
Before writing The Furys, James Hanley outlined his plan to his publisher:
'I want to show the downfall of a whole family excepting one, and that is the woman. That woman is heroic, powerful, exercises a tremendous influence over her family. I shall show her under every light. I cannot attempt to describe in detail the amazing lives of these people, sometimes fantastic, but never, never divorced from reality. Working class lives are full of colour, of poetry, there is the stuff of drama in the most insignificant things.'
The Secret Journey is the second in the Furys five volume saga. Again, Fanny Fury, the mother of the Liverpool Irish family, is the dominant character. She has fallen on such hard times she is forced to borrow a few pounds from a moneylender; her debt accumulates, and gradually the whole of the Fury family become caught in the net. This is the main theme of the book but much else happens besides.
Book 3
'It is refreshing to turn to the really great novel called Our Time is Gone. Here is something worthwhile. The sustained power, the prolific life, with which Mr Hanley has filled these pages are astonishing.' Evening Standard
Book 4
Book 5
Young Peter Fury, confused by his mother's ambition for him, was driven to commit a crime for which he was sent to prison for fifteen years. The story opens with his release, and as Peter gropes his way back to normal life we learn the extraordinary circumstances of his past and observe his coming to terms with the future.
The Furys sequence is one of the great works of twentieth-century literature, but it has had to wait until now to be made available in its entirety.
