The Good Companions

Three unhappy characters, Jess Oakroyd, Miss Trant and Inigo Jollifant flee from their old lives to seek adventure on the open road. Fate brings them together and the find themselves in the company of a failing theatrical touring company. Together they decide to save the group and pooling their money and skills they set off on an unforgettable tour of the pavilions and provincial theatres of England. When first published The Good Companions won The James Tate Black Memorial Prize for fiction and became a huge best-seller. Vigorous, optimistic and at times supremely comic it is also an exploration of English life, reaching deep into the decaying towns, dingy seaside lodging houses, market fairs and fading traditions of the 1920s. An England Priestley knew better than any other author of his day. This new paperback edition (the first in over twenty years) comes with forewords by Dame Judi Dench, Barry Cryer and Tom Priestley; a biographical background and an exploration of the book's major screen and stage adaptations. See more