Hemlock and After
# Hemlock and After

Hemlock and After is a 1952 novel by British writer Angus Wilson; it was his first published novel after a series of short stories. The novel offers a candid portrayal of gay life in post-World War II England.

## Plot introduction

Bernard Sands, a prominent writer who has been given financial aid to start a writer's colony at Vardon Hall, faces a failing marriage, attempts to come to grips with his homosexuality and lives next door to a procuress for paedophiles.

## Characters in Hemlock and After

* Bernard Sands, the protagonist; a homosexual
* Ella, Bernard's wife
* Elizabeth, the Sandses' daughter
* James, the Sandses' son
* Charles, a friend of Bernard; a senior civil servant
* Mrs Curry, the Sands's neighbour; a procuress for pedophiles
* Hubert Rose, an architect and a pedophile

## References to other works

* Angus Wilson said in an interview that the ending of the novel was Dickensian.

## Trivia

The novel was written in only four weeks.

