J. B. Priestley Collection 2 book: An Inspector Calls and Other Plays, The Good Companions‪.‬

J. B. Priestley Collection 2 book: 


- An Inspector Calls and Other Plays.


"An Inspector Calls", first produced in 1946 when society was undergoing sweeping transformations, has recently enjoyed an enormously successful revival. While holding its audience with the gripping tension of a detective thriller, it is also a philosophical play about social conscience and the crumbling of middle class values. "Time and the Conways" and "I Have Been Here Before" belong to Priestley's 'time'plays, in which he explores the idea of precognition and pits fate against free will. "The Linden Tree" also challenges preconceived ideas of history when Professor Linden comes into conflict with his family about how life should be lived after the war.


- The Good Companions.


In the great depression between the wars, ordinary Yorkshireman, Jess Oakroyd, disreputable schoolteacher, Inigo Jollifant and Colonel’s daughter, Miss Trant are all unhappy and unsure about what to do with their lives. Each seizes the opportunity to flee their current situation to seek adventure on the open road. Fate then brings them together and into the presence of a down-at-heel and fractious theatrical touring company. With Miss Trant’s money, their modest talents and buckets of enthusiasm they form a travelling troupe who proceed to sing, dance, drink and argue their way through the pavilions, provincial theatres, towns, seaside lodging houses and market fairs of Twenties’ England.

The winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction in 1929, The Good Companions is a captivating, hilarious, riotous and unforgettable carnival of English life.


"Priestley is a writer whom I admire. I remember reading The Good Companions in one fell juvenile swoop." Melvyn Bragg


“A truly great novel.” The Sunday Times