The Disappearance Boy

August 4, 2014
What a delightfully quirky, eccentric, and lovable character Bartlett (Skin Lane) has given us in this novel’s hero, Reggie Rainbow. An orphaned young man with polio, Reggie finds himself in Brighton as part of a magic act in the dying days of vaudeville, just prior to Queen Elizabeth’s June 1953 coronation. Neglected and impoverished throughout his childhood, he nonetheless has a huge heart. This quality helps Reggie attach himself to Teddy Brookes Esq., a scheming roué of an illusionist. Teddy is used to working his charms on lovely young female assistants, whom he discards with abandon until the street-smart Pamela Rose joins the act. While Pamela embarks on a romance with Teddy, she also becomes close friends with Reggie. Bartlett is adept at portraying the seamy atmosphere promised by the book’s milieu, but there is nothing clichéd here. The most touching detail is Reggie’s habit of visiting cemeteries and looking for tombstones that bear the date of his birth—his mother died giving birth to him. The character’s growing awareness that he is gay, meanwhile, is handled with commendable matter-of-factness. He and Pamela make a winning duo, and the bond between them is life-affirming. Agent: Clare Conville, Conville & Walsh Literary Agency (U.K.).

November 1, 2014

Mr. Edward (Teddy) Brookes has all the makings of a cad; he's ingratiating to a fault, always impeccably attired, and lives a lie. He's a magician by trade, hoping to breathe new life into an old turn at a seedy theater in Brighton in the lead-up to Princess Elizabeth's 1953 coronation. His smiling, attractive, and very pliable new assistant is Pamela Rose. Needless to say, Teddy has a history with his assistants. Out of sight, but very much at the center of this character-driven novel by the author of The House on Brooke Street and Skin Lane is Reggie, an orphan, crippled by polio, and a homosexual (to use the term of the period) at a time when that was a punishable offense. He's the "disappearance boy" whose job is to be always at the right place in good time to insure that the showier parts of Teddy's act shine. The shifting relationships among these three characters are the stuff of the novel. The big reveal when it comes has been well prepared for and satisfies. VERDICT This is a lovingly rendered snapshot of a vanished time and place with menace always lurking at the edges. Bartlett, who is also a playwright and has been artistic director of a major London playhouse, has written the perfect book for LGBT readers who are also fans of comedy duo Penn and Teller.--Bob Lunn, Kansas City, MO

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