Showing results by narrator "Paul Ansdell" in All Categories

Francis Bacon never cared much for country living, so he is overjoyed when his father sends him to Berlin as punishment for his not-so-innocent flirtations with the other boys at school. With afternoons at the cinema, dinner at the Hotel Adlon, and nights at the most outrageous cabarets in Germany - and in his Uncle Lastings' bed - he'll fit right in.

Francis Bacon was having a ball in Berlin - until his uncle Lastings disappeared, leaving Francis alone, broke, and wanted by the burgeoning Nazi party for a political murder he didn't commit. Luckily, for a young painter still learning his craft, there's no better place to find refuge than the cafes of Paris. In the City of Lights, Francis can perfect his French, complete his education, and - if he's lucky - escape with his life. Strolling along the boulevard one lovely evening, he hears gunshots and sees a Russian emigre cut down by an assassin.

For artist Francis Bacon, life with David grows more dangerous by the day. When sober, he is charming, but when he drinks, he is violent, slashing Francis's paintings and threatening to gut the painter, too. When David leaves London for Morocco, Francis cannot help but follow this man whom he loves, but can no longer trust. In Tangier, they find a thriving community of expats who guzzle champagne while revolutionaries gather in the desert. But in Morocco's International Zone, death does not wait for rebellion.

Francis Bacon walks the streets of World War II London, employed as a warden for the ARP to keep watch for activities that might tip off the Axis powers. Before the war, Bacon had travelled to Berlin and Paris, picking up snatches of culture from a succession of middle-aged men charmed by his young face. Known for his flamboyant personal life and expensive taste, Bacon has returned home to live with his former nanny in a cramped bohemian apartment. But one night, death intrudes on his after-hours paradise.

Peace has come to England and the blackout is over, but the gloom has yet to lift from London. One night, leaving a gambling club where he has run up a considerable tab, the young painter Francis Bacon, accompanied by his lover, sees a man gunned down in the street. Soon afterward, Bacon receives a strange offer from the club owner: He will erase Bacon's debts if the painter delivers a package to the dead man's widow on the Riviera. What gambler could resist a trip to Monte Carlo?

In Woollen and Linen, J. G. Bellett exhorts us to live our lives wholly for God. We are not to be found wearing garments of "woollen and linen" or "divers sorts", i.e., we are not to live with a mixture of Godly and wordly principles.

From the Preface: "The purpose of this little book is to show that the dedication demonstrated by the early disciples, is without exception, enforced by the commands of our Saviour. And not only that, but it is illustrated by the conduct of the apostles and early Christians. The author therefore asks that all sincere disciples of Christ carefully weigh what is written here in the balance of the Sanctuary, not the balance of the world."

The story of a father and son - and is it true, as Wordsworth claimed, that "the child is father of the man" or can one's character actually change as one grows older?