The Merry Millionaire: Entering into the spirit of the Jazz Age with gay abandon a story based on true events - J. A. Wells

Author: J. A. Wells

Publisher: J.A.Wells, author; The Merry Millionaire ed. edition

Cover Type: Paperback

Pages: 540 pages

Language: English

Genre: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction

Genre Class: Fiction, Literature, Historical, Fiction, General

The Thirties, a decade of decadence and depression, ending in war. This hardly has an effect on Ron and Mervyn, our intrepid pleasure seekers. Disregarding the rumblings of war in Europe, and dancing to a dying tune, they join the waning fast-set, cruising the Norwegian fjords on luxury ocean liners and sailing up the Nile on serene feluccas. Explore the bygone age of first class sea travel and luxury oriental hotels, summer on the glaciers, and the heat of Cairos social season. All seen through the eyes of Ron and Mervyn, the gayest pair of lotus-eaters you will ever encounter.

P>Review Review: GScene Magazine.These books, thick and detailed, follow the antics and adventures of society gent Captain Ronald Fry and his crush and working class sidekick Mervyn Watson, as they travel around the world of the pre Second World War years. This is a story of privilege and indulgence; of luxury and secrets of seeming to be one thing, but being another. Its also a story of white privilege in the last days of imperial exploitation and indulgence of the European (and particular British) elites of the time. Also a story of gay love and sex lived without shame or restraint, but in a discreet way, forced by the mores of the time. Wells prose is heavy with detail, and he crafts his words richly, to ensure the background, weather, smells and colour are fully described, so we feel immersed in his representations of these luxurious and often secret worlds.His narrative follows the adventures of Fry and Watson on cruise ships, hotels, gentlemens clubs and many other places across the word, and he is particularly good with his descriptions of Cairo and Egypt. Its a kind of gay Great Gatsby and has that same slightly repugnant edge of ever-so immoral people, whose cares are beyond mere money, and who can buy themselves out of (and into) trouble, and do so with little affect on their conscience. About the Author: The idea of a Renaissance man may be regarded as old fashioned these days, and rather a clich, but the phrase can be forgiven when applied to J.A.Wells. After a twenty-year career as a professional actor on the British stage, and then a further twenty years as an artist, J.A.Wells has added storyteller to his list of talents. In his two rollicking debut novels, The Merry Millionaire and its sequel, Pomp and Circumstance, J.A.Wells combines his gift for characterisation, and his sense of inspired visual imagery, as well as a delight in meticulous research, to bring to life long forgotten significant characters. Putting flesh on old bones as he describes it. One thing can be said for J.A.Wells, he leaves no stone unturned, and is currently immersed in his next novel that delves into Australias exciting and colourful past.

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