London Blues

London Blues follows Tim Purdom, a young man who moves to London's Soho district in 1959 following his mother's death. Working in a snack bar while pursuing his interests in jazz and literature, he navigates the gritty underbelly of late 1950s London. The novel tracks Purdom's entry into London's illegal pornography trade, where he becomes a photographer of illicit materials. His work leads him into a hidden world of private parties and underground film screenings attended by wealthy patrons. Set against the backdrop of the Profumo affair, the narrative follows Purdom's activities in Soho until his mysterious disappearance. The book documents the emergence of Britain's pornographic film industry and its connections to organized crime. The novel examines class divisions in post-war Britain and the intersection of criminal enterprise with establishment figures, while questioning the nature of morality in a changing society.

This book appears to have limited reader reviews available online, making it difficult to provide a comprehensive analysis of general reader sentiment. From the few reviews found: Readers noted Frewin's authentic depictions of 1960s London and appreciated the noir-style detective story elements. Multiple readers mentioned enjoying the references to historical occult figures like Aleister Crowley. Some readers found the pacing slow in the first half and struggled with the level of period-specific slang used throughout the text. Available Ratings: Goodreads: Only 1 rating (4 stars) Amazon UK: No reviews Amazon US: No reviews LibraryThing: 3 ratings (average 3.3/5) Note: With such a small number of publicly available reviews, these opinions may not represent the broader reception of the book. The novel appears to be out of print and reader feedback is limited.

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🎷 The Profumo Affair, which serves as a backdrop to the novel, brought down Harold Macmillan's government in 1963 and involved a Soviet spy, a British cabinet minister, and a showgirl. 📸 Soho in the 1960s was the epicenter of London's pornography trade, with an estimated 177 adult bookshops operating in the area by 1967. 🎭 Anthony Frewin worked as Stanley Kubrick's personal assistant for over two decades, giving him unique insights into the cultural landscape of 1960s London. 🎺 The London jazz scene of the 1960s was centered around clubs like Ronnie Scott's, which opened in 1959 and hosted legendary performers including Miles Davis and Ella Fitzgerald. 🏛️ The novel's setting coincides with the period when the Lord Chamberlain's censorship of British theater ended (1968), marking a significant shift in British cultural freedom.