Carnforth's Creation

Tim Jeal's sixth novel, first published in 1983, recreates the frenetic Britain of the 1960s and tells an enthralling tale of three individuals bound together by a risky experiment conducted amid the pop-cultural ferment of the era. Paul Carnforth is young, wealthy, titled, and alive to the opportunities of his times. 'You don't have to like pop to find it interesting', he tells his sceptical wife. Paul decides to fashion a pop star of his own - as a 'moral swipe', also proof of his individual brilliance. But the creation will soon threaten to outgrow his creator.

'Pop music, working class heroes, record companies, music publishers and stately homes as settings for orgiastic settings, it's all here ... Mr Jeal writes comedy very well.' Irish Times

'Tim Jeal is a writer very much out of the ordinary - trenchant, elegant, subtle.' Sunday Telegraph