Stephen May won much praise for his last novel ‘Sell Us The Rope’, which told the tale of Stalin’s visit to London in 1907. For ‘Green Ink’ he’s treading similar ground in that he’s blending fact and fiction to detail the curious events of 1920 when the then Prime Minister David Lloyd George was at Chequers for the weekend with his mistress, Frances Stevenson. Lloyd George is in something of a tizzy as he believes that his tenure is set to be undermined by a cash for honours scandal. (In truth, he can’t see what all the fuss is about – the rich have always bought their knighthoods, peerages and other assorted baubles.) The fly in his ointment is Victor Grayson – former firebrand socialist MP turned secret service informant – who Lloyd George believes is working against him. Grayson, who was a real person, is an interesting character. A bisexual hedonist with a drink problem, we first encounter him here trying to rebuild his profile as the leader of the revolutionary left – that is, after he’s wrung all the pleasure he can out of his latest threesome. (May should be commended for letting us spend more time with the fascinating Grayson and his various attempts at skulduggery than Lloyd George; the narrative flitting neatly between bed chambers, saloon bars, nightclubs and picture houses.) ‘Green Ink’ is a wonderful confection – with obvious echoes today – and has a prose style as nimble as a maître d at rush hour. RM

Published by Swift Press