Eric Malpass

Eric Malpass
Born	(1910-11-14)14 November 1910 Derby, Derbyshire, England
Died	16 October 1996(1996-10-16) (aged 85) Bishop's Waltham, Hampshire, England
Occupation	Novelist
Language	English
Nationality	British
Period	1965–1986
Notable works	Morning's at Seven

Eric Lawson Malpass (14 November 1910 – 16 October 1996)^[1] was an English novelist noted for his humorous and witty descriptions of rural family life, in particular that of his creation, the extended Pentecost family. However, Malpass also wrote historical fiction, ranging in scope from the late Middle Ages to Edwardian England. Malpass acquired his most devoted readership on the Continent, particularly in Germany, where most of his books were translated.^[1]

Life[]

Born in Derby and educated at King Henry VIII School, Coventry, Malpass, while writing in his spare time, worked for Barclays Bank in Long Eaton, Derbyshire. He would return home after a day's work and spend the evening writing. He was a regular contributor to Argosy, a short story magazine although it took him many years before he was first published. Many other short story magazines took his work and in 1955 he won the Observer short story competition.

His first book, Beefy Jones, soon followed, and then Morning's at Seven which received good reviews, but poor sales in the UK. However, it topped the bestseller list of Der Spiegel in Germany and remained there for three years, after which it was stipulated that no book could remain there for so long in future. After his initial successes, especially with Morning's at Seven, he turned to writing full-time. The bank refused initially to accept his resignation, then said he would forfeit his pension and only changed its mind after very protracted discussions.

Married, with one son, two granddaughters and five great grandchildren, Malpass lived in Long Eaton until five years before his death, when he moved to Bishop's Waltham in Hampshire.^[1]

Novels[]

Tales from the Pentecost Family:

• Morning's at Seven (London: Heinemann, 1965)
• (London: Heinemann, 1967)
• (London: Pan Books, 1970)
• (London: Corgi, 1978)
• (London: Corgi, 1978)
• Evensong (1982)
• (1989)

Other humorous novels:

• (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1957)
• Oh My Darling Daughter (London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970)
• (1971)

The Shakespeare Trilogy:

• Part I: (London: Macmillan, 1973)
• Part II: (London: Macmillan, 1974)
• Part III: (London: Macmillan, 1975)

Other novels with historical background:

• (London: Heinemann, 1978)
• (1980)
• (London: Hamlyn, 1985)
• (a biographical novel of Thomas Cranmer) (London: Robert Hale, 1986)

All his novels were republished in 2001 by .

Short stories[]

• ""

Filmed versions[]

Malpass's books have never been filmed in his native England. Rather, it was mainly in Germany again where his success story continued on the big screen.

• Morgens um sieben ist die Welt noch in Ordnung (In the Morning at Seven the World Is Still in Order) (West Germany, 1968) — directed by Kurt Hoffmann, starring (as seven-year-old Gaylord Pentecost), Gerlinde Locker, Werner Hinz, Agnes Windeck and Diana Körner; music by James Last; based on Morning's at Seven
•  [de] (When Sweet Moonlight Is Sleeping in the Hills) (West Germany, 1969) — a sequel to the 1968 movie; directed by Wolfgang Liebeneiner, with more or less the same cast; based on At the Height of the Moon
• Als Mutter streikte (When Mother Went on Strike) (West Germany, 1974) — directed by , starring Peter Hall, Johanna Matz, Gila von Weitershausen, Gaby Dohm and Elisabeth Flickenschildt; based on Oh My Darling Daughter
• Mon ami Gaylord (France, 1979) — a six-part mini-series directed by , also based on Morning's at Seven.

References[]

External links[]

Eric Malpass at IMDb