Pomeroy — Gordon Williams

Meet John Stockley Pomeroy, black sheep scion of an aristocratic Tennessee family. Cardsharp, adventurer, seducer - the thoroughly winning rake-hell hero of this high-spirited tale of intrigue and skulduggery set against the gilded splendour of Edwardian London. Set in 1903, years before the CIA was even thought of, Pomeroy is recruited as a spy by Teddy Roosevelt and his new Secret Service. Shipped incognito across the Atlantic in the luxury Cunard liner RMS Lucania, he takes up his new undercover role posing as an American diplomat in London in its Imperial heyday. La Belle Époque won't know what's hit it. Gordon Williams is the author of Straw Dogs and the Booker Prize shortlisted From Scenes Like These. Pomeroy was first published in 1983. What the reviewers said: 'Pomeroy is enjoyable... Mr Williams has gleefully researched the period and the book is a catalogue of the Good Old Days.' New York Times 'This lively and entertaining novel' Washington Post 'Lively, deftly done and thoroughly enjoyable' London Review of Books 'The American Flashman, a dare-devil black sheep in the clothing of a gentleman wolf... brisk, amusing and exciting' The Times