Patrick Hamilton

Patrick Hamilton (1904-1962) was born in Hassocks, Sussex in 1904. He and his parents moved a short while later to Hove, where he spent his early years. He published his first novel, Craven House, in 1926 and within a few years had established a wide readership for himself.

Despite personal setbacks and an increasing problem with drink, he was still able to write some of his best work. His plays include the thrillers Rope (1929) – on which Alfred Hitchcock's film Rope was based – and Gaslight (1939), also successfully adapted for screen in the same year. He also wrote the historical drama The Duke in Darkness (1943).

Among his novels are The Midnight Bell (1929), The Siege of Pleasure (1932), The Plains of Cement (1934), a trilogy entitled Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky (1935), Hangover Square (1941) and The Slaves of Solitude (1947). The Gorse Trilogy is made up of The West Pier, Mr Stimpson and Mr Gorse and Unknown Assailant, which were first published during the 1950s.