" G]rew upon me with every page, until I came to the dramatic climax . . . often brilliant . . . with] the brilliance of fever, almost of delirium." - "Punch"
"It is very shocking . . . Houghton] has proved himself to possess considerable talent." - "Spectator"
""Neighbours" is a novel about ideas concerning life. It is full of dialogue, and good dialogue. It has beautiful moments. It is original." - Arnold Bennett, "Evening Standard"
"His novels bring us the finest and most firmly thought-out exposition of the spiritual problem of modern times." - "New York Times"
"In Claude Houghton's work you have come to expect not only an unusual and fast-moving story, but one with its hidden excitements or seeming touch of fantasy, the significance of which may not be apparent until you have reached the last page." - "Sunday Times"
The narrator of "Neighbours" is a young writer who has taken a room in the attic of a lodging house, where he hopes to find a quiet atmosphere in which to work. One night, the sound of a man's laughter outside his door alerts him to the existence of Victor, a fellow lodger in an adjoining room. The narrator feels an immediate and inexplicable hatred for his unwanted neighbour, which develops into an obsession as he listens to Victor's fervent conversations and amorous adventures through the thin wall and records it all in minute detail on endless sheets of paper. His morbid fascination with Victor gradually begins to dominate his existence, leading to a shocking climax when he finally resolves to destroy his neighbour, the man he blames for ruining his life . . .
Claude Houghton (1889-1961) won a devoted cult following in the 1930s with novels like "I Am Jonathan Scrivener" (1930) and "This Was Ivor Trent" (1935), psychological thrillers with brilliantly sharp dialogue and unusual metaphysical themes. This edition of his astonishing first novel, "Neighbours" (1926), is the first in over 75 years and features a new introduction by Mark Valentine.

"An extremely interesting novelist, and a genuinely original one." - J. B. Priestley
"One of the most interesting and one of the most important novelists now writing in England." - Hugh Walpole
"At his best, he writes as well as any living man." - L.A.G. Strong
One dark, foggy night, the eminent novelist Ivor Trent is on his way to a flat in a sordid London lodging house where he plans to begin work on his newest book, undisturbed by his friends, who all believe him to have gone abroad. On his way there, he glimpses a figure in the fog and is struck with terror when he realizes it is a man from the future. He collapses on the front step of the house, where the proprietor finds him, raving and delirious. Meanwhile, Arthur Rendell, a lonely widower who found solace in one of Trent's novels, determines to find out more about the writer and takes a room in the same house, where he meets Trent's friends, associates, and lovers. To Rosalie Vivian, Trent is a god; to Vera Thornton, he is a devil; to Denis Wrayburn, he heralds a new race of supermen. But who is Ivor Trent, really? And what is the explanation of the terrible vision he experienced in the fog? Rendell intends to find out, but he is unprepared for the devastating truth.
Expanding on the themes first explored in his masterpiece "I Am Jonathan Scrivener" (1930) (also available from Valancourt Books), "This Was Ivor Trent" (1935) was a success in both England and America and was one of the best-known novels of Claude Houghton (1889-1961). Though admired by writers as diverse as P. G. Wodehouse, Henry Miller, J. B. Priestley, and Graham Greene, Houghton has fallen into neglect in the past half-century and awaits rediscovery by a new generation of readers. This edition is newly typeset from the first London edition and includes a new introduction by Mark Valentine.

"So remarkable in truth is this novel that I cannot understand why it is not universally known and admired." - Hugh Walpole
""I Am Jonathan Scrivener" remains a tantalizing, highly diverting philosophical novel of rare elegance and wit." - Michael Dirda
James Wrexham is thirty-nine, lonely, and stuck in a dead-end job when he comes upon an advertisement for a position as secretary to Mr. Jonathan Scrivener. Much to his surprise, he is hired at a lavish salary despite never even meeting Scrivener, and he is told to take up residence at once in the flat of his new employer, who has suddenly disappeared. Mystified by Scrivener's strange conduct and desperate to learn something about him, it seems Wrexham will get the answers he seeks when Scrivener's friends begin to visit the flat: Pauline Mandeville, an ethereal beauty, Francesca Bellamy, a widow who may responsible for the death of her husband, Andrew Middleton, a disillusioned alcoholic, and Antony Rivers, a handsome playboy. But as each of them unfolds his story about Scrivener, it seems that none of them are describing the same person, though all are obsessed with finding him. Why has he hired Wrexham, and why does he seem to have thrust this unlikely group of people together? Is Scrivener engaged in an inscrutable experiment, or could he be laying some kind of trap? And will this enigmatic figure ever appear and say, "I am Jonathan Scrivener"?
Popular in his time for his psychological thrillers, Claude Houghton (1889-1961) was admired by writers as diverse as P. G. Wodehouse, Henry Miller, Hugh Walpole, and Graham Greene, but has fallen into neglect in the past half-century. This new edition restores his masterpiece "I Am Jonathan Scrivener" (1930) to print and includes Walpole's introduction from the 1935 edition and an essay by Pulitzer Prize winning critic and Washington Post columnist Michael Dirda.